Support For Caste Census: For The First Time In Years, RSS-BJP Are Reacting Instead Of Setting The Agenda

The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) has given qualified approval for the caste census. 

Speaking to the media on Monday, 2 September, at the venue of its conference in Kerala, RSS chief spokesperson Sunil Ambekar said: "In cases where special attention is needed, the government needs the numbers (the number of men, women, and children belonging to a given community). Then there is no problem... but it should be for welfare only. Should not be used as a political tool. We draw the line there."

Does this mark the first time in over four decades that the RSS or the Sangh Parivar is reacting to a debate initiated by the Congress party (or its ecosystem/allies) rather than the other way around? 

Let’s skim through history.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was founded in 1980 and gained a critical mass of support in the late 1980s, early 1990s. The primary reason for the growing support was the party giving a voice to the Hindu anxiety of the times. A genuine anxiety born out of genuine reasons. 

Islamic terrorism was growing powerful by the day in Kashmir. Hindus in Kashmir were suffering it. Those outside were getting harrowing reports from the victims and the press. Same for Khalistani terror in Punjab. 

At the same time, Hindus were being told that an Islamic structure erected on top of what they believe to be the birthspot of Ram would stay there permanently, and Hindus had no right to the place. Ramlalla was to stay underneath domes forever, and the best recourse for Hindus was to reconcile with it. 

Third, frequent riots would remind them that they had to organise themselves to face up to Islamist street power. State indifference only highlighted the message further. 

Fourth, the Mandal Commission report further induced a fear that national and state politics were aiming to ossify the differences and divisions within the Hindu community. 

Last, the Congress had realised that it takes less effort to secure a large number of minority votes. As a result, its politics had become one of appeasement rather than of good governance. 

Any expression of disapproval from Hindus was met with scorn. ‘You are betraying the secular ideals of the nation’ was the phrase used to gaslight communities. 

It was against this backdrop that the BJP, with support from the RSS, took up the grievances of Hindus. By the time the Rath Yatra came around in 1990, the public debate agenda was being set by the BJP. The Congress and its allied ecosystem still had the most number of speakers, and the most ‘eminent’ ones at that. But the motion to be debated was coming from the side of the Sangh.

Eventually, when Rajiv Gandhi started the 1991 general election campaign of the Congress, he chose Faizabad as the venue and spoke of ‘Ram Rajya’ in his speech. But it was too late by then. The Congress was seen as reacting to a narrative, not setting it. 

This trend continued through the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government years. Whether it was nuclear tests, privatisation, or the infrastructure push, the sankalpa came from the BJP’s side and the poor vikalpa from the Congress. 

In the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) years, the main theme in public discourse was corruption-malgovernance. By 2011, public sentiment on the issue was largely being shaped by the Anna Hazare movement, and once again, the Congress was seen as struggling to put together a cohesive, effective response. 

In the first two terms of the Modi government, the main themes in the public mind were nationalism and Hindu pride. On the nationalism aspect, the interventions of Congress included charging Modi with ‘khoon ki dalaali’ and coming up with the ‘chowkidar chor hai’ slogan. On Hindu pride, the big response of the Congress was Randeep Surjewala turning up before the media and declaring Rahul Gandhi to be a ‘janeu-dhari Kaul Dattatreya Brahmin’. 

The caste census is thus, in this writer’s opinion, the first issue in years where the BJP-RSS have been forced to react to a big idea proposed by the Congress, and it would be imprudent for the leadership of both outfits to dismiss the gravity of it. Here’s why. 

Just as the BJP-RSS didn’t create public support for the Ram Janmabhoomi Mandir and the removal of Article 370 per se, Rahul Gandhi has not created the support for a caste census. In all three cases, there was a sentiment on the ground that was picked up by the contemporary political leadership. 

In any case, caste identity has not been created by Rahul Gandhi or the Congress. It is part of the Indian polity, and in the absence of a national macro narrative, it is the default discourse of Indian politics. That is exactly what happened in April-May-June of this year and is happening now. 

In fact, this writer would venture to say that it is far more difficult to use Hindu nationalism as an organising principle than caste. The former is still a modern idea alien to the ‘common sense’ of the average Hindu Indian. Caste, on the other hand, is virtually taken as part of physical reality. 

After decades thus, the proverbial House is debating a motion introduced by the Congress. If history is anything to go by, that is not good news.