On 5th of October on the occasion of Dussehra at the Dr BR Ambedkar Bhavan in New Delhi, 10,000 Hindus converted to Buddhism .During the event, people were asked to pledge not to consider Hindu deities and gods and goddesses anymore and were asked to show full faith in Buddhism. The event was organised by Aam Aadmi Party’s (AAP) Rajendra Pal Gautam, Minister of Social Welfare in Delhi, Bharatiya Boddh Mahasabha, and Buddhist Society of India, the program was attended by many Buddhist monks along with Rajratna Ambedkar, great-grandnephew of Dr BR Ambedkar and President of Buddhist Society of India.

 

In the Jai Bhim Mission program, 10 thousand Hindus were administered an oath that they would not worship Hindu gods and goddesses. During this the people attending the event was heard saying, “I will not consider or worship the Hindu deities Brahma, Vishnu, Mahesh, Shri Ram and Shri Krishna as God. I will have no faith in Rama and Krishna, who are believed to be incarnations of God.” This oath was very similar to the controversial 22 pledges of BR Ambedkar.

 

The oath further added “I do not believe nor will I believe that Lord Buddha was an incarnation of Vishnu. I consider this to be mere madness and false propaganda. I will not perform Shradh nor will I perform Pind Daan. The man dressed in saffron continued the oath, “I will not allow any ceremony to be performed by Brahmins. I renounce Hinduism, which is harmful to humanity and hinders their development, because it is based on inequality. I accept Buddhism as my religion.”

 

During the programme, AAP minister Rajendra Pal Gautam was seen reiterating these controversial lines and sharing the stage with the man. Later, in his speech, he urged Hindus to renounce their religion and follow the path of Dr. Ambedkar. Gautam said, “If you do not want to be called a traitor, then we need to spread this message of BR Ambedkar to every household. If the species is created by nature, then why is there no species in France, China, Korea, Australia, New Zealand? Who benefited from this caste system and who suffered the most? BR Ambedkar had found the medicine for this disease and now we are spreading it.” Rajendra Pal Gautam also lamented how BR Ambedkar died within a month of converting to Buddhism and he could not change the whole country.

 

Who knew that these words will haunt him down and will go on to topple his entire life. On 9th of October, Rajendra Pal Gautam was made to resign from the post of Social Welfare Minister. About the resignation he stated “I do not want my leader Arvind Kejriwal or the party to be in any trouble because of me. I am a true soldier of the party and I will follow the ideals of BR Ambedkar and Gautam Buddha throughout my life.” Now On 11th of October he was questioned by the Delhi Police in connection with a religious conversion event on Tuesday. A complaint was filed against him last week for denouncing Hindu deities on 5th of October. The Delhi Police are now probing the case and will be questioning all people involved with the event. The Delhi police have issued a notice to AAP leader and MLA Rajendra Pal Gautam instructing him to visit the Pahar Ganj station with all documents related to the ‘conversion’ event. Gautam reached the Paharganj police station today on 11th of October at around 2.30 pm and was questioned for three hours.

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