FORGETTING AMBEDKAR

CONVERSION TO BUDDHISM INTRODUCES A CERTAIN AMOUNT OF RATIONAL THINKING THAT FACILITATES MODERN THOUGHT

- KOBAD GHANDY

WHEN WE WERE in Nagpur, Anuradha and I would visit Diksha Bhoomi on Dussehra every year. It was here that B.R. Ambedkar took diksha (initiation) into Buddhism on October 14, 1956. The occasion is commemorated every year, and lakhs of people turn up. This was in the 1990s; I believe the crowds are even larger now. It is also the day when the sarsanghchalak of the RSS issues his public address on a ground just about 5km away. In those days, barely a few thousand people would be present at the RSS function.

There was a Buddhist temple in one corner of the Diksha Bhoomi ground. But, what interested us most was the fact that the ground was ringed with hundreds of bookshops selling volumes on Ambedkar(ism), Buddhism and dalit literature. While the speeches were on, people would be browsing the book stalls and interacting with others. Those days, the government would make little arrangements for those gathered. It was more like a dalit mela than a religious gathering.

After receiving ordination, Ambedkar gave dhamma diksha to his followers. An important part of the ceremony was 22 vows; among them, giving up one’s faith in Hindu gods and rituals. He administered vows to 3.8 lakh followers that day. Though Ambedkar died a few months after converting, most of the Mahars (Ambedkar’s caste and 70 per cent of the dalit population of Maharashtra) converted to Buddhism eventually.