An incident was reported in the newspapers some months ago in which CK Vineeth, a footballer from Kerala, filled “nil” under the column of religion in his child’s birth certificate. The step was lauded and appreciated by many. It also opened new ways to end the deadly and extremely rigid caste system of Indian society. And that child is really blessed to have such parents who shun the caste system. They themselves showed him a new path and this will definitely bear positive fruits for the family in the years to come.
Now let’s look at another recent incident which took place in the Nainital district of Uttarakhand. A young couple were meeting with each other in a temple. And the boy happened to be Muslim and the girl a Hindu. From somewhere, some goons got the information that the couple was inside the temple. They gathered outside and as soon as the boy came out, they started to abuse him and thrash him. The State Police reached the spot and sub-inspector Gagandeep Singh saved the boy from the assault of the mob which was standing there to lynch him as soon as they got the opportunity.
It was because of the SI that the boy was saved, who was clinging to him with all his heart and life. The mob which had gathered there with the intention of teaching the boy a good lesson found themselves to be useless and a chance of creating conundrum was evaded. This didn’t go down well with many of the uncles present there who considered themselves to be the torchbearers of society’s sanctity, which was under grave threat all due to that particular couple.
A chance of creating hatred among the communities was missed. And all this anger was now directed at SI Gagandeep Singh who had protected the boy. His humanitarian effort was lauded even by the police department. But on the other side, he received threats from unknown people. And some even say that he went underground in order to avoid any further consequences leading to harm and violence. The police department states that he is on holiday.
Whatever be the truth, we all know that he didn’t commit any crime by saving that boy; instead, he prevented a humanitarian crime from taking place. The crowd may have killed that boy. The girl too was threatened and was told that she was a kalank (disgrace) in the name of a Hindu. We don’t know and can’t even imagine what both of them might be facing in their respective villages or homes. The situation would be traumatic there too.
This is how we are and this is the way we have been since the very beginning. We need to cultivate the same approach as the above-mentioned footballer, who, by just a single step, sent his child away from the world of “casteism” – from being a Hindu, Muslim, Christian to being an Indian.
Let’s come together to build a casteless society – a casteless India. Let’s break these deadly shackles of religion and caste.