A Brahmin woman from Surat has approached the High Court of Gujarat seeking directions to the Govt to issue her a certificate showing that she has “no religion, no caste” in protest of the “discriminatory caste system”.
BACKGROUND:
Kajal Govindbhai Manjula (36), an IT professional who now lives in a shelter home for the urban homeless in Surat, filed a plea on Wednesday through Advocate Dharmesh Gurjar for the issuance of this certificate. She has been inspired by the case of Sneha Prathibaraja, who approached the High Court of Madras 3 years ago for the removal of her religious identity & to obtain a ‘no caste, no religion’ certificate.
RATIONALE OF THE PLAINTIFF:
Kajal said that she suffered a lot from society and her family due to the discriminatory caste system, and she finally decided to shed these identities. She doesn't want a mention of her caste and religion anywhere in the future.
PLEADINGS:
The pleading reads as follows:
“The petitioner had to face so many troubles in her life due to the discriminatory caste system in our country & society & therefore, present petitioner, many a times was badly treated due to such caste system in the country. However, it is pertinent to note that present petitioner originally belongs to Rajgor Brahmin community and despite this she had to suffer a lot due to the discriminatory caste system in our society".
APPLICATION IN GUJARAT GOVT. GAZZETTEL:
Manjula mentioned that she had applied to the Gujarat Government Gazette for the removal of her surname ‘Shilu’ and a certificate to this effect was issued by publishing a gazette in August 2021. Based on the gazette, she got her name modified in her identity documents by removing her surname.
SHELTER HOME
Kajal has a master’s degree in science & worked for a few years in the IT sector in Ahmedabad. However, following disputes with her family, who live in Junagadh district, she has put up at a shelter home for the urban homeless in Surat, also as a mark of protest.
CONCLUSION
The High Court may take up her case for hearing next week.
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