JOURNAL OF ORIENTAL RESEARCH 34 [ Vol. XCI-XLI ROLE OF BUDDHISM IN DALIT MOVEMENTS IN INDIA; STRUGGLE AND CHALLENGES* BY KHATIB AHMAD KHAN School of Chinese Language and Literature, Shaanxi Normal University, China khatib786@snnu.edu.cn DANABEKOVA AIGERIM School of Chinese Language and Literature, Shaanxi Normal University, China ABSTRACT The social context in which a particular movement is being perpetuated exerts substantial impact on its trend and future implications. Also known as the Neo-Buddhist Movement (also called Navayana – the socio-political arm of Buddhism in Indian context), the Dalit-Buddhist Movement in India was initiated by Dr. B.R. Ambedkar who is credited for writing Indian constitution. This study explores the religious movement that emerged with the long-struggling downtrodden Dalit class of India. This paper reflects the impact of the Buddhism on the wider array of Indian political, economic and cultural fronts. The 20th century movement could help in building an accurate and relatively comprehensive understanding of teachings and practices of the Buddhism. Furthermore, the study explores the historical facts and background of India’s communities, class struggle and their religious perceptions. It also reflects how the movement paved the way for the influential outcome which continues to be of paramount significance even today. In the newly independent, industrialized, sciencedriven and progressive India, the 1956 Ambedkar-led movement of the untouchables was aimed for securing their right to political, social, military, economic and cultural equality. Accordingly, the positive and negative outcomes of the movement have also been explained with critical assessment on the deprived section of backward class who either remained Hindu by faith or converted to other non-Hindu religions. *  Received 29Aug2020, Accepted 27Sep2020, Published 08Oct2020 Correspondence Author ISSN : 0022-3301 | OCTOBER 2020 35 Khatib Ahmad Khan, Danabekova Aigerim KEYWORDS Buddhism, Dalit-Buddhist Movement, Navayana, Ambedkar,Casteism. 1. Introduction The engagement to Buddhism is associated with the lay Buddhists who seekways to adopt spiritual practices and Dharma principles. Like the European Crusades of the middle ages, religions have played a crucial role in eliminating various circumstantial distress and suffering that hindered people from achieving peace, tranquility, emancipation, enlightenment, liberation and release from the vicious cycle of death and rebirth. In the post-independent India, several socio-religious and ethnic movements have been led to curb the inequality and exploitation of various minority groups by the upper class. The Dalit-Buddhist movement aimed to achieve and establish greater equality and accessibility to social, political, environmental and economic rights for the Dalit Indians who turned to Buddhism for spiritual and religious awakening. Dalits are considered as a prime example of dedicated Buddhist in India. An inspiration persisted constantly for Dalits whose material conditions are stillquite different from the higher caste people. In order to find out the reason behindthe misery in their life, the dedication of Dalits remained attached to the Buddhism. Therefore, a huge number of Dalits from Hinduism converted to Dhammain order to address their misery and its end. They still strive to find the solution to improve their socio-economic condition. The Dalits believe in the four truths of Buddhism which states that no physical elements are permanent in this world, the reason for all suffering is desire, there is no such thing about born existence for any elementsand the moderation of life is Nirvana. 2. Dalit-Buddhist’s Movement According to Contursi (1989), under a clear context, the Dalit Movement in India has succeeded in designing framework andIt is in the background assumptions of this framework that it has raised significant questions.1 The Dalit-Buddhist movement, commonly known as the Neo-Buddhist movement, is known for its religious and sociopolitical context. The movement was started by Dr. B. R. Ambedkar to fight against the Socio-cultural exclusion, economic deprivation and political exploitation of the Dalits. 