There is a political uproar after more than 10,000 people converted into Buddhism in the national capital on Wednesday. It has become a matter of concern for the BJP ruled government as many people are converting into Buddhism.
Hindutva
Time and again, who claim to be the torch bearers of Hindutva have been blaming the minority religions of conversions. Moreover, they made bold statements that Hinduism is at stake because of these religions.
Blaming other religions
Everyday they come up with new stories and vocabulary – Love Jihad, Child Jihad and many more. The leaders and the religious heads always give long lectures to arouse the feelings of the people against the minority religions. They feel that they have to safeguard the people as Hinduism is in danger due to the conversions and many more things.
Caste Discrimination
But the irony is that more than 10,000 people who converted to Buddhism said they faced caste discrimination on a daily basis which led them to take this step. Pushpkar Dev (63), his wife and two sons adopted Buddhism and said, “We are abused because of our caste in this society.”
Pushpkar who used to be a teacher in a government school . He said that they face discrimination in office and society. Recalling his first day in school, he said, “When I joined a school, the principal asked my name thrice despite my name being mentioned in the joining letter.”
Similarly, Durgadas, a plumber repairer said that most of the clients denied his service after knowing about his caste.
“Last Sunday, I got to know that a Buddha Dhamma Deeksha Samaroh event will be held at the Ashok Vijaya Dashmi,” he said.
Ashok Vijayadashami
According to the Buddhists celebrate Dussehra as Ashok Vijayadashami since it is thought that Ashoka, the Mauryan King, converted to Buddhism on this day. Moreover, it commemorates the day, October 14, 1956, when Dr. Bhim Rao Ambedkar converted to Buddhism.
Buddhist Society of India
A senior member of the Buddhist Society of India said that on this day, such event was organized in other parts of the country as well. Apart from the Hindu Dalits, people from other castes also converted to Buddhism. Harish Mehra, who is a Rajput and works as an advocate in Tis Hazari court said, “Buddhism is a religion that embraces everyone, there is neither any upper caste nor lower. We all are treated as equals.”
Taking an example of Indra Meghwal, a Dalit student who was allegedly beaten by his teacher for drinking water from a pot, Harish said, “The atrocities against Dalits infuriated the citizens like me and therefore I decided to adopt Buddhism”
B R Ambedkar
He added that the event was not against Hinduism and these vows are not something new. That was one of the 22 Vows taken by Dr. BR Ambedkar when he converted to Buddhism in 1956 at Deekshabhoomi in Maharashtra’s Nagpur.
The caste system has become a bane to the development in the society. Since ages, people are discriminated on the basis of caste, which is the most dangerous social evil in our country.
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