'Hundreds of Dalits, Tribals embrace Buddhism' in Gujarat

Organisers of an event in Gujarat claimed 'hundreds of people' belonging to Dalit and tribal communities embraced Buddhism on the occasion of the 132nd birth anniversary of Dr B R Ambedkar on Friday.

The event was preceded by a mega rally organised by an outfit called Swayam Sainik Dal (SSD) in Gujarat's capital Gandhinagar, which saw participation from thousands of people, mostly Dalits and tribals.

The rally was organised to mark Dr Ambedkar's birth anniversary.

Participants from across the state gathered at Adalaj town in Gandhinagar district and then reached an open ground in Sector 11 in the state capital.

At the ground, rally organisers claimed 'hundreds of people' belonging to scheduled castes and scheduled tribes renounced Hinduism and embraced Buddhism by taking 'Dhamma Diksha' (ritual of conversion).

The initiation ceremony was presided over by Buddhist monk Bhante Pragyaratna.

The organisers, however, did not provide the exact number of people who converted to Buddhism at the venue.

Notably, Dr Ambedkar, along with his thousands of followers, embraced Buddhism on October 14, 1956, at Nagpur.

Those who embraced Buddhism at the Gandhinagar gathering took 22 vows which the chief architect of the Constitution took while embracing Buddhism more than 66 years ago.

These 22 pledges essentially ask the person embracing Buddhism to shun religious beliefs related to Hinduism.

"While lakhs of people attended the rally, hundreds embraced Buddhism at our gathering. While some of them have already submitted applications to respective district collector office to legalise their conversion, the others will do the same soon," said Ashvin Parmar, a media convener of SSD, a Dalit organisation which has no specific leadership or hierarchy.

On the occasion, several speakers claimed Dalits and tribals are forced to leave Hinduism because of caste-based discrimination.