“I want to study. In the name of religion, the Tahsildar denied us a caste certificate. Give us justice,” reads a placard outside the Taluk office at Ranni in Pathanamthitta district. A Dalit family, including grandparents and children have been on a sit-in dharna since Monday in front of the Taluk office. They are protesting against the Taluk officer who denied them a caste certificate for not believing or following any religion.
Vadasserikara native P Kesavadevu belongs to the Pulaya community, categorised as Scheduled Caste in Kerala. His family including daughters and grandchildren do not practice any religion and call themselves secular.
Recently, Kesavadevu had applied for a caste certificate for his granddaughter for educational purposes, but it was rejected by the Ranni Tahsildar. The official rejected the application saying that a certificate cannot be issued as the applicant has mentioned religion to be ‘secular’. The family is now on a protest questioning how they can be denied a caste certificate because they don’t follow any religion.
The family says that the grandchild’s admission to a degree course, which they partially secured, will be cancelled if she cannot not submit the caste certificate. This has made the family undertake a sit-in protest, in the hope that officials will intervene at the earliest.
“We are born in the Pulaya community but we do not follow any religion. We consider ourselves secular. But how can our Dalit status vanish if we are not following any religion? The discrimination that a Dalit faces in society is not going away, so why are we denied our Scheduled Caste status?” Kesavadevu asked.
He adds that even the class 10 (Secondary School Leaving Certificate) certificate that was issued to his grandchildren mentions their religion and caste as “secular and pulaya”. “This is a state government issued SSLC certificate. Why then are we now being denied a caste certificate?” asks Kesavadevu.
The family had been receiving caste certificates that certified they belonged to the Pulaya community earlier. In 2015, when a similar problem arose, the family approached the State Human Rights Commission and secured a favourable order which states that he should be issued a caste certificate which states ‘nil’ in the column prescribed for religion.
“Though we showed this order to the Tahsildar, he is refusing to give us certificates,” adds Kesavadevu.
Speaking to TNM, Ranni Tahsildar Naveen Babu said that the application was rejected by the former Tahsildar who was transferred a month back. “But it was rejected as per law. According to the Constitution, one can only claim Dalit or Scheduled Caste status if they follow Hinduism, Buddism or is a Sikh. These people say they do not follow any of these religions, so they cannot be given a caste certificate,” he said.
In 2010, Kerala government issued an order (396/10/PA) stating that a person may or may not choose to write religion and caste in Public Service Commission applications, SSLC certificate or while applying to aided or government institutions. It further states that “if one does not mention religion/caste, they are not eligible for allowances of the religion/caste.”
But the order does not clearly mention what should be done if one decides to mention caste alone and not religion. Notably, it is after the issuance of this order that Kesavadevu and family has on multiple occasions secured caste certificates over the past years.
“I have given a complaint to the Pathanamthitta district collectorate and officials have said that they will study the order and let us know if we can be issued a caste certificate. We are going to continue the protest till we get our rights,” Kesasvadevu adds.
Meanwhile, multiple legal experts TNM spoke to also said that the fact that one does or does not believe in religion, does not take away the Dalit status of the individual.
Watch visuals of protesting Dalit family: