Atheist Man Wants to be Called 'RV155677820', Rajkot Court Rejects his Plea
To his application, he got a response- "New name according to your desire cannot be published."
Choosing to be an atheist can be very difficult especially in a country like ours and Rajveer Upadhyay, an Ahmedabad-based autorickshaw driver is already having a tough time. Rajveer applied to change his name to ‘RV155677820,' which is his short for Rajveer and his enrolment number on his school-leaving certificate but the Gazette office has rejected his plea without citing any reason. He has been trying hard to change his name and drop his religion since 2015. His name and surname kept pointing towards his religion which is why he opted to give them up.
He has filed for an application in the Ahmedabad district collectorate to change his name in May, last year. He was then directed to approach the government printing and stationery department at the gazette office in Rajkot. To his application, he got a response- "New name according to your desire cannot be published." Upadhyay is now adamant to challenge the decision and move to the high court. He is challenging the Gujarat Freedom of religion Act which does not have a provision for atheism. "I am consulting advocates to file a plea before the HC to decide the constitutional issue of the Gujarat Freedom of Religion Act, which does not have provisions for someone to turn atheist. The act only allows conversion from one religion to another," he was quoted to TOI.
Upadhyay is a Guru-Brahmin by caste, a scheduled caste but wants to opt for atheism. He is among the believers that his identity should not be restricted to religion and caste as barriers. The gazette office at Rajkot gave no comments on the issue. He has been trying for 3 years now and still struggling to establish an identity. But given his replacement name is itself so bizarre, we doubt he would get his plea agreed. It is actually a too long name to remember or even be known as.
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Mar 21, 2018 11:49 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).