In India, caste and religion determine everything. Well, most things.
But on Feb 5, a Tamil Nadu woman, A Snegha Parthibaraja, became what revenue officials in the state call the first Indian to be issued a ‘no caste-no religion’ certificate.
According to a report filed by Serena Josephine M for The Hindu, Sneha’s parents too had always left the two columns of caste and religion blank in application forms. But it was their daughter, Sneha, who took the step to make this part of her identity ‘official’.
35-year-old Sneha, an advocate and resident of Tirupattur, a town in Vellore district in Tamil Nadu, received the certificate from Tirupattur tahsildar T.S. Sathiyamoorthy. She’d been trying for the certificate since the year 2010.
Besides being celebrated on social media, Sneha was congratulated by actor-turned-politician Kamal Haasan too.
Haasan, who has recently taken to politics after floating his political outfit, Makkal Needhi Maiyam, tweeted his appreciation for Sneha’s progressive action. In another tweet in Tamil, he said, “My heartiest congratulations to Tamizh girl Sneha. Change of heart is superior to change of religions. Come, revolutionary girl, let us create a new world. Let us offer reservation to those who are still adamant in claiming that there is no society without caste. People’s justice will be the centre of it all. Tomorrow is ours, definitely ours”.
Meanwhile, here’s what people on Twitter had to say about Sneha’s new identity.
While caste is not something people can easily distance from, especially if they are born to lower castes and have to mention it to avail constitutional benefits, Sneha’s decision to go caste-less and religion-less is still a welcome step.
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