“Is This a Census or a Census of Hate?”: H D Kumaraswamy Slams Karnataka’s Caste Report

Bengaluru– Union Minister for Steel and Heavy Industries H D Kumaraswamy on Tuesday launched a scathing attack on the caste census report recently presented before the Karnataka Cabinet, questioning whether it was “a caste census or a census of hatred.”

In a sharply worded statement, the former Karnataka Chief Minister expressed serious concerns over the leaked findings of the Socio-Economic and Educational Survey, commissioned during Siddaramaiah’s first tenure in 2015.

“What is it really – a caste census or a census of hate? Is this so-called census a conspiracy designed to deliberately provoke unrest in the state? Or is it merely a diversionary tactic to deflect attention from the embarrassment caused by relentless price hikes and a series of corruption scandals?” Kumaraswamy asked.

Calling the report divisive, the Janata Dal (Secular) leader accused the Congress-led state government of attempting to marginalize certain communities, particularly the Vokkaligas — a dominant agrarian group to which Kumaraswamy belongs.

“If the entire state ends up engulfed in the flames of caste divisions, is this move by the Congress government in Karnataka a premeditated attempt to politically and socially marginalize certain communities?” he said, demanding a clear disclosure of the actual population numbers of Vokkaligas in regions such as Mandya, Kolar, Chikkaballapur, Ramanagara, Bengaluru Rural, Tumakuru, and Chitradurga.

Raising suspicion over the manner in which the report was leaked, Kumaraswamy alleged that “some unknown hand has systematically leaked the so-called statistics into the public domain.”

He also took aim at Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar, accusing him of making a political U-turn. “Sleepless in his pursuit of the Chief Minister’s chair, he once begged the community saying, ‘Just give me a pen and paper once!’ And now, is that same man bowing his head and endorsing the Siddha Conspiracy Report?” he asked, referring to Chief Minister Siddaramaiah.

Kumaraswamy firmly declared his opposition to the report: “I do not support this report. I am fully prepared to fight against this injustice.”

The caste survey, originally launched a decade ago, was recently tabled before the Karnataka Cabinet on April 11. Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has announced a special cabinet meeting on April 17 to hold detailed discussions on the findings.

The report, which was spearheaded by H Kantharaj and later advanced by former Minister K Jayaprakash, has sparked political outrage and public debate, with accusations that it may fuel social unrest ahead of the upcoming elections.