1 Contursi, J.A., (1989). Militant Hindus and Buddhist Dalits: hegemony and resistance in an Indian slum. American Ethnologist, 16(3), pp.441-457. JOURNAL OF ORIENTAL RESEARCH 36 [ Vol. XCI-XLI This movement re-conceptualized the Buddhism and formed a new school known as Navayana. The holy book of NavayanaBuddhists is known as 'The Buddha and His Dhamma' which was written by Dr. Ambedkar. The movement was set in motion by Dr. Ambedkar in 1956 at the time when almost half a million outcasts joined him and transformed themselves into Navayana Buddhist. The motive of the movement was to refuse the Hinduism and it’s caste system in India and advocate the rights of the Dalit people.2 The movement was the consequence of the persistent hatred for the Dalits from the arbitrariness of the upper castes of India. The Indian Caste System is historically one of the main dimensions where people in India are socially differentiated through class, religion, region, tribe, gender and language.The caste system is a classification of people into four hierarchically ranked group called Varnas. They are classified according to their occupation and access to wealth, power and privilege. The Brahmans, usually priests and scholars are at the top. Next are the Kshatriyas or political rulers and soldiers. They are followed by the Vaishyas or merchants, and the fourth are the Kshudras who are usually laborers, peasants, artisans and servants. At the very bottom are those considered the untouchables. These individuals perform occupations that are considered unclean and polluting such as scavenging, skinning dead animals and are considered outcasts. They are not considered to be included in the ranked castes.3 Hence, they began their fight against all such inequalities and especially against Hindu caste system and formed manyresistant groups. 2.1 Situation of Dalits before the 20th century As per Ganguly (2004), Dalits were not allowed to access the land and the basic resources; they were forced to work in degrading situations. They were not permitted to enter into the temples and other public places like hotels, cinema halls, and parks. Nobody ate the foods from their hands, they were not permitted to send their children to the schools. They were scrutinized as low, impure people since their birth and were not 2 Bullwinkle-Schempp, M., (2007). From Bhakti to Buddhism: Ravidas and Ambedkar. Economic and Political Weekly, pp.2177-2183. 3 Manali S Pande; (2010) History of Indian caste system and its impact on India today, SOCS 461,462, senior project, California polytechnic state university,San Luis Obispo fall ISSN : 0022-3301 | OCTOBER 2020 37 Khatib Ahmad Khan, Danabekova Aigerim allowed to lead a standard life. In short, they were treated as untouchables in all manners.4 2.2 Dalit identity politics In Indian context, Caste has always been one of the major elements in giving identity to a person. It historically draws on a bureaucratic notion and a related association between rights and responsibilities. Consequently, caste formed a span from the hypothetical superior-most Brahmin sub-caste to the inferior most untouchable caste whose exact identities could not be seen.5 The strongest enunciation of identity politics happened among the people of the Depressed class who were traditionally removed from the mainstream society. Dalits were not allowed to use the village wells or public roads or the admission of children to schools, they were forced to live in separate areas in the village with no ties to the temples. Two fundamental tactics were pursued by caste agitators, first, to assimilate many castes into a similar ideology and claim a greater portion;second to section themselves away from being taken over by others through this method to retain their share for themselves. While the higher castes followed the former approach, the later came to be embraced by the progressing Dalit movement under Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar. Omvedt (2003) mentioned that to attain rights, equality, powerand acceptance, the Dalit changed their religion to Buddhism.6Today Dalits count most in Buddhist population.They receive higher education and according to the census data, Buddhists have a literacy rate of 81.29% which is more than the national average of 72.98 percent. 3. Dr. Ambedkar and the Dalit Buddhist Movement in India According to Contursi (1993), Dr. B. R. Ambedkar founded a modern generation of Buddhism almost a half-century ago, that allowed the Dalits in India formerly known as "untouchables" to embrace a decent existence that their own culture had not been able to offer them for centuries.7 Dr. Ambedkar, a lawyer, educated at Columbia University Ganguly, D., (2004). Buddha, bhakti, and superstition: a post‐secular reading of Dalit conversion. Post colonial Studies, 7(1), pp.49-62. 5 Bullwinkle-Schempp, M. (2004). Roots of Ambedkar; Buddhism in Kanpur. 