A social media user, who goes with the username thugz_doge, revealed that he was on a vacation with his wife on an island and an eight-year-old girl left them puzzled.
While some people were furious, others exactly knew what he meant, and even shared their own experiences:
1. “The worst I personally feel is when the police ask your caste. It’s almost denigrating when I have to argue why they need my caste and these low-level constables have no fucking clue that you are not needed to divulge caste. I was out to get some food late at night one time when the second wave was peeling off, and I was okay with the constable asking me about my address and Aadhaar Card. But when he asked about my caste, I totally lost it and said I don’t need to tell you my caste, as per the constitution. This guy simply said that it’s not how it works. It went on for a few minutes before his fellow constable understood that I was an educated person. The second fellow intervened, apologised to me and pulled this casteist person away. It didn’t hurt that he asked my caste, in certain cases the police try and create a web per community. It hurt that he didn’t respect my wishes when I did not want to reveal my caste. He took my Aadhaar Card and still wanted my caste.”
2. “Well, if you are living in India with a sane mind for a long time, then that itself is an achievement barring caste, culture and traditions.”
3. “It might sound harsh but you should have told the little girl that it is bad asking about caste and that she should not think about it either.”
4. “Casteism won’t go away. We have to live with this toxicity.”
5. “Even this group is so oblivious to it. People refuse to accept that it’s a big deal. People refuse to accept that it also includes racial prejudices. But, I have no hope.”
6. “You could’ve replied with your profession’s name.”
7. “You should have said, “Child, my caste is human. That is the only caste.”
8. “Religion and language won’t go away anytime soon. But, discrimination and biases need to go.”
9. “That sounds scary AF.”
10. “Maybe she wanted to ask your surname but misunderstood it with caste.”
11. “Honestly, even I did that as a kid once or twice. But, I just did it out of just curiosity. I didn’t treat them any differently after knowing their caste.”
12. “All I can say is that the kid is innocent as she definitely got it from her home. She can’t be blamed for it. Just remember that we were given a caste, we are not the caste.”