A Casteless Village in Maharashtra

By Sumit Paul, New Age Islam

16 February 2026

At a time when caste politics continues to divide Indian society, a small but significant social revolution is unfolding in Soundala village of Maharashtra.  Known for being at the forefront of progressive social reforms, Soundala has now declared itself a caste-free village by adopting the guiding principle “Amchi jaat…manav” (my caste is humanity), with the formal approval of the gram sabha. The village claims to be not only Maharashtra’s first caste-free village but possibly the first in India. The resolution was unanimously passed during the gram sabha meeting held on February 5 in Soundala, located in Nevasa taluka of Ahilyanagar district, formerly known as Ahmednagar.

'Educated' people living in cities must learn a lesson from this. All these people of Soundala village may not be highly educated and English-speaking suave people, but their thinking is so advanced in these times when caste, creed and country have become buzzwords and the whole country is sparring over them.

Education and advanced thinking don't gel together any more. In fact, education (the kind of education we've in India at the moment) hardens a person's beliefs and is instrumental in turning them into fanatics. On the contrary, people who are not so educated, often possess greater horse sense and pragmatism.

Surprisingly, people from rural backgrounds are often more rational in their thinking. According to 2011 Census data, there were more self-declared atheists in rural India (22,828) than in urban areas (10,476). While overall, only a tiny fraction (0.002 % ) declared themselves as atheist, the data surprisingly shows a higher concentration in rural areas, totalling over 33,000 individuals.

'Educated' and 'scholarly' people look for science, even Neuroscience, Genetics and Laws of Astrophysics in their awfully outdated scriptures and waste their time in analysing the 'metaphors', 'conceits' and 'symbols' in their 'holy' books. They draw out 'new' meanings and infer 'novel' interpretations of their irrelevant religious teachings just because they've degrees and honorifics before their names. A majority of 'educated' people would love to flaunt their religious DPs on WhatsApp and inundate their chats with religious images, pics and all sorts of Sanatani inanities. They've enough time for rotten and militant religiosity and they're ready to eliminate anyone who speaks against their faith and all fabricated gods. Such people are more into caste and creed.

Now when the Census will start from April 1, people of India will proudly mention their castes, religions and even sub-castes as if all these are great achievements and accomplishments, not realising that these are all accidents of birth. Why don't we protest and become casteless like the people of this village in the erstwhile Nagar district of Maharashtra?

Evolution requires revolution. We've become too inert and passive. To quote Allama Iqbal, " Khuda tujhe kisi toofan se aashna kar de / Ke tere bahr ki maujon mein iztiraab nahin " (May God acquaint you with a storm / For the waves of your sea lack agitation).

Will you dare say No Caste, No Religion when the Census folks visit your place? Maybe not because that needs courage of one's convictions. Complete evolution will still take crores of years and the human civilization doesn't have much time left. All of us will die with our castes, sub-castes, religions and 'spiritual' images emblazoned on our foreheads and displayed on our mobile screens.

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A regular columnist for New Age Islam, Sumit Paul is a researcher in comparative religions, with special reference to Islam. He has contributed articles to the world's premier publications in several languages including Persian.

URL: https://newageislam.com/spiritual-meditations/casteless-village-maharashtra/d/138873

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