Daijiworld Media Network - Gandhinagar (SHP)
Gandhinagar, Oct 28: Over 1,500 Dalits from around Gujarat converted into Buddhism for equality.
The event was organised by the Gujarat chapter of Buddha’s Light International Association (BLIA), an international Buddhist organisation. Religious head, Hsin Bau and Buddhist monk from Taiwan presided over the event. The function had people taking the pledge to follow Buddhism after they registered with BLIA for the function. Among the attendees, former BLIA president of Gujarat Chapter and current Congress MLA from Dasada constituency Naushad Solanki and former BJP MP Ratilal Varma were present.
One of the BLIA advisors in Gujarat claimed that most of the people present in the event were pledging to follow Buddhism for the first time.
One of the residents from Surendranagar in Saurashtra said, “Equality is the only reason for us to embrace Buddhism. As Hindus we did not find equality, We are witnessing a lot of discrimination and atrocities against people of Scheduled Caste (Dalits). Surendranagar is notorious for it.”
Recently, on Vijayadashami or Dussehra, around 500 Dalits from different parts of Gujarat embraced Buddhism at three separate functions in Ahmedabad city, Mehsana and Idar of Sabarkantha district. The predominant reason for embracing Buddhism by the Dalits was said to be the unfair treatment they experience in the Hindu culture. One of the converted stated that the caste system and the hierarchy made him take the pledge to follow Buddhism.