CRPF blasts The Caravan's "pathetic and meaningless" caste-census of Pulwama martyrs, says "we identify ourselves as Indians - Not more, not less"

The CRPF has hit out in no uncertain terms at a shameful, objectionable, and divisively ill-intentioned article that was published in the magazine 'The Caravan' in which caste-based profiling of the Jawans who were martyred in the dastardly Pulwama terrorist attack was carried out.

In response to the article, the CRPF's chief spokesperson Moses Dhinakaran has tweeted that the personnel in the paramilitary forces identify themselves as Indians, not more, not less. Going on to call the article's motive "pathetic divisiveness", he tells the magazine to not insult the martyrs by reducing them to statistics in the "demeaning and meaningless write-up".

The response by the CRPF spokesperson underscores the outrage that has been triggered by the magazine's article, which is still available online at the time of publishing.

The article is headlined "Urban upper-castes driving Hindutva nationalism have little representation among Pulwama’s slain jawans". In it, the author writes about his single-eyed focus on ascertaining the caste background and making callous presumptions about not just the Jawans, but those who are condoling their martyrdom, and everyone else. He writes, among other things:

"I tracked the caste background of the 40 CRPF jawans whose deaths were confirmed immediately after the attack. While the names of a few jawans revealed their respective caste identities, for those bearing caste-neutral last names, I spoke with their family members on telephone numbers registered with the CRPF."

"I also determined the caste identities through conversations with journalists who covered the jawans’s cremation; local politicians; social activists; sociologists; and by scanning media reports."

After determining the castes, he performs crude number-crunching, positing it as though it is a deep statistical learning: 

"So, only five out of the 40 jawans, or 12.5 percent, came from Hindu upper-caste backgrounds."

He then delves into the background of how the Jawans - seemingly identified by their caste and last names only - came to join the CRPF, quotas and all:

"Rajput (referring to Head Constable Sanjay Rajput, though without mention of any rank or designation), however, was unable to secure a caste certificate, and qualified for the CRPF through the general category. Excluding Rajput and the Muslim jawan, only eight, or 20 percent, joined the CRPF through the general-category quota."

What follows is a slicing-and-dicing of the caste numbers per state:

"Twelve of the 40 jawans who died in Pulwama were from Uttar Pradesh, and they included two Brahmins, three from Scheduled Castes and seven from OBC communities."

Then comes 'expert analysis':

""The CRPF has reservation,” Satish Prakash, an academic and Dalit activist based in Meerut, said. “It is the reason why the people who died were overwhelmingly Bahujan.” The word “Bahujan” means majority and is used to denote individuals from non-upper and high-caste groups. “It is they who lay their lives for the nation,” Prakash said."

Finally, in his conclusion, after having brought caste to the fore in such a shameful manner, the article tries to absolve itself and fires a pre-emptive political attack:

"The BJP has not spoken of the caste and class dimensions of those jawans who died in Pulwama. It is unlikely to do so—the party prefers to orchestrate the song of nationalism in the election year."

40 CRPF Jawans were martyred on Thursday, February 14, as their convoy was targeted by a suicide bomber in an explosives-laden car. The Pakistan-backed Jaish-e-Mohammed claimed responsibility for the attack minutes after its true scope and devastation became apparent. A very large number of countries have come together to condemn the attack and Pak-based terrorism, with the UNSC issuing a strong statement specifically naming the Jaish-e-Mohammed.