Today is a very special day for millions of former untouchables in India. It was exactly 53 years ago on this very day i.e., on 14 October 1956, that Babasaheb Ambedkar ceremoniously led his 500,000 followers assembled in Nagpur to convert from Hinduism to Buddhism. This historic initiative was unique. History is of course replete with episodes of mass conversion. Yet, this was probably the only one that took place without any threat or promise of material gain. This conversion from the Hindu religion to Buddhism was based entirely on their unswerving faith in Ambedkar as a saviour and it changed the lives of millions of erstwhile untouchables forever.
Since I was barely three years old when my parents embraced Buddhism in that ceremony, I became a Buddhist at that tender age and grew up as a Buddhist. On this day of the anniversary of the conversion to Buddhism, I would like to share some thoughts on how millions of Ambedkarites like me feel looking back at this momentous transition.
To my mind, Ambedkar’s historic initiative must be seen in the broader context of his role as the leading champion of human rights and his mission to ensure human dignity and social justice to the millions of the oppressed at the bottom of the caste hierarchy.
Also See BSP and Dalit politics (Graphics)
To fully appreciate the context, one must make a distinction between two issues: Why did Ambedkar decide to shun Hinduism—which he announced in 1935—and then why did he choose Buddhism and get himself and his followers converted in 1956.
In a conference held in Yeola, a small town near Nashik, in October 1935, Ambedkar described to his followers how their struggle over the preceding decade to secure basic human rights and equal human status within Hindu society had failed. He was referring to the first public agitation of untouchables demanding to drink water from a public reservoir and denouncing Manusmruti in 1927 (Mahad, Konkan region of Maharashtra) and the Temple Entry Agitation at Kala Ram Temple in Nashik (1930-35).
For the first decade or so of his public life, Ambedkar had chosen to reform the Hindu religion by fighting it from within. He had tried to create a legitimate place for Dalits in Hindu society, but the upper castes had not budged. Out of sheer frustration, he said he was contemplating a change of religion. “Would it not be better to give up Hinduism and embrace another faith that would unreservedly give Dalits an equal status,” he asked. A moment later, he came out with his famous assertion: “Unfortunately, I was born a Hindu untouchable—there was nothing I could do to prevent it. However, it is well within my power to refuse to live under ignoble and humiliating conditions. I solemnly assure you that I will not die a Hindu.”