End caste glorification: Rebuild India on truth and equality

Caste should not be a crown of pride or a badge of humiliation. As long as caste names rooted in social injustice remain in use, real equality will remain a distant dream. It is time for India to stop glorifying caste identities and instead initiate bold, honest reforms rooted in truth, history, and human dignity, emphasizes Meda Srinivas, Founding President of Rashtriya Praja Congress.

Abolish caste names, not just caste discrimination

The first step toward caste equality is to abolish all existing caste names from official government records, including school certificates. In their place, five neutral and functional categories should be created based on professions, nature-based livelihoods, and community roles—such as agricultural, artisan, sanitation, intellectual, and nature-based communities. These new categories would reflect the dignity of labour rather than enforce hierarchy.

A nation still chained by caste history manipulation

Today’s caste structure has no connection to ancient Indian realities. Castes being glorified as ‘upper’ today did not even exist during the Ramayana or Mahabharata periods. Meanwhile, the castes being dehumanized as ‘lower’ were once emperors, sages, and warriors. The rulers and institutions have erased this true legacy through selective history and manipulated narratives, leaving oppressed communities without their rightful place in memory.

The danger of caste glorification campaigns

There is an organized effort today to romanticize caste identities that have historically benefited from oppression. Instead of acknowledging centuries of injustice, governments and their allies are scripting a dangerous narrative that perpetuates glorified caste dominance. Those who resist caste oppression are silenced, their protests stifled, and their heritage erased.

Register both spouses’ colours to break lineage-based labels

Governments must make it mandatory to record both the husband’s and wife’s colours in a child’s educational documents. This small administrative reform can pave the way for breaking rigid caste-based identity transmission and promote more inclusive identity frameworks in future generations.

Dalits and BCs: From emperors to oppressed

The Dalits and Backward Classes, portrayed for centuries as untouchables and labourers, were historically part of royal, spiritual, and intellectual lineages. They were Kshatriyas, scholars, architects, farmers, and protectors of knowledge and civilization. Yet today, their stories are buried beneath the weight of Brahminical narratives and British-era distortions.

From caste politics to caste reforms

True caste reform means unlearning false pride and rewriting curricula with evidence-based history. Historical records must be unearthed and widely disseminated—not the myths that serve those in power. Educational institutions, conferences, and public platforms should begin to teach the historical contributions of marginalized communities and expose the injustices done to them.

Reform history, reclaim identity, rebuild society

We must dismantle the caste apparatus by replacing hereditary caste labels with purpose-driven, profession-based identities that celebrate work, not hierarchy. Only then will the phrases “lower caste” or “untouchable” vanish from our vocabulary and our consciousness. Until that happens, we continue to feed the same system that enslaved and degraded millions for generations.

A call to the government and the people

The Rashtriya Praja Congress demands that the central and state governments immediately initiate caste reforms, ensure inclusive history education, and stop the glorification of caste in any form. Let us bequeath to the next generation not a divided society, but a united and equal Bharat—free from untouchability, slavery, and caste shame. Let justice, truth, and equality be the new markers of identity.