At a time when religion seems to be deciding people’s outlooks and is shaping politics, Indian footballer and Kerala Blasters striker CK Vineeth’s decision to write ‘nil’ against the religion of his newborn son’s birth certificate comes as a breath of fresh air.
The incident was first shared on Facebook last week by Manuthomas, a native of Kannur. In his post – written in Malayalam – Manu said that he accompanied Vineeth to the hospital to apply for the birth certificate of the latter's newborn.
"Vineeth filled up each column in the application form and when he had to fill up the religion column, without any change in his expression, Vineeth wrote NIL. I felt proud seeing this," Manu wrote.
"When I asked him about it, he said that his son can decide his own religion when he grows up. Vineeth's act should be a model for the others," the post added.
On February 24, Vineeth announced the arrival of his newborn son on social media platforms with the caption “My little game changer has arrived”.
Vineeth’s action attracted a lot of praise on Twitter after it was posted by journalist Pramod Raman. Many called him a ‘role model’ and thanked him for ‘choosing humanity’.
The right way forward. Thank you @ckvineeth for choosing humanity above everything else! https://t.co/Ug4S9WVlFs
— Souvik Roy Chowdhury (@souvikrc) March 16, 2018
Great move..real role model to the youths..humanity is all we needed..baby you can achieve a lot because u get a wonderful father..well done @ckvineeth pic.twitter.com/L36hzKzcgs
— akhila kochu (@Akhila178) March 16, 2018
This! Have always found it galling how numerous forms have it mandatory to fill what religion we follow.
— Indranil Das Blah (@indranildasblah) March 16, 2018
Well done @ckvineeth! And congratulations. https://t.co/RvwyUMa0gE
Well done @ckvineeth You are a real role model...Keep scoring
— Suraj Pulikotil (@surajpulikotil) March 19, 2018
Very proud of u CK Vineeth
— SESHU (@Mr_Spartan72) March 19, 2018
India need these kind of guys to move forward
Huge respect https://t.co/yL8Xh1YsHn
A child isn't borne with a tag of religion around his neck. Let the child grow up, perceive, decide & choose his own faith instead of imposing your own beliefs.
— Sahil Prasad (@laxmi407) March 19, 2018
Well done @ckvineeth wish yr child all the best & hope other parents too follow yr example https://t.co/NOrz3P9Ouo
While Vineeth has been receiving much praise, this is not the first time someone from Kerala has chosen to not assign a religion to their children. In June last year, Palakkad MP MB Rajesh and Congress MLA VT Balram enrolled their children in government schools and refused to fill up the column that asked for their religion.
VT Balram, the Congress MLA from Thrithala, then took to Facebook to write, “As part of public education, I have enrolled my son Advaith Manav into the Arikkad Government LP School near my house. In the column that asked for his religion and caste, we said he doesn’t have any. When he is an adult, he is free to choose his religion.”
In MB Rajesh’s case, it was reportedly the second time that he chose to not fill the religion column for his children.
Read: My children have no default religion: 2 Kerala leaders refuse to fill in column in school form