Coimbatore couple secures 'no caste, no religion' for daughter

A Coimbatore-based couple has received a certificate from Tahsildar declaring their child does not belong to any caste or religion. Entrepreneur Naresh Karthik overcame several obstacles to ensure that his three-year-old daughter did not get tagged by the identity of a caste.

The parents are determined to find a school that accepts her identity as casteless with no religious affiliation.

Naresh says he does not believe in any religion because all of them are against women's rights and autonomy. "Caste is a product of religion that says one person is less and another is higher. How is that fair, asks the parent. He relied on the writings of Bharathiyaar, Ambedkar, Periyar, and the Thirukural for moral guidance.

He is pointing out the 1973 state government order that allows the caste and religion columns to be left blank. But, the school authorities do not acknowledge this and are confused when he shows them the copies, reported The News Minute.

The schools argue that they need the details regarding caste and religion to provide the government data related to enrollments and dropouts from different communities. Naresh asked the school to create a separate category for people like his daughter but was met with refusal. He decided to get the no-caste declaration certificate after this.

He applied to 22 private schools before seeking the certificate but was put on hold by every single one of them. Naresh told TNM that it is unfortunate that schools are unaware of a provision to choose not to declare one's caste or religion. He added that the fault is not of schools but the education system.

He added that the process of applying for the certificate was not hard. "I had to give it in writing that he is giving up any caste or religion-based reservation for my daughter". The certificate cannot be altered or reversed in the future. The couple received the certificate in a week.