Neo-Buddhists have progressed more than Hindu Dalits

Neo-Buddhists have progressed more than Hindu Dalits

-                   - SR Darapuri, National President, All India People's Front

Dr. Babasaheb Bhim Rao Ambedkar first hinted at religious conversion during the Mahad Talab Satyagraha in 1927 when he said, “We want equal rights in society. We will achieve as far as possible by remaining in Hindu society or if necessary, by kicking this useless Hindu identity.” In the beginning, Dr. Ambedkar tried his best to reform Hindu society. He wanted to remove untouchability while remaining in Hindu religion. His Mahad Satyagraha and Nasik Kalaram Temple Satyagraha (1930) are clear examples of his persistent efforts to reform Hinduism.

In the end, Babasaheb realized with pain that it was impossible to change the behaviour of the upper caste Hindus. So, he decided to give up Hinduism. The turning point came in October 1935 when Dr. Ambedkar made a shocking announcement: "I was born a Hindu untouchable, it was not in my power, but I will not die as a Hindu."

In 1936, Dr. Ambedkar put forward the option of choosing one religion among three religions, Islam, Christianity and Sikhism, which had clearly different advantages. He believed that adoption of Islam and Christianity among these three religions would lead to denationalization of the Depressed Classes and disorganization of the freedom struggle while adoption of Sikhism would not pose any threat to the country. In fact, in May 1936, Dr. Ambedkar sent his elder son Yashwant and 13 others to the Golden Temple, Amritsar to study Sikhism. But when he got the report that Jat Sikhs also commit atrocities and practice untouchability on Dalit Sikhs like Hindus, he left the idea of adopting Sikhism.

Dr. Babasaheb Bhim Rao Ambedkar on May 31, 1936 in Dadar (Bombay) “Why change religion? “speaking on the subject, said in his detailed speech,” I want to say in clear words that man is not for religion but religion is for man. If you want to attain humanity, then change your religion. If you want equality and respect, then change your religion. Change your religion if you want to earn your livelihood with freedom. If you want to make your family and community happy, then change your religion.”

On August 28, 1937, Babasaheb while addressing a group of untouchables asked his disciples to give up celebrating Hindu festivals. He said that religious conversion will happen, but there is a need to think and understand a lot in this matter. “The new religion will be adopted only after a lot of investigation.”

Finally, Babasaheb embraced Buddhism on October 14, 1956 at Deeksha Bhoomi, Nagpur with five lakh followers and said, "Today I have a new birth."

When Babasaheb talked about the conversion of the untouchables, it was opposed not only by the upper castes but also by the untouchable leaders. The upper caste leaders said that Dr. Ambedkar was misleading the untouchables. This is not going to benefit them. On the contrary, some also argued that Dr. Ambedkar was depriving them of the profit of Rs.400 by skinning and selling hides of dead animals.  On this Dr. Ambedkar said that I give five hundred rupees for the dead animal. Upper castes should come forward and earn profit by lifting the dead animal and take five hundred rupees from me. But no upper caste man came forward.

Some untouchable leaders were opposing the change of religion by saying that we should not leave the religion of our forefathers and fight for our rights by remaining as Hindus. They also said that this would not make any difference in the social and economic status of the untouchables.

Let us now see to what extent the objectives and possibilities of religious conversion mentioned by Babasaheb have been fulfilled. First, it would be appropriate to see what the pace of conversion to Buddhism is. According to the Census Report of 2011, the population of Buddhists in India is about 84.42 lakhs, which is about 0.7 percent of the total population. In this, 13% are traditional Buddhists and 87% are Neo-Buddhists converted from Hindu Dalits. Maharashtra has the maximum number of 65 lakh Buddhists. In the period from 2001 to 2011, the population of Buddhists has increased by 6.1% but the total population has decreased from 0.8% to 0.7%, which is a matter of serious concern.

Now, if the qualitative change in Neo-Buddhists is compared with that of Hindu Dalits, then it is proved that Neo-Buddhists have moved ahead of Hindu Dalits in all fields, which confirms the fulfillment of the objectives of Babasaheb's religious conversion. If Neo-Buddhists are compared with Hindu Dalits based on data obtained from 2011 Census, then Neo-Buddhists are found to be far ahead of Hindu Dalits in the following areas: -

1.  Sex Ratio: -Among the Neo-Buddhists population 41.11% are females and 50.80% are males. The sex ratio of females and males among Neo-Buddhists is 965 per thousand while among Hindu Dalits this ratio is 945 only. This proves that the condition of women among Neo-Buddhists is much better than that of Hindu Dalits. The high sex ratio of women among Neo-Buddhists is in line with the equality status of women in Buddhism while the sex ratio of women among Hindu Dalits is in line with the low status of women in Hinduism. This sex ratio of females among Neo-Buddhists is higher than the national ratio of 943, Hindus (939), Muslims( 951), Sikhs (903) and Jains( 954).

