As a young journalist I was introduced to the importance of the census operations fairly early. Interacting with the people behind the exercise made what would seem a dull, dreary exercise of just counting our millions of millions suddenly burst into the myriad shades of life; a walk, you could call it, through the entire landscape of the Indian sub-continent and its ways of life. I remember one Registrar General and Census Commissioner of India I interviewed – perhaps it was A. R. Nanda who incidentally was also a prime mover in getting the census form to reflect women’s invaluable contributions to family and society – telling me that census officers were trained to count every single Indian. This meant waiting for people – including the homeless, the factory worker, the share cropper, the housewife after watering the cattle for the day – to “settle like flies”, so that they could be counted.The print media on their part put out crucial information based on the census. There were reforms introduced including the re-evaluation of the value of women’s labour. For instance, according to 1981 census figures, women accounted for only 13 per cent of the workforce. Thanks to the efforts of feminist economists and scholars like Maitreyi Krishnaraj, a professor at SNDT Women’s University, Mumbai, more women were counted as economically productive workers because their hitherto “invisible” labour to keep families going was granted some economic value. When the figures of the 1991 census came in, it showed that women’s share had more than doubled to 28.6 per cent, just by making the census form more women-sensitive. The journalism of the day reflected these changes with cover stories in women’s magazines asking whether the term “just a housewife”, which was routinely bandied around, made sense when women played such a crucial role in keeping families going, whether they stayed at home or not. This argument incidentally figured in our public discourse recently when a Supreme Court verdict set down women’s contributions as a housewife must be quantified as worth at least Rs 30,000 a month.But to get back to Census 2027, the media should take it very seriously for several reasons. Not only is it the first such digital exercise, it will also enumerate the caste dimensions of Indian society. But that’s not all. This is a census that has broken the decennial pattern which had been followed ever since 1872 when census operations first began in this country under the British Raj. The break came in 2021. Despite all the preparations for it having been complete, it was postponed. Such deferring was understandable given the pandemic that had marked the year. What is not understandable is why India didn’t pick up the census thread in 2023, unlike the majority of the world’s countries, including Pakistan, which successfully completed their enumeration.While the pandemic excuse was bandied about by the government, what was weighing on its mind was the politically fraught exercise of delimitation which is required to be conducted shortly after the census. But could the delayed census also have been provoked by the clever backroom strategy of ethnic engineering? The media were content with the government’s official explanation on the delay but did not sufficiently link it with the intent behind the Citizenship Amendment Act which was primarily to recognise India as the natural homeland for Hindus. But to go a step further they also did not think it pertinent to recall Union home minister Amit Shah’s iconic statement made in April 2019: “Aap chronology samjhiye (understand the chronology)”…the government will first bring a Citizenship Amendment Bill (CAB) and after that we will bring National Register of Citizens (NRC).The question the media have to ask themselves is this: Will the 2027 census be a determined step towards fulfilling the ultimate goal of a Hindu rashtra? Could census data be harnessed for such a project? Instructions to census data gatherers have already alerted some journalists to that possibility (‘Census Enumerators Told to Ensure Data They Collect, Tallies with ‘Government Data: Report’, The Wire, June 4). Civil society groups like the Peoples Union of Civil Liberties have started asking questions about whether this census enumeration will be truthful or conform to the ruling dispensation’s political interests.These are not expressions of paranoia when the example of SIR is considered. It has so far led to nearly 100 million people being disappeared from electoral rolls (‘What Began With Deletion From Voter Rolls Could End With Millions Losing Not Only The Vote But Their Place In The Republic’, May 14, 2026, Article 14). Census operations have hitherto been attempts at inclusion, could this one be an attempt at exclusion?India’s most acclaimed linguist, G.N. Devy, in a very informative interview with Paresh Malakar (‘Why Eminent Scholar GN Devy is Apprehensive About…’, NorthEast Now, June 4, 2026) underlines this point by noting that Census 2027 will be taking place alongside two other counting exercises: the aforesaid SIR and the High-Level Committee on Demographic Change which is mandated to assess “rapid population growth”, “illegal immigration” and “unnatural demographic shifts”. Taken together, Devy arrives at a very disturbing