National CENSUS 2011: Dalits hiding their castes - PREM NEPALI

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