The RSS said it was not averse to registering the citizens under various categories, such as backward classes, scheduled castes or scheduled tribes.
The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, ideological parent of the Bharatiya Janata Party, today opposed the idea of a caste-based census but said it was not averse to registering citizens under categories such as backward classes and scheduled castes and tribes.
“The RSS is following the principles of the late Dalit leader Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar for a casteless society and any attempt to dilute it will hurt the sentiments of the people,” RSS general secretary Bhaiyyaji Joshi told a press conference at the Sangh headquarters here.
“We are not against registering categories, but we oppose registering castes since it would weaken efforts of building social harmony.”
Joshi said the government should fix some criteria for giving reservation to members of the Other Backward Classes (OBCs). “Currently, there are different yardsticks for this in different states,” he said, and called for a national debate on the subject and a dialogue with various social groups.
The RSS general secretary said the census has no provision to identify and separate the illegal migrants in the country while preparing the National Population Register (NPR). “This will prove to be a threat to national security and integrity," he said.
He said the preparation of a multi-utility identity card on the basis of the NPR will be incorrect. "Identity cards should be issued only after verification of nationality and the nationality provision should be the basis for the NPR," he said.
Joshi also drew attention to the humanitarian crisis brewing in Manipur owing to the continuing blockade to prevent separatist Naga leader ThuingaIeng Muivah from visiting his native village.
He termed the threat by the agitators to non-Manipuris living in the state for generations as “unconstitutional and non-nationalistic.”
On the khap panchayats in Haryana opposing marriages within the same gotra (patriarchal lineage), Joshi said, “Not marrying within the same gotra is our tradition. Marriage is an individual subject and has to be dealt with at the level of society. Government has no role in it.”
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
)
)
)
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}