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Karnataka Caste Survey Faces Pushback as Panel Rules Out Quotas for Converts

After criticism of his remarks on conversion, the chief minister frames the Sep 22–Oct 7 count as a rights-based data exercise.

Overview

  • Karnataka’s Backward Classes Commission said people who have converted will be recorded as Christians and that the Christian sub-group labels are for documentation only with no reservation on that basis.
  • The state plans to conduct the socio‑educational survey from September 22 to October 7, deploying about 1.75 lakh teachers to visit households across Karnataka.
  • Chief Minister Siddaramaiah reiterated that conversion is an individual right, linked conversions to caste inequality, and said Christians and Muslims are Indian citizens as he urged participation in the survey.
  • BJP leaders R. Ashoka, Basavaraj Bommai and B. Y. Vijayendra condemned the survey format and legality, alleging it is divisive, and the party is convening meetings to mount opposition.
  • In Kerala, RSS‑linked Kesari carried a call for a nationwide conversion ban, drawing a sharp rebuttal from the Syro‑Malabar Church’s Deepika and creating fresh complications for the BJP’s Christian outreach.