The mass conversion rally in Nagpur, where a million Dalits were to change their religion today, turned out to be a damp squib with only 600 of them in attendance.
The VIPs, too, decided to give the event a miss. The only people who had turned up in strength were reporters from across the world.
Titled World Freedom of Conscience and Freedom of Religion Day, the rally was planned to coincide with the 50th anniversary of B.R. Ambedkar’s conversion to Buddhism.
V.P. Singh and Mayavati were on the guest list, but there was no sign of the two, although Mayavati was in the city to address a BSP meeting.
The Telegraph - Calcutta : Nation
So much for a religious rebellion meant to shake the very foundations of Hindu society. The non-event appeared finely spun in the international press, which leads me to believe that at least some of the organizers were from western Christian bodies. The drive took place in many cities in India. The most impressive may have been in Karnataka.
Christian and Buddhist activists jointly organized the effort. That Christians have appropriated Ambedkar seems curious to me: it is well-known that the Dalit hero and Indian founding father rejected Christianity for the Dalits because he ardently felt that the religion would "denationalize" them, besides forestalling the emancipation of India.
But exigencies create coalitions. The Dalit Buddhists don’t have much money, but they have the prestige of being Ambedkar’s spiritual heirs; the Christians have plenty of money, but are associated with westernization and colonialism.
The Christian groups probably don’t consider the decentralized Buddhists a threat to their designs anyway, so what’s a little money for stage time?
And beyond the game sits the Dalit under the tree, aware that he is a pawn in a religious and political spectacle, bemused that no one really cares what he thinks. What if, God forbid, he’s happy just the way he is?
