I know I am asking for too much, these things may or may not happen in my lifetime, at least I hope the future generations will enjoy life fully. Dignity, respect, peace, joy and love, the basic neccesities of life, these are the things we hope for, these are the things that we wish for in our lives. The society didn’t say “these are fellow human beings like us” but it said “these are born inferior, these are sub-humans, they are born to serve, be slaves and be exploited, they don’t deserve dignity and respect they are to be outcastes.”
I am not merely exaggerating all this, this is the reality that we have to live everyday. My people, my relatives, my family, they all have to go through the dehumanisation every single day. Because some believe that they are of superior birth, they think they can do anything to us “inferior” “Untouchable” “sub-humans” do you not see what’s happening around you? How they bribe the courts, cops, they don’t even hesitate to bribe the lady holding the scales. For they do not know justice, they do not know love, they already dehumanise and degrade themselves, how can they even think of loving and being kind to others?
Sometimes I feel stupid hoping for a better day where you don’t have to worry how the casteist monsters treat your mom, dad, your siblings. Hoping for the day where my friend can grow a moustache without having to hear people say “that is only for those of superior births” the day where my cousins can have access to the textbooks, be able to pay the school fee on time, the day when I don’t have to worry about my food habits, the day teachers stop saying “you people are stupid, because of your birth” to us.
I hope for the day my people will have respect and dignity, without having to fight for it day and night. I hope for the day my cousins lift their heads up and walk boldly without the fear of being dehumanised and killed. Hope for the day where we get justice for the sake of justice, but not to protect the status quo, not to get our votes. Where we have our own businesses, institutions, the day we can proudly boast about our history, though we have been treated as Untouchables it is not us that should be ashamed, but those who treated us like Untouchables, they are the ones to be ashamed. Hope for the day where we can love our neighbours without having to ask what one’s caste is.
I hope against hope that one day we will overcome, the day we will say we have overcome and we did it all and the day we find justice, love, joy and peace.