Delhi Conversion Politics – Let us not take it lightly

Two days back a mass conversion of some people from Hindu dharma to Bouddha took place in Delhi. As per reports and acceptance by the main characters of this show, it was led by a great grand nephew of Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar, apparently a Bhiku; and a senior AAP minister. While conversions by free will, that too within same Dharmic fold is not an issue of public or political debate, it became a topic of bitter discussions because the AAP minister, a self-proclaimed proselytiser was leading this pledge taking from the stage. It was the pledge taken by Dr Ambedkar when he changed his dhamma in 1956. An essentially religious activity turned into a political spectacle as the person presiding over the ceremony was a politician.

A number of issues crop up due to this event –


Why is there anger now when the same pledge was repeated two days back? Because the situation is not the same anymore. Dr Ambedkar saw to it before he left this world that the Indian Constitution included assertive action or positive discrimination for his oppressed brethren with reservations and many such provisions. When his followers repeat the same pledge, they virtually admit that 70 years of new laws giving them special status has not worked for them. Despite Dalit brethren rising in every stream of social life and political establishment due to the Constitution of Dr Ambedkar and open acceptance of the mistakes of the past by Hindu society, should we stick to old ideas change with the times?

Dr Ambedkar was a dynamic thinker. He expressed different views through his chequered career on different occasions. We may not agree with all of them, just as we don’t agree with everything many illustrious leaders and thinkers say. But, we respect them. I am sure, he too would have not stuck to the same pledge that he made then. He never claimed his word to be final as he was a staunch follower of Buddha.

His conversion was a social event with far-reaching consequences. He did not turn that event into a political spectacle as the AAP minister has done.

If we recall, Dr Ambedkar had a very critical view of Islam. Since he was busy looking after the welfare of his own oppressed brethren he did not actively work for the oppressed people who had converted to other Abrahamic religions but never got justice promised by those so-called religions of equality and non-discrimination. If he had lived for a few years more, I am sure he would have picked up cudgels on behalf of those oppressed people too.
This generation of supposed disciples of Dr. Ambedkar has the time and power to fight for the injustice being suffered by other brethren who converted to allegedly elite religions. But they have chosen to be silent. Would Babasaheb have remained silent? Surely not.

This brings me to the second issue –

2. Why are so-called Ambedkarites totally silent on the oppression, exploitation and persecution of our Dalit brethren by other Abrahamic religions like Christianity and Islam? There are routine stories about Muslims burning Dalit homes, raping Dalit women, even minor children, beating up a Dalit for riding a horse in is wedding etc. Why no so-called Ambedkarite has ever spoken against such crimes? Why have they not spoken in favour of Pasmanda Muslims who are marginalised by the powerful Ashraf Muslim leaders? Why have they not invited them to become Bouddha?

Dalit Sikhs (called in derogatory terms – Majhabi) have been treated badly by upper caste, upper class Sikhs in Punjab. They even have their own gurudwaras as they find it difficult to find respectful space in common gurudwaras. Are Ambedkarites not aware of this insult? These communities are converting to Christianity in large numbers. Did it ever occur to these leaders that they could take care of these oppressed people and offer them to convert to Buddhism rather than Christianity. I say this because Dr Ambedkar had strictly refused to convert to Christianity or Islam despite so many allurements as he believed that these religions would uproot his followers from their Bharatiya roots. But these current day great leaders are quiet.

This brings me to my third point –

3. Casteism or dividing people into different castes or classes is a common feature of humanity at large. So much so, that the Dalit leaders who are fans of British, overlook that fact that the British have actually institutionalised social inequality by instituting a House of Lords (the privileged (upper class) and a House of Commons (the name says it all). Both the categories of people have hardly any close interaction or intermixing. We will find such hierarchies in most of the societies. This does not absolve us of our problems though.

We overlook the fact that caste-based hierarchy despite strong efforts by Hindus to weaken if not remove them are prevalent not just in Hindu society but in all other religious groups in Bharat too. There are unabashed Brahmin Christians who don’t go inside a ‘Dalit’ Christian’s Church or inter-marry. Similarly, there are Ashraf, Ajlaf Muslims and there are also Pasmanda (low caste) Muslims who hardly mingle with each other despite the glamorous call of universal brotherhood.

Thus, casteism is not just a Hindu problem but an Indian problem. Are we serious about resolving it and providing respectful space to all the oppressed Indians who suffer because of slave, colonised mindset that created these hierarchies that had no religious sanction in Hindu society and of course not in so-called casteless religions mentioned above?

The only way possible is to make caste inconsequential, give it up as the main identity of any Indian or exploit it as political weapon that further cements the divide and makes a solution more difficult to arrive at.

And the final point –

4. Exploiting the fault lines of our ancient throbbing alive society has been a favourite game of leftists and their fellow travellers like secular parties and intellectuals. They have now been joined in by Islamist groups. The drama in Delhi is part of this breaking India cabal’s game. We celebrate our diversities as the hall mark of our great civilisation. We believe that our inherent unity, our Hinduness or Bharatiyata is expressed and celebrated in diverse forms that makes our society so alive and celebratory. However, Breaking India forces wish to use these very diversities as a tool to break the society for the sake of capturing political power by any means. We saw that no political leader, including the party to which the minister belongs, viz AAP, has condemned this hate mongering.

This is a give away that the party doesn’t mind it. The cynical interpretation of secularism as fundamentally a vehicle of Hindu-hate and dividing Hindu society needs to be challenged and stopped. Much has happened in last eight years but the danger persists. We need to defeat this mentality and see that our weakness is not used to break our unity. For this Hindu society needs to go out with more commitment and solve the problems of inequality and inequity that our oppressed brethren have faced for generations. Once we treat them as our own, no one can exploit the situation.