02 August,2026 07:29 AM IST | Mumbai | Tanisha Banerjee
Pic/iStock
A seat opens. Two students walk through the same college gates. One arrives carrying generations of familiarity with higher education. The other is the first in the family to finish school, let alone enter university. There are no guidebooks at home, no one to explain what a credit system is, or how to navigate a campus that was never built with them in mind. They may have reached the same classroom, but they did not begin from the same starting line. Today if you search up images of Dalit or Bahujan community on the Internet, all of them will be indicative of poverty and stereotypical village persons, proving that we are still not talking about the caste system in the right direction.
That is the gap reservation attempts to address. For many Scheduled Caste (SC), Scheduled Tribe (ST), and Other Backward Class (OBC) students, admission is not the finish line but the first step in breaking an inherited cycle of exclusion. Gen Z, believed to be more liberal and woke than the previous generations, is now riding on the momentum of the Cockroach Janta Party's successful agitation with a new Instagram page called Reservation Hatao Andolan. The page has amassed more than 59 lakh followers within 10 days, making it one of the fastest-growing issue-based movements in the country. The campaign urges supporters to replace the slogan "Abolish Reservation" with "Support Merit", arguing that reservations undermine equality and educational standards while insisting that caste no longer determines opportunity.
The numbers, however, tell a different story. According to the 1931 Census, which remains the basis for estimating the OBC population, and the Mandal Commission Report (1980), OBC constitute roughly 52 per cent of India's population. The 2011 Census places Scheduled Castes at 16.6 per cent and Scheduled Tribes at 8.6 per cent, meaning these historically marginalised communities together account for well over three-fourths of India's population. Yet the Central reservation framework provides 27 per cent reservation for OBCs, 15 per cent for SCs and 7.5 per cent for STs in higher educational institutions and Central government employment. It is a combined 49.5 per cent, in line with the ceiling laid down by the Supreme Court in the Indra Sawhney (1992) judgment.
Dhanashree Tayade, a 22-year-old queer Dalit individual in Mumbai, says the speed with which the anti-reservation movement has gained traction among young people has been one of the most disheartening realities of the past week. "We had a lot of hopes from the youth of this country," they say, adding, "People expected Gen Z to be more open-minded and informed about how caste works. But supporting an andolan that demands reservation be discontinued is, in itself, a casteist position. The Ambedkarite community I am part of understands this as yet another form of discrimination coming our way."
For Tayade, the problem is having a refusal to acknowledge caste privilege. "Nobody is ready to give up their own privilege to help an oppressed community. The entire argument shifts to saying reservation should only be for economically weaker sections, completely ignoring that caste and class are not the same thing."
The idea that caste discrimination exists only in rural India is one they reject almost instantly. Growing up and studying in Mumbai, they say prejudice has followed them into classrooms, rehearsal spaces, and college offices. "The moment people realise you're from a Dalit family, their perception of you changes. I've been told, âYou don't look like a Dalit' and âYou're smart for a Dalit'. I had a breakdown in class because of how insensitive that sounded. I don't feel safe among these people, and we're talking about the youth here. What the older generation has said to us is a different story."
Even claiming benefits guaranteed under the reservation system, they say, is anything but straightforward. To receive a scholarship worth Rs 6000, Tayade had to obtain a caste certificate and validity certificate requiring decades-old family records, including their grandfather's fourth-grade school documents. "The process takes years. We submit nearly 30 pages of documents for such a small amount. And when was I finally able to claim it? Five years later."
The experience did not end there. At the scholarship counter in college, they recall being met with hostility instead of assistance. "There was literal dust on the counter. That's how many people have come to claim the scholarship. I remember thinking, âYahan pe koi aur Dalit hai ki nahi [Is there any other Dalit person here or not]?" they say, almost angrily, "He wouldn't even look me in the eye or tell me his name because he thought I didn't deserve to know it. I cried that day while trying to claim my own scholarship."
These experiences expose a contradiction at the heart of the "merit" debate. "If there are so many students competing for so few seats, why aren't people asking why we don't have more colleges and better infrastructure? Instead, they're blaming the most oppressed communities for taking away opportunities." Reservation, they argue, is about uplifting entire families who come from similar conditions and backgrounds. "When one person from our community studies, hundreds of younger children back home see that and believe they can do it too. It builds confidence. But if society keeps telling you that you don't deserve to be there, eventually you begin to believe it yourself."
This is exactly why the rise of the Reservation Hatao Andolan is a disturbing social media campaign. Gen Z might seem to fight for the seemingly right and liberal causes but, "they lack the understanding of the caste structure and its realities," Tayade concludes disappointedly.
52%
Percentage of our population that belongs to OBC category
Aryaman Kumar, from a Savarna background, talks about how unlearning casteism is the first step to resolving it
Unlike many voices dominating the online anti-reservation discourse, 23-year-old Aryaman Kumar, a Savarna from Delhi now living in Ranchi, believes the first step towards addressing caste is acknowledging one's own privilege. For him, that realisation began with an uncomfortable conversation and willingness
to change.
"I used to casually use the word chamaar," he admits, "It was my best friend, who belongs to that community, who told me it was being used as a casteist slur. That's when I realised how deeply casteism is embedded in our everyday language. We say these things without even recognising where they come from."