2.   Sex Ratio of Children (up to 0-6 years): - According to the above population census, the sex ratio of girls and boys in the age group of 0-6 years among Neo Buddhists is 933 while among Hindu Dalits this ratio is also 933. Here also the sex ratio of boys and girls is according to their place in the religion. The sex ratio among Neo-Buddhists is higher than the national rate of 918, 913 among Hindus, 826 among Sikhs and 889 among Jains.

3.   Literacy Rate: - The Literacy Rate among Neo-Buddhists is 81.30% while among Hindu Dalits this rate is only 66.10% only. The literacy rate of Neo-Buddhists is higher than the national rate of 72.98%, 73.27% of Hindus, 68.54% of Muslims and 75.4% of Sikhs. This clearly proves that on account of giving more importance to knowledge and education in Buddhism. Neo-Buddhists have made a lot of progress in the field of education, which is much more than that of Hindu Dalits.

4.   Literacy Rate of women: - The literacy rate of women among Neo-Buddhists is 74.04%, while this rate is 56.50% only among Hindu Dalits. The female literacy rate among Neo-Buddhists is higher than the national female literacy rate of 65.46%, 64.63% of Hindu females, and 68.50% of Muslims. This proves that more attention is paid to the education of women among Neo-Buddhists.

5.  Work Participation Rate (Regular Employment): - The work participation rate among Neo-Buddhists is 43.1% while among Hindu Dalits this rate is 40.87%. The work participation rate of Neo-Buddhists is higher than the national participation rate of 39.8%, 41.0% for Hindus, 32.6% for Muslims, 41.9% for Christians, and 36.3% for Sikhs. This proves that Neo-Buddhists are ahead of everyone in the category of having regular jobs as compared to all other classes, which has been possible only because of their high literacy rate. For this very reason, they are economically more prosperous than Hindu Dalits.

It is clear from the above comparative study that the sex ratio, literacy rate, female education rate and work participation rate among Neo-Buddhists is not  only higher than Hindu Dalits but also that of Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs and Jains at the national level. The main reason for this is change of religion. They have become more progressive by becoming free from mental slavery.

Apart from this, it has been found in studies done by different researchers that the families and sub-castes of Dalits who have adopted Dr. Ambedkar and Buddhism have progressed more than Hindu Dalits. They have left the old dirty professions and adopted new clean professions. They are more inclined towards education. They are free from fatalism and stand on their own feet. They have become more self-respecting by freeing themselves from low caste inferiority complex. They have also become free from economic exploitation in the name of religion and have improved their economic condition. The condition of their women and children is much better than that of Hindu Dalits.

From the above brief discussion, it is proved that Buddhism is really the right path for the welfare and liberation of Dalits. Neo-Buddhists have made a lot of progress in comparison to Hindu Dalits in a short span of time. They have attained a new identity of Neo-Buddhists. They have become more self-respecting and progressive than before. Their view of the world and religion has become more rational and scientific. Hence Hindu Dalits should take inspiration from the changes that have come through the change of religion among the Neo-Buddhists and the progress made by them. They should free themselves from the mental slavery of Hinduism and move forward like Neo-Buddhists. They can get equality and freedom by coming out of the hell of caste by getting a new identity. Along with this, Neo Buddhists should also become good Buddhists and present a good example in front of Hindu Dalits so that Babasaheb's dream of making India Buddhist can be realized as soon as possible.

 

 

 

Conversion To Buddhism Has Brought Literacy, Gender Equality And Well-Being To Dalits

 

Conversion To Buddhism Has Brought Literacy, Gender Equality And Well-Being To Dalits

By Manu Moudgil|, 1 July, 2017

 

 

There are more than 8.4 million Buddhists in India and 87% of them are converts from other religions, mostly Dalits who changed religion to escape Hindu caste oppression. The remaining 13% of Buddhists belong to traditional communities of the north-east and northern Himalayan regions.

Today, these converts to Buddhism--also called neo-Buddhists--enjoy better literacy rates, greater work participation and sex ratio than Scheduled Caste Hindus, the group from which most converts emerge, according to an IndiaSpend analysis of 2011 Census data.

