THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Congress Working Committee member K Raju has said that caste census is imperative to overcome casteism. Raju’s stand assumes significance at a time when Rahul Gandhi’s call for a caste census was spurned by the voters of five states where assembly elections were held recently.
Raju, who is also the AICC’s SC/ST/OBC minority and Adivasi cell national coordinator, recalled that when the CWC came up with a resolution in favour of caste census it was a challenge against the views of Manu and Manusmriti. Raju was speaking after inaugurating the two-day history conference coinciding with the centenary celebrations of Vaikom Satyagraha.
A former bureaucrat belonging to the Andhra Pradesh cadre, Raju said to overcome the caste issue, there is a need for exact statistics and steps. “Vaikom Satyagraha acted as a driving force against untouchability and the caste system. Now a stage has come where facts are being fabricated. A ban has come on true facts during this era,” he said.