Thousands of Hindu Dalits and Tribals convert to Buddhism in BJP’s Gujarat.

In a failed Hindutva model in BJP’s Gujarat, 50000 Dalits embrace Buddhism at a mega event in a day.

Citing the discrimination in the state, the Swayam Sainik Dal (SSD), the program organizer reminded, ‘along with his thousands of followers, Ambedkar embraced Buddhism on October 14, 1956, in Nagpur’….

Upendra Bharti | HENB | New Delhi | April 15, 2023:: Believing in their masterstrokes in hopping to the Mosques, Madrasas, and Churches and giving more new packages for Truptikaran (appeasement) of the minority Muslims and Christians in view to earning the Sabka Vishwas (trust of all); BJP has failed to retain its Dalit and Tribal baseline in Gujarat, which is believed to be the laboratory of Hindutva and a model for them as well.

Nearly 50,000 people belonging to the Dalit and tribal communities on Friday renounced Hinduism. They embraced Buddhism on the 132nd birth anniversary of social reformer BR Ambedkar at Gandhinagar in Gujarat.

Baudh Bhikshu Pragya Ratna of the Great Ashoka Buddh Vihar in Porbandar administered the ‘Deeksha’ to the hundreds of thousands of attendees. Citing the caste discrimination in the BJP-ruled state of Gujarat, the Swayam Sainik Dal (SSD), the program organizer reminded, ‘along with his thousands of followers, Ambedkar embraced Buddhism on October 14, 1956, in Nagpur’.

The Swayam Sainik Dal (SSD), a Rajkot-based Dalit outfit organised the event. The event was preceded by a mega rally that saw participation from thousands of people, mostly Dalits, and tribals. On the occasion, several speakers claimed Dalits and tribals are forced to leave Hinduism because of caste-based discrimination in Gujarat and India.

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. Many of the points in these 22 pledges directly attack Hindu sentiments.

“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 that has no specific leadership or hierarchy.

Meanwhile, Gujarat BJP leaders disagreed with the conversion. BJP Scheduled Cast Morcha General Secretary Shambhunath Tundiya and BJP National President SC Morcha Lal Singh Arya stated that religious freedom is for everyone, but conversion due to misinformation is wrong.

“Religious freedom is for everyone, but conversion is wrong. Some people change religion by making false allegations and spreading misinformation; I abhor such conversion,” said Tundiya.

Religious conversion has been taking place in Gujarat for a long. Converts have made complaints to the media that even today a Dalit boy is not permitted to ride a horse or grow a mustache in the state. so they prefer to escape the humiliation by giving up their faith.

Now, it is evident that the so-called Gujarat model of Hindutva as propounded by BJP and its mentor RSS has failed to earn the confidence of the Dalit and Tribes of the state as they distanced from Sangha Parivar’s fake ”all-embracing” ideology now framed in a new political epithet like ”Sabka Vishwas” as propagated by PM Modi who was also the 4 time Gujarat CM as well.

The BJP’s vote politics is not serious enough to consolidate the Hindutva Vote Bank rather it is engaged in garnering the minority votes by appeasing Muslims and Christians in a very wrong way.

Such mass conversion of Dalits and Tribal in any other faith denouncing Hindu religion does not enhance the strength of BJP anyway. At the same time, such conversions due to RSS-BJP’s failure to keep the social strength intact in favour of Hindutva will create a subversive trend against the majority people in India.

Another concern, the Swayam Sainik Dal (SSD) is developing its own regimentation in a paramilitary force like the banned Popular Front of India (PFI). But, why?

RSS-BJP must think of it to save the situation.

…

___News inputs from PTI.

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