6 Omvedt, G., (2003). Buddhism in India: challenging Brahmanism and caste. Sage Publications India. 7 Contursi, J.A., (1993). Political theology: Text and practice in a Dalit Panther community. The Journal of Asian Studies, pp.320-339. 4 JOURNAL OF ORIENTAL RESEARCH 38 [ Vol. XCI-XLI played a prominent role in writing Indian constitution. He was a member of the drafting committee during the formation process of the Indian Constitution. He was a Dalit and after the thorough study on many religions, he found Buddha as a progressive social visionary who provided an escape from the hierarchical caste system of Hinduism. With no hesitation, it can be said that his dedication to the cause of the Dalits was the most important occurrence in India in 20th century. Ambedkar was the man whose creativity spread to numerous human problems.8 Born in a Mahar family, he would have been one of the several untouchables of his time, doomed to a life of poverty and deprivation. Emancipation of the backward classes was one of the main motives of Ambedkar’s life, he attempted to find a suitable ideological forum for that emancipation. He won the trust of the untouchables and became their paramount leader. According to Omvedt (1994), he founded associations like Bahishkrit Hitkarini Sabha, the Independent Labour Party and eventually the All India Scheduled Caste Federation to energize his supporters.9 He set up several academic structures and propagated his opinions via newspapers such as 'Mooknayak',' Bahishkrit Bharat', and 'Janata'. In order to safeguard the rights of the untouchables, he had many Round Table Meeting with respective governments. As per Jaoul (2016), numerous untouchables in India already have sought transformation as a way to avoid the caste system.10 The transition of Ambedkar to Buddhism, however opened a new era in India for progressive socioreligious reforms. His transition to Buddhism was his contemporary initiative to reinterpret India's identity as a secular identity. After writing several novels and articles claiming that Buddhism was the only way for the untouchables to achieve dignity, Ambedkar openly converted to Buddhism on October 14, 1956 at Nagpur Deekshabhoomi. Fitzgerald (1997) states that various politicians of different ideologies and beliefs requested Ambedkar to arrange meetings to address the topic of the religion 8Paik, S., (2011). Mahar–Dalit–Buddhist: The history and politics of naming in Maharashtra. Contributions to Indian Sociology, 45(2), pp.217-241. 9Omvedt, G., (1994). Dalits and the democratic revolution: Dr Ambedkar and the dalit movement in Colonial India. SAGE Publications India. 10 Jaoul, N., (2016). Citizenship in religious clothing?: Navayana Buddhism and Dalit emancipation in late 1990s Uttar Pradesh. Focaal, 2016(76), pp.46-68. ISSN : 0022-3301 | OCTOBER 2020 39 Khatib Ahmad Khan, Danabekova Aigerim of Dalits and pros and cons of transformation.11 In Lucknow, on May 22, 1936, an "All Theological Assembly" was held where many influential Dalit figures including Babu Jagjivan Ramattended which Ambedkar could not attend. In that conference, leaders of Muslim, Christian, Sikh and Buddhist attempted to win over the Dalits.They addressed the principles of their particular faiths. On June 10, 1936, the Buddhist monk Lokanatha visited Ambedkar's house in Dadar and attempted to convince him. 12 He argued that Buddhism is not a religion but a theory of culture which entails progressive social challenges to a structure based on hierarchies of castes.13 Ambedkar, after comparingBuddhism to other philosophies saw it as the ideal to be practiced as it presented a strong logical combination of individualism with sociopolitical devotion. To have a framework for a new social order, Ambedkar wished for a quiet movement by transformation to change the politically active campaign breaking through caste lines i.e. the conventional persistence of untouchability. He dreamt of social reform through this move which he claimed that the rise of politically active groups could act as an instrument for radical change in Indian society. As per Gokhale (1986), briefly after his transformation, the Buddhist revolution was mostly hampered by Dr. Ambedkar's death.14 It did not obtain the immediate widespread support which Ambedkar had wished for from the Untouchables. According to the 2001 census, there are reportedly 7.95 million Buddhists in India, of which at least 5.83 million are from Maharashtra with 6% of Maharashtra's total populationwhich makes Buddhism the fifth largest religion in India. There are two states which have been the centre of Buddhist resurgence: Ambedkar's resident Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh. With the emergence of Dipankar, a Chamar Bikkhu, the Dalit Buddhist campaign in Kanpur acquired momentum in 1980. In 2002, Kanshi Ram, a prominent 11 Fitzgerald, T., (1997). Ambedkar Buddhism in Maharashtra. Contributions to Indian Sociology, 31(2), pp.225251. 