conclusion: that an apparently “innocent” exercise like the census may see the “deliberate exclusion” of many sections of society. He bases these surmises on several apprehensions, including the new opaqueness that has come to mark the exercise which, in any case, is not legally challengeable. Yet earlier people were allowed to ask questions, today all RTIs on the census have remained unanswered. There are also aspects like the technology being used, which remains a secret. Earlier, the census came out in two stages, first with cross data and later as a more refined version, both phases taking some years to unfold. Today, the claim is made that census data, given digitalization, will be out in exactly eight months. This, according to Devy, is far too short a span to count 1.4 billion people. Each of the aspects GN Devy raises demands media scrutiny but will that happen given the “keep off the grass” instructions already inherent in the exercise? The word ‘census’, Devy points out, emerges from Latin and can have two distinct meanings: One, keeping watch on people (‘censor’ emerges from this); or two, the act of counting. The fear is that a simple act of counting could well become an act of surveillance and control.§The NewsClick case: A rare moment of hopeYou could say that the NewsClick gave us a warning on October 3, 2023 as to where exactly the media of this country were heading under Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s watch. Through that one action which affected the careers, fortunes and mental health of at least 75 to 80 media professionals netted through simultaneous early morning police raids on their homes, the state signalled its appetite to lawlessly decapitate independent media entities. It did this with the assistance of a rampant police force which seized their devices and demanded their passwords. The whole exercise hinged on the presumption that there was not an institution left standing in the country that would resist such an onslaught once it is dressed in the high seriousness of “national security”.The courts, we know, have let journalists down on innumerable occasions as indeed they have done in the NewsClick case as well. But two major interventions from the courts on this case deserve honourable mention here. The first came a month after that raid when the Supreme Court sought safeguards “against the ‘unreasonable interference’ by law enforcement agencies” and called for comprehensive guidelines for the search and seizure of digital devices (‘Need Proper Guidelines for Seizure of Digital Devices of Journalists: Supreme Court’, The Wire, November 7, 2023). Then, more recently, a judge of the Delhi High Court made an observation that we have been waiting to hear from senior judges since those raids. Justice Neena Bansal Krishna had the courage and integrity to pronounce that persisting with the ED case was “nothing but a gross abuse of the process of law…” That the proceedings were “not only mala fide, but also an arbitrary attack and abuse of powers on the free and impartial journalism of the Petitioners.”AltNews did well to interview Prabir Purkayastha, editor, NewsClick, who paid the price for independent journalism by undergoing a prison term of over seven months. His careful dissection of the case and its learnings does credit to his background as a scientist-engineer (‘People May Find Greater Courage to Stand Up to the Government’: NewsClick Editor Prabir Purkayastha’, June 17). The most poignant sentences in the interview were these: ‘There is a sense of relief. At the same time, I do not want to take that feeling too far because other cases are still pending and they intend to challenge the Delhi high court verdict in the Supreme Court. So we are taking it one step at a time.” The shadow of the vindictive state looms large and Purkayastha must perceive it more than the rest of us.The fate of his colleagues also weighed heavily on him. He explains: “Most of the people were forced to look for alternative employment. Their dues were held up for a long time, including provident fund contributions…Even today, around 25-30 people continue to face difficult circumstances, surviving largely on part-time work.” He saw this as the “the most chilling aspect of the entire episode – the sheer fear factor.”But Purkayastha nurses an important ambition too. He is convinced that if this case could change the dynamics between the people and the state, it could be a shape-shifting outcome: “For a long time, the balance of power was tilted disproportionately in favour of the State. I think this judgment may have shifted that balance, at least to some extent, back towards the people. That, to me, is a significant development.”The people, but where are the people? They need to know that what happened to NewsClick in 2023 could be their own fate in the not too distant future.