RSS chief showers praise on Ambedkar
In an effort to woo neo-Buddhists, Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) chief K.C. Sudarshan lauded Dalit messiah B.R Ambedkar and quoted Hindu priests as saying that the architect of the Indian constitution was forced to lead Dalits out of the Hindu fold because of the ‘grave mistakes of our forefathers’. …
Sudarshan quoted the second RSS chief late M.S. Golwalkar praising Ambedkar for choosing Buddhism, ‘an offshoot of Upanishadik philosophy, born in India’, instead of embracing an alien religion.
He also quoted Mahasthavir Chandramani and other Buddhist monks as saying in 1956 that Hindu religion and Buddhism are two branches of the same tree. …
RSS chief showers praise on Ambedkar - India News
If the RSS (a Hindu nationalist organization) wishes to make good with neo-Buddhist converts, it should pressure Hindu mutts (monasteries) to cease discriminating against Dalits and other "lower" castes in religious ceremonies. Also, they should cut out the hegemony-talk; they’ve no business trying to appropriate Ambekarite Buddhism, which - hello? - will breed an immense amount of mistrust in the Dalit Buddhist community. If there is to be any reunification at all, it must happen organically, with Dalits and Dalits alone deciding which community to identify with. And increasingly, they will not identify with Hinduism if the current state of affairs in India persisists.
