posted November 15, 2001 06:03 PM            

Hindu 'untouchables' seek Buddhist escape
November 5, 2001 Posted: 1:28 PM HKT (0528 GMT)

NEW DELHI, India -- In a bid to shun centuries of caste discrimination thousands of India's low-caste Hindus have converted to Buddhism.

India's most disadvantaged community, Hindu Dalits, defied police restrictions and sweltering heat Sunday in a ceremony that they hope will release them from lives marked by discrimination.

Whilst facing a bronze idol of Buddha, bare-headed converts chanted "we will no longer pray to Hindu gods and goddesses," and other mantras.

Police fearful of religious clashes dampened the ceremony, billed as the largest mass conversion in the country's history.

India's more than 100 million Dalits, referred to as 'untouchables', say they are fed up with being exploited by upper-caste Hindus, even though caste discrimination is illegal.

Many hope the conversion to Buddhism will lead to better treatment and social equality in a country steeped in a 3,000 year-old caste system.

Supporters of conversion say it is more about liberating the minds of individuals and strengthening the belief that their place in society is not pre-ordained, yet even after conversion they are still considered by many Hindus as low caste.

Hindu activists closely allied to members of the governing political party Bharatiya Janata Party have often opposed conversions, including moves towards Christianity from a religion set at birth.

Larger rally blocked

Monks shaved the heads of converts, while onlookers showed support for the downfall of caste discrimination.
The ceremony would have been bigger, yet "police blocked more than 80 percent of (the) one million people expected … by stopping their buses in neighboring states," chief organizer Ram Raj told the Associated Press.

Critics say the conversion ceremony was a political rally organized with an eye on elections in the politically crucial state of Uttar Pradesh due before next March.

Yet others dismissed the suggestion. "It's not a political move. If it had been, why would people from all over the country have come for this ceremony?" D.R. Rahul, a lawyer from central Madhya Pradesh state, told Reuters.

He converted to Buddhism in 1967 after upper castes did not allow him to enter a Hindu temple.

Discrimination rules

Converts line up at the first of many conversions planned every month until April next year.
It has been nearly 50 years since India's constitution outlawed discrimination in India based on caste, although it does still exist in Hindu society, particularly in rural areas.

Dalits are often barred from sharing wells or temples with upper-caste Hindus, a system sanctified by ancient religious texts.

Dehumanized each day, Dalits are discriminated against in schools and teashops. Many are landless laborers taking on society's minimum wage jobs.

India's minority Christians, often at odds with the majority Hindus over conversions and discrimination, supported the Dalits move towards Buddhism.

posted November 17, 2001 10:26 PM            

A constituent partner of the ruling PA coalition led by President Chandrika Kumaratunga has called for a "separate state" (Eelam) in the strife-torn north and eastern region raising a fresh controversy.

The Eelam People's Democratic Party (EPDP) has also vowed to campaign for a fully autonomous administrative unit in the north and east with a permanent merger – a demand similar to that of other Tamil parties.

EPDP leader Douglas Devananda, a Cabinet Minister in the PA government, told local newspapers that his party position has been made clear in the manifesto released earlier this week, that he will never give up his goal to achieve a separate state or 'Eelam'.

Posters sprung up this week in the capital Colombo bearing the photograph of Devananda and a section from the manifesto which said one of his party's ambitions was gaining a 'separate state'. Devananda confirmed the posters were put by his party.

The EPDP has declared in its manifesto that it would want the government to seek the facilitation of India and Norway when talks are held at the international level with the LTTE.

One of the salient features in the manifesto is that Eelam under the EPDP should have all powers to negotiate for foreign loans, investments and donations.

"Even at present we are importing cement directly from India, to Jaffna and we are selling it at a nominal price, rather than getting from Colombo at a higher price. Therefore I see nothing wrong in calling for this", he said.