India, May 8 -- A caste-based headcount could bring long-overdue clarity to the true composition of Indian society. But with clarity comes complexity and a reckoning with uncomfortable truths

While it is chivalrous of the Congress and other opposition parties to welcome the announcement of a caste census in the next round, it is more than likely that the 1931 Census was hitherto the last one where the mention of caste was included. An old gentleman long ago had told me that in 1941, the caste column was withdrawn to ensure that Muslims were not embarrassed. He revealed this to me before he passed away from this world.

Gradually thereafter, the Census went down in importance as a matter of public interest. People were interested in how m...