If God would have asked me what caste I wanted to be born in, I would have chosen a Sharma or an Agarwal family. But unfortunately, I was born in a Dalit family. I am not ashamed of my caste or my existence, but I am fearful of how people feel about me. In every journey of mine and wherever I go, I often hear people blaming caste-based reservation. Everybody says that ‘reserved people take everything away’. I have no option but to nod in agreement because I’m afraid of letting people know about the caste I was born into.
Did we choose this reservation policy? Did we pray to God to let us be born in a Dalit family so that we could benefit from this leverage. Anyway, since now that we’re a part of this family, why shouldn’t we reap the benefits? As I grew up, I realised that there was something special about being born in my caste and I didn’t miss out on the opportunities just like anybody else.
People say, “I so wish I was born a Dalit. I would have been in IIT, IAS and what not.”
Why? If I am in an IIT or am an IAS, is it just because of reservation? Can I not be as sincere and intelligent as others?
People of my community are often exploited and beaten up. Dalit women are raped too. The country stands together during other rape cases, but barely ever when a Dalit woman is raped. Just because we have a reservation policy, does that make us less human? Whenever an SC, ST, OBC or a Dalit gets an admission in a prestigious institution or clears an exam, instead of analysing whether they could be capable of this on their own, they are tagged as being born with some sort of silver spoon.
Like everyone else, I too want to build my career on my own. But if something has been given by the Constitution, why should I not use it? I would request the Government to stop these reservations, maybe not because general caste doesn’t have this leverage, but more because we don’t want to be harassed because of it.
Maybe then people would realise that we did not create this reservation policy on our own and even we want equality in terms of opportunities, and everywhere else.