Given that converts make for 87% of the Buddhist population in India and most of them are Dalits, our analysis goes with the assumption that the benefits of growth in the community accrue mostly to the Dalits.

Buddhists have a literacy rate of 81.29%, higher than the national average of 72.98%, according to Census data. The literacy rate among Hindus is 73.27% while Scheduled Castes have a lower literacy rate of 66.07%.

“Most Dalits at the senior levels of administration are Buddhists,” said Satpal Tanwar, a leader of Bhim Army, the activist organisation accused of the Saharanpur violence of May 5, 2017, and now mulling mass conversion of Dalits to Buddhism. “This is because Buddhism lends them self-confidence as compared to the caste system which tends to rationalise their low social status through vague concepts like bad karma.”

Better literacy rates

It is only in the traditional communities of the northeast, especially in Mizoram (48.11%) and Arunachal Pradesh (57.89%), that Buddhists have a lower literacy rate than the population average.

On the other hand, Chhattisgarh (87.34%), Maharashtra (83.17%) and Jharkhand (80.41%) have the most number of literate Buddhists. The conversion movement has been the strongest in Maharashtra, followed by Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka, and Uttar Pradesh.

Source: Census 2011; Note: Figures as percentage of population

Maharashtra’s story is unique because it has the highest proportion (5.81%) of Buddhists in its population than other Indian states--more than 6.5 million. It was the home state of BR Ambedkar’s where he, along with 600,000 followers, switched to Buddhism in 1956. This form of protest against casteism continues to this day though, as IndiaSpend reported on June 17, 2017, the growth rate of such conversions is declining.

In Uttar Pradesh, 68.59% Buddhists are literate, higher than total population average (67.68%) and nearly eight percentage points higher than the figure for other Scheduled Castes (60.88%).

Better gender parameters

Female literacy among Buddhists in India is also considerably higher (74.04%) than the total population average (64.63%), data show. Among neo-Buddhist states, only Uttar Pradesh (57.07%) and Karnataka (64.21%) show female literacy rates lower than total population averages, but these are still considerably higher than Scheduled Castes in these two states.

Source: Census 2011;

NOTE: Figures as percentage of female population

In 2011, the sex ratio among Buddhists is 965 females per 1,000 males as compared to 945 for total Scheduled Castes. The national average sex ratio was 943. Buddhists also tend to have fewer children.

The Census 2011 data shows that there are 11.62% children in 0-6 year age group among Buddhists compared to 13.59% national average. This means, for every hundred population, Buddhists have two children less than the average.

But can it be said that neo-Buddhists are more inclined towards education than Dalits? Or is there a greater possibility that Dalits turn to Buddhism after attaining education?

Around 43% of Buddhists stay in urban areas as compared to total population average of 31%, which also increases their chances of being educated. But the reality is not simple.

Around 80% Buddhists are from Maharashtra, which has better literacy and urban ratio than the national average. Within Maharashtra, the literacy rate, urbanisation levels and child ratio among Buddhists is slightly better than for other groups.

The Maharashtra story: How the Mahars found a better life

The development among Maharashtrian Buddhists can be attributed to Ambedkar’s call for education and certain social conditions.

Ambedkar was from the Mahar community which had little agricultural land and no fixed traditional occupation in a village society. They often stayed on the periphery of their villages and acted as watchmen, messengers, wall menders, adjudicators of boundary disputes, street sweepers and so on.

This flexibility of profession ensured that Mahars were more mobile than others. Many of them, including Ambedkar’s father, joined the British Army. Even before Ambedkar embraced Buddhism, he asked the Dalits to take to education.

“Lack of farm land or traditional occupation made it easy for Mahars to take to education as the means for gainful employment,” said Nitin Tagade, assistant professor, Savitribai Phule Pune University, who has studied the economic condition of Maharashtra’s neo-Buddhists. “So, they had a head start as compared to other communities in attaining education and moving to cities.”

Around 47.76% Buddhists stay in cities compared to the Maharashtra state average of 45.22%, according to Census 2011. Among those in rural Maharashtra, most working Buddhists continue to be agricultural labourers (67%), which is much higher than the rural population average of 41.50%.

Their improved social status through education has helped neo-Buddhists contribute more to the national economy than Scheduled Castes. Their work participation ratio (43.15%) is higher than of total Scheduled Castes (40.87%) and higher also than the national average (39.79%).

(Moudgil is an independent journalist and the founder-editor of GoI Monitor, a web magazine on grassroots and development.)

Courtesy: IndiaSpend