ON July 12, 2026, thousands of people gathered in Phagwara, Punjab, under the banner of a new identity called Ravidassia, demanding that their caste-religious identity be recognised in the upcoming 2027 Census under a separate column. This was a case of history repeating itself, but with a tinge of irony. The Doaba region of Punjab witnessed this kind of mobilisation about a century ago when Babu Mangoo Ram, the great Ghadarite revolutionary from the region, had led the Ad-Dharm movement in the 1920s.