AHMEDABAD: Three-odd years after thousands of dalits embraced Buddhism in Junagadh, the Buddhist movement is gaining ground again in the state. Following the Una atrocity, voices urging dalits to renounce Hinduism and embrace Buddhism have become stronger.

After four dalit youths were flogged for skinning a dead cow in Una, the state has been the site of agitations by several groups, chiefly Una Dalit Atychar Ladat Samiti, Gujarat Anusuchit Jati Sangharsh Samiti, and Dalit Samman Sangharsh Samiti. Amid protests, Buddhist groups such as the Bharatiya Bauddh Sangh, the Bharatiya Bauddh Mahasabha, and the Dhamma Diksha Samiti have begun telling dalits that they will not considered unequal if they embraced Buddhism.

The chief of Bharatiya Bauddh Sangh, Rahul Sanghpriya, had met the Una victims. He had held a massive mass conversion drive in Vadodara in 2003. "We have planned a nationwide Buddha Jagruti Yatra which will be flagged off by the victims of Una from Delhi," Sanghpriya told TOI. "The yatra will focus on Gujarat to enlighten dalits about the ideology of Buddha, and if dalits embrace Buddhism they will be treated as equals."

Sanghpriya said dalits had been treated as untouchables in Hinduism. "Our yatra will reach Ahmedabad on December 6, the death anniversary of Babasaheb," he said. "And it will cover the entire state till Buddha Purnima on May 10 next year." He said that a programme of mass conversion will be held in the state on Buddha Purnima.

P G Jyotikar, the chief of the Bharatiya Bauddh Mahasabha, said: "Our organization will hold a mass conversion drive in Ahmedabad and Kalol towns where we expect around 100 people at each place to embrace Buddhism."

Dr Nitin Gurjar of the Dhamma Diksha Samiti stressed that the conversion drive was not a vengeful exercise but an attempt to free dalits from the shackles of the caste system. "We have been receiving good response from dalits in villages and we will strategize a phase-wise drive of mass conversion," he said. "Embracing Buddhism has become a part of the Ambedkarite movement."



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