12 Kantowsky, D., (2003). Buddhists in India today: descriptions, pictures, and documents. Manohar Publishers & Distributors. 13 Hartmann, E.M., (2009). The Dalit movement in India: Local practices, global connections. Oxford University Press. 14Gokhale, J.B., (1986). The sociopolitical effects of ideological change: The Buddhist conversion of Maharashtrian Untouchables. The Journal of Asian Studies, pp.269-292. JOURNAL OF ORIENTAL RESEARCH 40 [ Vol. XCI-XLI out-of-caste political leader from a religious Sikh community, expressed his desire to convert to Buddhism on the fiftieth anniversary of Ambedkar's conversion to Buddhism on 14 October 2006.15 4. Impacts/role of Buddhism on Dalit movements in India Naik (2010) mentioned that in almost every part of India, Dalit women have to go through the threefold strain of gender biases, caste oppression and economic discrimination.16 They are also exposed to harassment and sexual assault not only by the upper castes but also inside their communities. In every day's newspaper, there are several cases of domestic violence against the Dalit women. Buddhism never supports violence against women, It believes in gender equality. The different institutions of Buddhism offer a wide range of courses in various fields like spoken skills, computer skills, weaving, stitching, beautician courses to inspire these historically vulnerable women, giving them a greater possibilities of getting jobs. Now several women are selfdependent, several Dalit women follow the teachings of Buddhism fearlessly with spirit and nobilityand practices meditation, the women are not only uplifting their own life but also their family's and community's life (Omvedt, 2006).17 Buddhism has a great influence on the lives of Dalits on the basis of sympathy, equality and liberty which Hinduism failed to provide. According to Bhoite and Bhoite (1977), in Hinduism, Dalits generally have to remain under the feet of the other three castes which are Brahman, Kshatriya and Vaishya. they were not allowed to perform any other occupation other than cleaning of the latrines and sweeping.18 The Dalits were not permitted to enter the temples to worship and perform the rituals, they were even not allowed to perform their birth and death rituals through the hand of the Hindu pundits. The role of Buddhism is completely different here. First of all, it doesn't have any concept of hierarchy. All humans are the equal irrespective of their colour and gender. Buddhism provides sympathy to all human beingsand Dalit-Buddhists are free to 15Pandey, 16 G., (2006). The time of the Dalit Conversion. Economic and Political Weekly, pp.1779-1788. Naik, C.D., (2010). Buddhism and Dalits: Social Philosophy and Traditions. Gyan Publishing House. Omvedt, G., (2006). Dalit visions: The anti-caste movement and the construction of an Indian identity. Orient Blackswan. 18 Bhoite, U. and Bhoite, A., (1977). The Dalit sahitya movement in Maharashtra: a sociological analysis. Sociological bulletin, 26(1), pp.60-75. 17 ISSN : 0022-3301 | OCTOBER 2020 41 Khatib Ahmad Khan, Danabekova Aigerim perform the birthday and death rituals according to their own choice. Theravada Buddhism never really believes in the worship of the images or idols.In case of entering the Buddhist temples, stupas and monasteries, there is no barrier at the entry gate (Murugkar, 1991).19 The education level of Buddhists has greatly influenced the Dalits.Prior to this, Dalits were not allowed to admit their children in the school with upper caste students, whereas now after the independence, Dalits are not onlygetting the primary schooling but also the higher education and training. As per Chan (2015), in Buddhist administration's most of the higher officials are Dalits, Chandrashekhar Azad Ravan is an example of this educational system.20 He is the president of Bhim Army expanding the mass transformation of Dalits to Buddhism. The conversion to Buddhism gives them self-confidence in contrast to the caste system that seeks to legitimize their poor social status by abstract definitions of bad karma (Ghose, 2003).21 Dalits who converted to Buddhism after getting access to education have contributed more to the Gross Domestic Product of the country. According to the census, the percentage of the Buddhist Dalit's participation in the work force is 41.51% which is more than the total scheduled caste’s percentage which is 40.87% and even greater than the national average which is 39.79% which means participation of Buddhist Dalits in work force are greater than that of Hindu Dalits. 