Rohith Vemula’s mother Radhika and brother Naga Chaitanya at ‘deeksha’ ceremony in Mumbai on Thursday. (Express Photo by Ganesh Shirsekar) Rohith Vemula’s mother Radhika and brother Naga Chaitanya at ‘deeksha’ ceremony in Mumbai on Thursday. (Express Photo by Ganesh Shirsekar)

As Rohith Vemula’s mother Radhika and brother Naga Chaitanya embraced Buddhism at an abbreviated deeksha ceremony in Mumbai on Thursday, on the occasion of Dr B R Ambedkar’s 125th birth anniversary, it was more than just a rejection of the caste system. Reading out a prepared statement, Naga Chaitanya said this marks the beginning of a life his late brother had always dreamt of a life “free from shame, free from the daily humiliation”.

Their conversion, he told the media, was not part of the struggle to get justice for Vemula’s death. Instead, it was a “personal decision — because my brother could not take up Buddhism officially, we, the family, came to take up Buddhism.”

A PhD scholar at Hyderabad Central University who came from a Dalit family, Vemula had committed suicide on January 17. It was said to be the result of the HCU administration’s decision to suspend him, along with four other students, as part of disciplinary action for allegedly assaulting an ABVP leader.

“I want to caution the people responsible for my brother’s death that I will continue his fight till my last breath, and I am not alone. An entire generation has stood up to continue Rohith’s fight,” Naga Chaitanya said. When Prime Minister Narendra Modi can shed tears for Vemula, he asked, “why can’t he make a single proper statement about the people responsible for his death?”

The deeksha ceremony was organised by the Buddhist Society of India and Prakash Ambedkar, the grandson of Babasaheb and president of Bharatiya Republican Party Bahujan Mahasangh, who said the Vemulas had said they wanted to convert when he visited them recently in Hyderabad.

Rohith Vemula’s mother Radhika and brother Naga Chaitanya at the function where they converted to Buddhism in Mumbai (Express Photo by Kavitha Iyer) Rohith Vemula’s mother Radhika and brother Naga Chaitanya at the function where they converted to Buddhism in Mumbai (Express Photo by Kavitha Iyer)

READ: Full text of the statement of Rohith Vemula’s brother

Chaitanya said they had made the decision in November last year, when Vemula attended a friend’s wedding in Guntur in white clothes. “He said he was wearing clothes that are Buddhist. He also spoke a lot about why Ambedkar had chosen to convert to Buddhism in 1956,” Chaitanya said, adding that Vemula’s last rites were also conducted according to Buddhist traditions.

While the conversion programme was also organised for nearly 50 others who had made applications to the Buddhist Society of India, media attention around the Vemulas meant these people, mostly from the suburbs of Mumbai and a few from Pune and almost all of them from Scheduled Caste communities, underwent their initiation much later — in a longer, sombre ceremony overseen by a group of bhikshus.

Earlier, asked whether they were embracing Buddhism to underscore their caste in response to questions raised over whether Vemula was a Dalit, Naga Chaitanya said, “No. We are Indians first…we just wanted to come out of the caste system.”

Click on the image to read full text of statement of Rohith Vemula’s brother Click on the image to read full text of statement of Rohith Vemula’s brother

Cheradandaraju, Vemula’s senior from HCU and one of his three friends who accompanied the mother-son duo to Mumbai, said caste discrimination on the campus has continued to grow since his death. “Caste oppression exists in every department and Rohith, too, had to continually face it. Authorities say bring evidence of the discrimination. It happens in so many subtle ways against Dalit students…”he said.

Hours later, after the Vemulas left for Chaityabhoomi, the site of Dr Ambedkar’s interment, among those sitting at the spot was Madhav Gaikwad, 37, a bus conductor in Mumbai who comes from Latur in Marathwada, known as much for its poor performance on social indicators as for its ongoing agrarian crisis. “For three years now my family has given up idol worship. We haven’t had any kind of puja or (said) prayers to any Hindu god. “We used to worship all 33 crore Hindu gods, most of whose names we don’t even know, but once I came in contact with social organisations working for the uplift of people suffering caste discrimination, I saw that it was possible to be really equal.”

Gaikwad, a father of three, is a Mahar, the caste Ambedkar came from.

📣 The Indian Express is now on Telegram. Click here to join our channel (@indianexpress) and stay updated with the latest headlines

For all the latest India News, download Indian Express App.

© IE Online Media Services Pvt Ltd