That discomfort resurfaced during the recent CJP protests, where slogans such as "Chai wala chor hai" echoed through crowds. "It made me uncomfortable because it implied that someone coming from that background is inherently incapable of leading the country. There are many reasons to criticise the Prime Minister, but why are we resorting to caste or a seemingly low-paying job? If we claim to oppose casteism, why are we using it as weapons to target the opposition?"
Kumar believes much of Gen Z's criticism of reservation stems from a poor understanding of why it exists. "The ideal solution is to end casteism altogether, but until that happens, reservation is the fairest system we have. It simply helps marginalised communities get their foot in the door. Once you recognise your own bias, you have to sit with that discomfort. That's the only way you begin to move beyond it."
27%
Reservation for OBCs in public higher education institutes
Author Yuvraj Pokharna explains why he rejects the reservation system to build equality in society
Offering a contrasting perspective is Yuvraj Pokharna,an activist and author of Hindutva for Gen Z. "I am completely against any caste, whether forward or backward. I believe we should move towards a caste and religion-agnostic society rooted in Hindutva, and with that, do away with the idea of reservation exponentially."
Pokharna argues that reservation was intended to be temporary. "Dr BR Ambedkar himself wanted reservation to be a temporary measure for the upliftment of the allegedly oppressed communities. Constitutionally, removing it today is not as easy as it sounds, but that should remain the goal for a casteless society."
Rejecting the idea that reservation goes with equality, "Those who chant âJai Bhim' are also weighing in for reservations. But if you want an equal society, then why talk about reservations? It is not fair to the Savarnas either."
"Discrimination is a part and parcel of every society, but you cannot paint an entire civilisation as casteist. You're telling me that for the past 3000 years, the Brahmins have monopolised the education system just to end up as watchmen in metro cities?" He believes Gen Z should not be judged. "We are putting too much burden on them. They are digitally native and don't care about someone's caste or creed. Once you fill that vacuum with Indian civilisational values, I think concepts like caste, sect, and creed will become obsolete."
Dr Abhijit Khandkar, a Dalit Ambedkarite, brushes away the argument against reservation as a lack of educating oneself about the structure and impact
As someone who teaches Gen Z students every day, Dr Abhijit Khandkar, a Dalit Ambedkarite doctor, co-founder of the Dalit poetry platform Reserved Compartment, and co-runner of the Ambedkarite Reading Circle in Mumbai, believes the generation is far more exposed than those before it. However, it is an illusion that they are more caste-conscious.
"It is possible that Gen Z is not as rigid, but that does not dismiss the casteism one also sees among them. It is not always outright. What I see more often is caste blindness." The success of the Reservation Hatao Andolan reflects a refusal to engage with decades of scholarship rather than a genuine debate. "There is so much material out there. I would suggest people read it because this question is so done and dusted. The burden of proof should not keep falling on us. We should not have to keep explaining why reservation exists. Reservation is not a poverty allievation program but for representation.
"Reservation is going to stay as long as caste is going to stay. It does not work the other way around. Speaking about caste doesn't make one casteist. People who say reservation is creating the divide know they're lying through their teeth. They simply don't want to let go of the privileges that come with their caste," he continues.
Drawing from his own experience, "Most people, including myself, from the Dalit Bahujan community are first or second-generation learners, and we have come this far because of reservation." Even today, he says, representation remains limited. "I am a medical doctor. Think about how many doctors who openly identify as Ambedkarite or Dalit are in private practice and receive patient referrals."
Despite his criticism, Khandkar remains cautiously hopeful about the generation he teaches. "Gen Z is not one homogeneous mass. There is a better chance of them becoming sensitised to caste awareness than previous generations. It is not easy, and it is tiring, but solidarities are built over time. Rome was not built in a day."
âOur schools don't teach caste'
Professor Yashwant Zagade explains that it is not the fault of Gen Z, but the fault of educational systems in failing to teach caste
Yashwant Zagade, teaching at Jindal Global Law School, says the popularity of anti-reservation campaigns among Gen Z is less a reflection of the generation itself and more an outcome of how India has historically failed to teach caste. "If you see the debate around reservation historically, not only today but even from colonial times, the popular perception has largely remained anti-reservation," he says, "Our schools and colleges, barring a few liberal institutions, never really teach why reservation exists. That bias has always been there.
"We are not even acknowledging the caste question. Confronting it is the next step, but unless we first acknowledge it, we will never understand why reservation exists. People don't realise that reservation is no longer only about caste. We already have EWS reservation for economically weaker sections. There is simply a lack of understanding.
"When someone says, âI know a Dalit who owns a Mercedes while a Savarna drives an auto,' they are looking at society through a very narrow lens. Caste is a structural issue. You cannot understand structural inequality through individual examples."
At the same time, Zagade believes the reservation system itself is not beyond reform. "There are genuine demands for sub-categorisation within OBC and SC communities so that the most marginalised groups receive a fair share of benefits." He also argues that reservation in government employment has become increasingly limited. "There are hardly any government jobs left. The conversation today should be about extending reservation to the private sector and private universities, because those are the spaces that are expanding but remain outside the reservation framework."
