Posted on 11/06/2022 2:44:45 AM PST by FarCenter
NEW DELHI -- Recent mass conversions to Buddhism by Indian Dalits have underscored anew the fears and frustrations of a community of about 200 million people considered to be at the bottom of the traditional Hindu caste system.
"We refuse to be punished any longer," said Ramji Lal, 34, who attended a conversion event in New Delhi on Oct. 5. He was one of a crowd of around 8,000, according to organizers, who made a point of leaving Hinduism. Such conversions are seen as a protest by people commonly known as "untouchables" due to their descent, leading to a life of exclusion and often abuse.
On Oct. 14, in the southern state of Karnataka, more than 100 Dalit men and women did the same, throwing pictures of Hindu deities into the Krishna River to renounce their faith.
Converting to Buddhism is not new for Dalits. Indeed, the Karnataka event came on the anniversary of social reformer B. R. Ambedkar's public conversion to Buddhism in 1956, a move that continues to reverberate generations later. "If you continue to remain within the fold of Hinduism, you cannot attain a status higher than that of a slave," Ambedkar said in a speech 20 years before he made the change, according to a collection of essays and speeches published on the Indian Ministry of External Affairs website.
In 2013, organizers of a conversion event in the state of Gujarat claimed that 60,000 people abandoned Hinduism at once, local media reported at the time.
The trend stands out given the Hindu nationalism of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government, and raises further questions about the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) record on human rights, which is already under scrutiny for alleged discrimination against Muslims, an accusation the BJP denies.
The BJP appears to have mixed views on such conversions, but after the Oct. 5 event in the capital, parliamentarian Manoj Tiwari tweeted that the event was "anti-Hindu," and criticized a Delhi legislator and minister from the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) for attending. The Delhi BJP chief urged the AAP, which runs the capital territory government, to sack the minister, Rajendra Pal Gautam, "for his attempt to stoke communal tensions and spread hatred along religious lines within the country."
People always miss the point with this. Buddhism is essentially atheistic. People are choosing “no god” other a pantheon of gods who mandate that they be treated like garbage. It doesn’t improve their condition, however, It would be better if they became Christians. They will still face oppression but a whole new world of education, upward mobility, fellowship, and possibility open up for them!
Bkmk
Buddhist Dalits continue to have “reservations” as a scheduled class. The “reservations” are India’s version of “affirmative action”.
Christian Dalits do not. However, Indian Christianity is not “casteless”, and within Indian Christianity, the caste system still has a lot of power over who can associate with whom.
Buddhists do not believe in any kind of deity or god, although there are supernatural figures who can help or hinder people on the path towards enlightenment. While not believing in God, or a God, Buddhists believe in “the soul” (as in souls exists but there is no “creator”, just souls) and all souls keep reincarnating, based on Karma from past lives, unless and until they become so “enlightened” they reach “nirvana” and quit reincarnating for good. Then the soul will become another one of the “enlightened ones” and may assist lessor souls on their path of “enlightenment”. But no God.
I know what Buddhists believe - that’s why I think it is a largely empty, unreasonable and illogical belief system.
The point is that Christianity will change India for the better forever. Buddhism won’t.
When Buddhists speak of “supernatural beings” that may appear to someone to help them, one has to wonder just what such beings are? Demonic?
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