Fifty families convert to Buddhism, converted to Valmiki community

- Accepted initiation in the presence of Babasaheb's great grandson

Lucknow Ta. Wednesday 21 October 2020

Fifty families of the Valmiki community, who were distressed by the incident after the gangrape and atrocities on a Dalit girl in Hathras, were reported to have renounced Hinduism and converted to Buddhism.

A spokesperson for these families said, "We were initiated into Buddhism in the presence of Rajaratna Ambedkar, the great-grandson of Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar." The incident took place in Karheda area of ​​Ghaziabad district in Uttar Pradesh. The area falls within the limits of Sahibabad police station.

236 people from the area organized and converted to Buddhism on the 14th of this month in the presence of Rajaratna Ambedkar. Speaking to the media, these people said that we were deeply saddened by the incident in Hathras. Fifty families decided to convert. In addition to the total 236 members of our fifty families, some Dalits took this initiation.

On the other hand, after the Hathras incident, information was circulating that the panchayats of Aligarh and surrounding areas had held meetings. These panchayats constantly alleged that this was a conspiracy to seduce the golden youth. The youths in Paglej jail had written a letter to the police chief saying that the Hathras incident was a case of honor killing and they were trying to mislead us.

In fact, it was noticed in the media that some anti-social elements were trying to increase tensions and spread violence by painting the incident as racist. A CBI team was present in Hathras and was investigating the incident.