When a Census 2011 team went to the rented room of Gore in Pokhara to
register his family’s details, he lied to them and said Gotame was his
caste. “I am a Brahmin,” he told enumerators pronto on being asked what
was his caste.
His attempt to hide his caste, however, failed when enumerator Radhika
Timilsina told him that fact telling was a must to get opportunities and
facilities from the state and that all his details will be kept
confidential. It later came to light that that his real caste is Sunar, a
member of the Dalit community.
Asked what prompted him to declare a Brahim, he said, “Just to keep
unwanted difficulties at bay that a Dalit man has to face in society.”
Enumerators say Gore’s case is only the tip of the iceberg as many
people staying in and around the city area in Pokhara are reluctant to
tell their real castes. Dalit students and labourers mainly hide their
castes and declare themselves Brahmins, they said.
According to Kaski Census Office chief Kaski Tirtharaj Baral, many
members of the Dalit community are found hiding their real caste while
giving their details to enumerators. “With the Dalits’ reluctance to
tell their real caste, we have asked enumerators to be alert on the
caste issue,” he said.
Dalits are found writing Baral, Gotama, Koirala, Poudel, Lamichhane and
Pokharel as their surnames as an alternative to hide their real castes,
said enumerators.
A local Dalit activist, Krishan Sunar, says around 50 percent people
from the Dalit community are staying in Pokhara hiding their real
castes.
In Kaski, 670 enumerators and 160 supervisors have been deployed for
Census 2011. Kaski’s population is expected to reach 500,000 in this
census from 380,000 of the Census 2001.
source : ekantipur- 2011-06-23
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