Congress leader Rahul Gandhi addressing a consultative meeting on caste census organised by the party here on Tuesday. | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
Congress leader and Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi has declared, on Tuesday (November 04), that the Telangana government caste census will become the model for the entire nation to follow and reiterated his vow to carry out a nation-wide caste census to demolish the 50% ceiling on reservations in the country.
“It is not simple a caste census, but one which will decide on the system of governance of the country and a political instrument to define how this country progresses. If we want to talk of happiness or progress of the country, let us first first identify the nature of discrimination. I cannot ignore the fact there is massive discrimination and cannot lie to Dalits, Adivasis, women, OBCs or minorities,” he said.
Addressing State-Level Consultation on Caste Census organised by the Congress Party at Rajiv Gandhi Ideology Centre in Bowenpally here, Mr. Gandhi said he was accountable as a politician and he could not lie like “others” about there being no caste discrimination. “Let us simply measure and expose the level of caste discrimination. The moment I say this, the Prime Minister and other BJP leaders talk about I dividing the country. Since when has revealing the truth divided the country? Let us explore the truth. The foundation of our religion is truth and Ahimsa,” he said.
Mr. Gandhi said he was still “wondering” why the Prime Minister does not want to challenge caste discrimination and why he is “scared” of asking questions about lack of proper representation of the marginalised sections in many sectors. The level of caste discrimination in the country was “unique” and probably the “worst in the world” where a Dalit is treated as an untouchable, he maintained.
The caste census should check populations of the discriminated communities, how much wealth is there in each section and how the wealth is being distributed in the country. “Why are we scared about this? Those who resist this do not want people of India to know the truth about the discrimination in the country. How many Dalits or OBCs are there in the board rooms, judiciary, armed forces or as television anchors?” he asked
“I am proud of the TG leadership for taking this up and we are fully committed to the caste census. There will be shortcomings but, we will try to iron out by having conversations between the between civil society, people and the government. Instead of survey questions being framed by a bureaucrat, it will be the discriminated sections who will decide the questions. Why should we be scared of knowing the truth?” he questioned.
Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy, Deputy Chief Minister Bhatti Vikramarka, PCC president Mahesh Kumar Goud, TG Congress in-charge Deepa Dasmunshi and others were present while Minister for Irrigation Uttam Kumar Reddy translated Mr. Gandhi’s English speech into Telugu. Earlier, the Congress leader received a rapturous reception at the Begumpet Airport by the party leaders and cadre with drum beats, slogan shouting and waving of the party flags.
Published - November 05, 2024 08:24 pm IST
