CWC passes resolution for nationwide caste-census, expresses anguish over war in middle east

The Congress Working Committee (CWC), the highest decision-making body of the party, on Monday passed a resolution for nationwide caste-based census and also expressed its dismay and anguish on the war that has broken out in the Middle East (Israel and Palestine) where over a thousand people have been killed in the last two days.

It also reiterated its long-standing support for the rights of the Palestinian people to land, self-government and to live with dignity and respect. The resolution was passed after the four hour-long meeting at the party headquarters which was chaired by party chief Mallikarjun Kharge and attended by CCP chairperson Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, KC Venugopal, Sachin Pilot, Shashi Tharoor, chief ministers Bhupesh Baghel, Sukhwinder Singh Sukhu, Ashok Gehlot, Siddaramaiah and many others.

In its resolution, the CWC welcomed the release of the caste survey conducted by the Bihar government and said that the disparity between representation and share in population revealed by the final figures of the survey highlights the urgent need to take effective steps to ensure social justice.

“The CWC also welcomes the objective of the Justice Rohini Commission of sub-categorisation within OBCs, but underlines that it will remain incomplete without detailed data on the socio-economic position of various communities, which can be obtained either from the still unreleased data from the 2011 Socio Economic and Caste Census or a fresh Caste Census,” it said.

“The Modi government has cheated the OBC communities and other deprived sections of the country by not releasing the data of the 2011 Socio Economic and Caste Census and not carrying out a fresh Caste Census; it has also failed in its Constitutional duty by inordinately postponing the decadal Census that ought to have been conducted in 2021 or soon thereafter,” it said.

Moreover, the demand for the caste census was repeatedly expressed state after state by multiple delegations during the Bharat Jodo Yatra, and in the Raipur declaration at the 85th Congress Plenary Session, it said. “Therefore, the Congress promises that a government led by it will conduct a nationwide caste-census as part of the normal decadal census which was due in 2021, implement the 33 per cent reservation for women in the Lok Sabha and state legislative assemblies at the earliest, ensuring adequate representation for women belonging to Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and including OBCs as well. The unnecessary obstacles of Census and delimitation imposed by the Modi government will be removed,” it said.

The CWC also said that it will remove the cap of 50 per cent through legislation for the reservation of OBCs, SCs and STs, in line with the commensurate share of population. Commenting on the ongoing fight between Israel and Palestine since Saturday, the resolution said: “The CWC expresses its dismay and anguish on the war that has broken out in the Middle East where over a thousand people have been killed in the last two days.”

“The CWC reiterates its long-standing support for the rights of the Palestianian people to land, self-government and to live with dignity and respect. The CWC calls for an immediate cease-fire and for negotiations to begin on all outstanding issues including the imperative issues that have given rise to the present conflict,” it added.

The party’s highest decision making body in its resolution also expressed its deepest condolences to the people of Sikkim and of the Darjeeling, Kalimpong and Kurseong hills on the unprecedented floods and the tragic loss of many lives, including personnel of the Indian armed forces.

“The CWC calls on the Union government to provide all necessary assistance to Sikkim and the hill regions in the north of West Bengal. The CWC also reiterates its appeal to set aside partisan politics and declare last month’s tragedy in Himachal Pradesh as a national disaster,” it said.

The CWC also condemned the government’s recent searches at the premises on dozens of journalists and writers, and the invocation of anti-terror laws. It said that the conspiracy theories floated by the government only exposes its own monumental hypocrisy in accepting donations from Chinese companies to PM CARES Fund and investments from China’s government-owned companies, its inability to control the zooming imports from China, and worst of all the Prime Minister’s clean chit to China on June 19, 2020, when he denied all Chinese transgressions at our border.

The resolution also slammed the Prime Minister and the BJP for degrading the political discourse to such a level that official posters are being made to incite and provoke violence against former Congress President Rahul Gandhi, similar to the one commissioned by Nathuram Godse against Mahatma Gandhi and senior Congress leaders of the freedom movement.

“The CWC observes that the frequency of these attacks by the Modi government will only increase in the run-up to the five state elections and the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, but the people will no longer be intimidated by these tactics,” it said. The CWC also expressed its deep anguish on the collapse of constitutional government and the continuing humanitarian tragedy in Manipur. Even after more than five months, the Prime Minister has totally abandoned the people of Manipur, and demanded for the removal of the Chief Minister and imposition of the President’s Rule in the northeastern state.

The CWC in its resolution noted the recent RBI data which shows that net financial assets of Indian households in 2022-23 had fallen to 5.1 per cent which is a nearly five-decade low. The CWC also urged all its members and supporters to fight the upcoming elections to state legislative assemblies and to the Lok Sabha with a unity of purpose, dedication and determination.