ABSTRACT
Census enumeration is considered to be a scientific exercise in order to know the size, growth composition and characteristics of the population. The mandate of the census is derived from the state, an institution that embodies the relationship between a territory and its people. How a state views its people and their characteristics is very much a political phenomenon which changes according to the nature of the state and its strategy to maintain power. In this situation, the census turns out to be an instrument of the state; it converts people into the population and uses a classificatory principle to divide them into mutually exclusive ethnic, religious, racial and caste groups. This is being done under the assumption that the methodology of natural sciences as such could be applied to the social reality as well. In the context of India, historical records show the interwoven and inclusive nature of social identities in many spheres of life. Further, there are people with multiple identities but there are no multiple choices given in reporting identities in many censuses including the census of India. This chapter argues that this has a deep impact in creating a contrived social reality and unfolding of identity politics suitable for the statecraft. In India, this began during the colonial regime as a means to divide and rule, while in independent India religion and caste emerged as a source of competing political mobilisation. The process, however, has not changed except to the extent it tried to play down caste but reinforced religious identities. In this process, size and growth have also been added to the construction of identities in the era of democratic politics influenced by emerging demographic reality.
