India, May 21 -- As the first phase of Census 2027 gathers pace, leaders of the Ambedkarite, or Dalit community, are divided over whether caste identities should be recorded during the second phase of the caste-based enumeration scheduled to begin next year.

Grandsons of Dalit leader Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar are appealing to the community to mention their original caste in the caste column of the census form, while identifying themselves as 'Buddhists' in the column relating to religion. According to them, this would safeguard the social, political and financial benefits available to Scheduled Castes (SCs).

Another section of Ambedkarite scholars and social organisations have taken the opposite view. They argue that Dr Ambedkar embraced Bu...