Bihar: Caste census revolutionary step for social, economic justice says Rahul Gandhi

Kishanganj (Bihar): Senior Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Monday said that without social and economic justice the country cannot progress. He also said that the proposed caste census would be a revolutionary step towards providing social justice in the country.

Addressing a largely attended public meeting at the Shaheed Ashfaqullah Khan Stadium here, Gandhi said that Bihar was the epicentre of the movement for social justice in India and the whole country looked forward to Bihar to achieve this cause.

‘Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra aims for positive impact’

As the Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra entered Bihar from West Bengal, it was accorded a rousing welcome by tens of thousands of Congress workers. Party workers were carrying the flags and chanting slogans. Gandhi, while acknowledging their love and affection, said that he was deeply touched by their loving gesture.

Maintaining that the RSS and the BJP were spreading hatred and violence, the former Congress president said, to counter that he had taken out the Bharat Jodo Yatra from ‘the sea to the Himalayas.’ He said the yatra had a positive impact on the country’s politics. He said it had countered the BJP’s hatred and violence with love, harmony and brotherhood.

Now, he added, he had embarked upon another yatra from Manipur in the east to Mumbai in the west. He said, that besides harmony, the yatra aims to seek justice for the people of the country, which includes social and economic justice.

He asserted that all the claims of progress and development made by the BJP leaders sound hollow as long as there is no social and economic justice. He said the country cannot progress as long as there is no social and economic justice.

‘Caste census, a revolutionary measure’

Reiterating his party’s commitment to hold the caste census, he said, it would be a revolutionary measure towards achieving social justice in the country. He said, that only after a caste census the actual number of people belonging to SC, ST, and OBC will be revealed and only then justice can be delivered. That is why the caste census is going to be a revolutionary step towards achieving social justice in the country.

Gandhi said that he had found that of the 90 officers in the government of India who were running the country, only three were OBCs. This, he said, meant only five per cent of the officers belonged to the OBC category despite their population being about 50 per cent. Such discrimination can only be addressed after the caste census, he added.

Maintaining that Bihar has been an epicentre of the struggle for achieving social justice, he told the people of the state that the entire country looked forward to them achieving this goal. He said, that for progress in the country, we need social and economic justice.