Buddhists Plan Mass Conversion in India's Gujarat State

AP, July 23, 2003

Ahmadabad, India, July 23--(AP) An Indian Buddhist group said Tuesday it plans to conduct a mass conversion of lower-caste Hindus into Buddhism in Gujarat state, where many such people took part in anti-Muslim riots that killed hundreds last year.

The World Buddhist Council, which has conducted such ceremonies elsewhere in India, says lower-caste people improve their lives by leaving Hinduism, because they lose the status that binds them to certain jobs and causes people to shun them.

The Buddhist Council said Tuesday that lower-caste people in Gujarat were misled into attacking Muslims last year, when 1,000 people died in riots that began with a Muslim mob attack on a train carrying Hindu nationalist activists. "These poor people were used extensively during the communal riot last year to attack the minority Muslims across the state," said Priya Rahul, president of the World Buddhists Council. "Now the Hindus have started washing their hands of the accusations of the violence and pushing the poor people as accused persons before the law."

Hindu nationalists swept to a record election victory in the western state of Gujarat after the riots, but has done nothing for the poor, Rahul said at a news conference.

The prospective converts "have realized that only Buddhism can teach them about real nonviolence and they can live their lives peacefully once they are converted to Buddhists," he said. Nearly 10,000 people throughout the state had agreed to participate in the mass conversion on Oct. 5 in the city of Vadodara, 117 kilometers (72 miles) north of Ahmadabad, the state's largest city, he said. The Buddhist Council has, however, announced such large numbers in the past--then had fewer turn out.

Gujarat state recently passed a law that prohibits most religious conversions unless a person receives permission from a magistrate. The law applies to those wanting to become Hindus, Muslims or Christians, but exempts those wanting to become Buddhists, Sikhs or Jains. Hindu nationalists believe the latter three faiths are offshoots of Hinduism and not separate religions. Most adherents of those faiths disagree.

Officials in Vadodara said they may prevent the mass conversion on the grounds of public safety if it involves too large a gathering.