Introduction: The Census as a Site of Power The Indian Census is far more than a neutral administrative count; it is a contested site of "knowledge-making" and a fundamental mechanism for "identifying political subjects." In the lead-up to the 2027 Census, we must view the exercise as a deployment of state symbolic power that can either illuminate or obscure social reality. The 2011 caste count remains a "victory that never materialized"—a strategic retreat by the state where a public concession to marginalized groups was systematically dismantled by the executive bureaucracy. The primary architects of this subversion were the Ministry of Home Affairs and the Office of the Registrar General and Census Commissioner (ORGI) . Through a process termed as Bureaucratic Deflection , these institutions publicly complied with the demand for a caste census while privately maneuvering to sabotage its implementation. By shifting responsibility across departmen...
"A Day for Scientific Temper — August 20" Every year on August 20th, our country observes "National Scientific Temper Day." We observe it in memory of the rationalist Dr. Narendra Dabholkar, who was unjustly murdered by orthodox traditionalists on August 20, 2013. Dr. Narendra Achyut Dabholkar was not merely a physician — he was also a writer and a social activist! A towering figure firmly committed to spreading a scientific outlook in society, he founded the Maharashtra Andhashraddha Nirmoolan Samiti (Committee for the Eradication of Blind Faith) in 1989 and worked tirelessly ever since. Those who disliked his efforts to eliminate blind beliefs from society and to move among the people awakening their consciousness had him eliminated, according to a plan, during his morning walk. He had, for a long time, been insisting that a law be brought in against blind superstition, and had been building pressure on the government to that effect. This did not sit well with...