Source: RNS

By Bhavya Dore

MUMBAI, India (RNS) Next month, Kanti Sarvaiya will abandon his Hindu heritage and become a Buddhist.

“Hinduism has done nothing for us,” said Sarvaiya, 20, who lives in the western state of Gujarat. “So our family elders have decided to convert.”

In July, upper-caste men publicly flogged a group of Dalits – formerly considered “untouchables” – in Mota Samadhiyala village on the suspicion of slaughtering a cow, which Indians consider sacred. Among the victims were Sarvaiya’s relatives.

Fed up with the divisiveness of Hinduism’s caste system — entrenched for centuries — he and his family want out.

On Oct. 11, in rallies across the state, at least 40,000 people are expected to “take deeksha” or formally covert to Buddhism in publicly organized ceremonies in at least four cities. Various Dalit groups and nonprofits are helping coordinate this series of rallies.

“More people die of caste-related violence than terrorism,” said Ashok Samrat, 35, a prominent Dalit leader in Gujarat who himself converted at a public event in 2009 and is helping organize the events. “Buddhism has shown the possibility of dignity and equality.”

Gujarat, which is Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s home state, has been seething with resentment since the July flogging. And it’s not the only Dalit-related controversy this year.

In January, Rohith Vemula, a Dalit doctoral student, committed suicide at the University of Hyderabad, triggering protests and leading to the initiation of criminal charges of caste-related atrocities against a minister and university vice chancellor.

In Mumbai, a Dalit teenager was killed for romancing an upper-caste girl, and in Tamil Nadu, a Dalit man was hacked to death for marrying an upper-caste woman.

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