This post is regarding a single/unmarried individual wanting to remove all CASTE identities, officially from all records.
I have read other relevant posts and replies on this very topic. Below is the gist of all of them (experts - do correct them wherever necessary) , with my questions appended at the end of each point.
1. A person's caste, as imposed/awarded to him on his birth cannot be changed or removed. There is no provision to change/remove it legally/officially from all his records. (inter caste marriage - has certain cases, but the scope of my query here is pertaining to an individual. lets say - a bachelor.). eg: A person cannot change his CASTE to - HUMANITY or to any other existing CASTE as present in the government list/records.
2. Officials or any authority cannot force an individual to declare their caste in any government or other official records. Only in case an individual wants to avail of reservation benefits in education/employment, they would have to cite their caste/community certificate which would indicate that they belong to OBC, SC, ST, etc. An individual who does not want to avail of any such benefits in any realm of life throughout his life, can keep quoting - OTHER / GENERAL, whenever there is a CASTE / COMMUNITY column in forms or records.
Can they quote - NIL or BLANK in stead of OTHER/GENERAL, across these columns (because Other / General may indicate Forward Caste/Community. While NIL or BLANK - would keep the individual 100% neutral of all caste identities including Forward caste) Is their any difference or the effect is the same ?
3. India is a "secular" democratic republic. The constitution awards every Indian citizen the right to practice any religion of his/her choice, as per their conscience or beliefs. As quoted by an expert on another post - SO YOU ARE FREE TO PRACTICE ANY RELIGION KNOWN OR CAN EVEN EVOLVE A NEW ONE. So, I infer that an individual can keep quoting (for eg) - HUMANISM (self-evolved or self-believed one, not popular or in text or widely known) in RELIGION column in all certificates and all authorities should be fine with it. right?
4. w.r.t points - 2 and 3 above, is there some form of solid, strong LEGAL way of putting it on record ? I gather from other posts across the forum (as mentioned in points 1 and 2) that, there seems no direct provision for caste change/removal. And the constitution awards every citizen the rights to practice any religion of their choice, beliefs or conscience, including the right to not follow any religion.
But there are many practical scenarios where these rights in the constitution may not be of much or enough help to the individual.
When parents/family of the single, unmarried bachelor individual try to force or thrust upon him a within-caste arranged marriage despite the individual believing/practising that he has NO CASTE, no amount of arguments or convincing might suffice. In extreme cases, parents/family go to the extent of - threats, blackmails, house arrests, honour killing, etc. In such a case, a mere quoting of constitutional rights is not of much defence/help to the individual (before taking to law, etc). As a preventive measure/as a first line of defence/as a practical and specific proof, is there some other way, the individual, can legally prove that - he, at this point of time in his life (say 28 or 29 years of age, single/unmarried bachelor) does not belong to any particular caste or religion ? I read in another forum that - swearing to an affidavit in front of a Notary is one such way. Do, let me know the legal standing of the same. Are there other ways - better or stronger ?
5. w.r.t points - 2 and 3 above,
In all forms that I fill here onwards - I may quote, CASTE - OTHER/GENERAL/NIL/BLANK && RELIGION - HUMANISM. (awaiting confirmation from the experts)
Forms or certificates from the past - I currently dont have my birth certificate or community/caste certificate in hand. But I have all other certificates - X, XII mark sheets, School Leaving Certificate (SLC), UG degree certificate, UG College Transfer Certificate (TC), PG degree certificate.
Out of these, the SLC and TC have religion and caste quoted.
My School Leaving Certificate (SLC) has religion - HINDU, caste -
And my under graduate college Transfer Certificate (TC) has religion - HINDU, Community & Sub-caste - OC (Other caste/Other community) cited in it.
Is there a way to override/update these records now (to religion - humanism, caste - other/general/nil/blank)??
Or is some proof at this point of time as stated in point 4. enough for lifetime? In this case, is there a possibility of they/any party dragging my old certificates and claiming that I STILL do belong to -
6. In the future, if this individual (religion - humanism, caste - other/general/nil/blank) goes onto marry a girl who belongs to lets say, 'x' religion and 'y' caste. What would happen to the girl's religion and caste, post their marriage?
I read in another post that, children born to parents who married inter-caste, have the choice of religion/caste of any 1 of the 2 parents. So, can the child directly start with the father's religion - humanism, caste - other/general/nil/blank? Assume child does not want to avail of any educational/employment benefits forever. so, this would be a valid option right? Any other practical issues of a child growing up with such a record, in India?
This has been a pretty elaborate question with specific details. That's because, I have tried to provide as much information as possible to answer my queries. The forums, posts and legal experts' expertise have been extremely beneficial and in faith of the same, have I posted this question here, explaining my exact situation. I await practical, specific answers from the experts. If the expert or anyone else, feels the question to be too long, they may choose to answer specific or partial questions in the points above. Any help is much welcome. Thanks in advance for your patience and efforts.