§Readers write in…A shocking video that requires investigationElina Dhillon sent us a video in the wake of the recent controversy that erupted after a medical intern in Mumbai made some demeaning observations in a comedy show about cadavers in anatomy labs. Dhillon has already alerted a wide range of authorities on the issue:“I am writing to bring to your immediate attention a deeply disturbing video that is currently circulating on social media and has caused widespread public outrage. The video appears to show individuals in medical attire discussing a deceased female body in a manner that many viewers would consider shockingly disrespectful and dehumanizing. The statements made in the video include allegations regarding the treatment of a female cadaver and remarks suggesting conduct that, if verified, would represent a serious violation of medical ethics, human dignity, and the standards expected of healthcare professionals they are seen laughing about the matter and talking about how a friend …of their even slitting off the ear of the woman’s body and taking it home…Whether this video is authentic, edited, exaggerated, or taken out of context, the matter warrants urgent scrutiny due to the gravity of the statements being made and the potential impact on public trust in the medical profession. But by the looks of this video it does not seem AI generated I respectfully request that the relevant authorities and media organisations: Verify the authenticity of the video and identify the individuals involved.• Determine whether the individuals are affiliated with a medical college, hospital, or healthcare institution.• Investigate whether any laws, institutional policies, or ethical guidelines relating to the treatment of human remains have been violated.• Ensure complete transparency regarding the findings of any inquiry. • Take appropriate disciplinary or legal action if misconduct is established.“Human bodies donated for medical education and research are entrusted to institutions with the expectation that they will be treated with dignity, respect, and professionalism. Any conduct that undermines that trust deserves serious attention and accountability…”§Kudos to ‘The Interview’ with SarthakOur readers were bowled over by the way Siddhant Sarthak held his own during his conversation with Karan Thapar (‘Watch | ‘Coempt Eduteck Only Qualified for CBSE On-Screen Marking Because Tender Terms Changed to Benefit It‘, June 4, 2026). Here were some of the comments on the encounter on Insta:sorav3: This begs comparison between a representative of GenZ and 56-inch chest, both of whom gave interviews to the same journalist. One was full of confidence; the other fled because of his fear of questions.mousumishome: We need more and more brave and bright boys like him to make our country prosperous.Ranimanimekala: “Hat’s off! Credit goes to your parents and teachers Your determination along with your courage alone would have helped you in exposing the issue publicly You really nailed it You did a great service not only to the present generation but to future generations, too…More interesting is the fact that you are being interviewed by the eminent senior journalist, Karan Thapar. Keep going and keep rocking!markasm_01: “Sarthak you and the likes of you are what this country looks forward to ..so proud of you young man!!! God bless you as your generation works towards the betterment of our nation! We have messed it up really bad…we hang our heads in shame for that!clion0828: “This is what education looks like and sounds like.Among the encomiums was one response from ‘misterkhanna’ that didn’t pull its punches: “Soon he’ll get an offer from a top US university with 100% scholarship and expenses covered… then he will join BigTech in USA and makes a product that Indians will have to shell out dollars for. This is neo-colonialism and brain drain…Live!§Right usage, please!An observation from Wire reader Ramana Murthy:It is so disappointing to see usage like “give an exam” to mean “take an exam” in a publication like The Wire. This is a literal translation of Hindi “exam dena hai”.§The problem persistsVidyadhar Gadgil gets back with his disturbing complaint, and the Wire really has no answers…Has the tech team been able to get to the bottom of this problem of not being able to access the website of the Wire when one is using BSNL as the ISP (to remind yourself of the problem, see trailing mails)? The problem persists. I have spoken to a number of other people in Goa, and as long as you are using a BSNL network, you cannot log on to the Wire. This is a significant problem and should be dealt with. It is sad to note that it is a year since I have brought this to your attention, and apart from your prompt response, there has been no follow-up from your technical team. Neither have I received any communication from them so that I can answer any technical queries they may have. I had hoped that this problem would have been sorted out by now, or at least there would have been a report about exactly what BSNL is up to and under what authority they are doing this. With all the content out there, if a person cannot access the website, they go somewhere else and read (Scroll, India Forum, Himal Southasian and similar alternative media do not have this problem). It is only because I value the quality of Wire‘s journalism that I bother to use a workaround through a VPN. Or maybe the team at the Wire simply doesn’t care whether people can access the website and do all this work purely for their own satisfaction?Okay, I’ll stop here as I realise I’m sounding very stressed. But then I am. Hoping to see some action or response from the team.Write to ombudsperson@thewire.in.