India launched a year-long census this week, an exercise aimed at collecting detailed information on its roughly 1.4 billion citizens. Since the last census in 2011, India has surpassed China as the world’s most populous country. Originally scheduled for 2021, the census was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Importantly, it is the first census in nearly a century to collect detailed caste data. This development is particularly significant for the country’s religious minority populations, including Christians and Muslims, and could pose serious risks to their livelihoods, freedom, and even citizenship.