4.1 Dalit’s conversion to Buddhism Joshi (1986) mentioned that in recent years, there have been several instances where Dalits have converted to Buddhism individually and in large groups.22 For example, last October at Sankalp Bhoomi in Vadodara, a place connected with Dr. Ambedkar, there were 30 Dalit young peopleconverted to Buddhism. Every year on 14th October, the day when B.R. Ambedkar converted himself to Buddhism is celebrated as a mass conversion day in Navayana Buddhism. According to the 1961 Census, record 32.50 lakh people converted to Buddhism, out of which 27.89 lakh were from Maharashtra. In 19 Murugkar, L., (1991). Dalit panther movement in Maharashtra: A sociological appraisal. Bombay: Popular Prakashan. 20 Chan, L., (2015). The Spiritual Dimension of India's Dalit Buddhist Movement: The Untouchables' Self-Renewal (Doctoral dissertation). 21 Ghose, S., (2003). The dalit in India. Social Research: An International Quarterly, 70(1), pp.83-109. 22 Joshi, B.R. ed., (1986). Untouchable!: Voices of the Dalit liberation movement (Vol. 209). Zed Books. JOURNAL OF ORIENTAL RESEARCH 42 [ Vol. XCI-XLI 2011, these numbers got tripled, the conversion was approximately 84.43 lakh out of which Maharashtra accounted for 65 lakhs (Funahashi, 2013).23 In order to give the politics of Dalits a more combative face, an emerging group called Bhim Army declared a mass engagement for conversion to Buddhism. In 2016, almost 300 Dalits converted themselves to Buddhism in Gujarat when seven members of their caste got thrashed by upper caste people because of skinning a dead cow. In May 2017, soon after the caste-riots in Saharanpur district of Uttar Pradesh, about 180 Dalits along with their families converted to Buddhism. In 2018, at Veera Maidanin Shirasgaon of Maharashtra, a mass conversion ceremony was held where around 500 Dalits converted themselves into Buddhism as a form of political protest. Under floodlights, they chanted: “I shall have no faith in Rama and Krishna who are believed to be incarnations of God nor shall I worship them. … I do not and shall not believe that Lord Buddha was the incarnation of Vishnu. … I shall hereafter lead my life according to the principles and teachings of the Buddha.” Instantly, there were 500 new Buddhists in India.24 5. Limitations As per Zelliot (2010), though special arrangements have been duly madein Indian Constitution for the social and economic upliftment of Dalits consisting of Scheduled castes and tribes.25In the case of upward social mobility, these limitations are confined only to Dalits who remain Hindu. Many provisions have been made in constitution to resolve caste discrimination and provide resolution to the perceived abuses.The constitutional advantages should also be equally applied for the Dalits who have converted to other faiths including Buddhism. Religious conversion is another big politically charged issue with the emergence of Hindutva (Hindu nationalism) in Indian politics. This regressive campaign alleges that Dalit conversions are not due to any societal or religious change but for economic gains.Many anti-conversion laws have Funahashi, K., (2013). Living as a ‘minority’: A case of Buddhist-Dalits in contemporary Uttar Pradesh. The South Asianist Journal, 2(1). 24 KRITHIKA VARAGUR, Converting to Buddhism as a form of political protest; April 2018 https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2018/04/dalit-buddhism-conversion-indiamodi/557570/ 23 25Zelliot, E., (2010). India's Dalits: racism and contemporary change. Global Dialogue (Online), 12(2), p.1. ISSN : 0022-3301 | OCTOBER 2020 43 Khatib Ahmad Khan, Danabekova Aigerim been erected and the prohibition of social relief for those who convert have also been imposed.However there are still many Dalits have also been part of the philosophy of Hindutva (Tomalin and Starkey, 2013).26 6. Conclusion This study gives a clear view of the life of Dalits, the most depressed and marginalized sections of Indian societybefore the 20th Century. It narratestheir socio-economic statusand the inequalities they have to face since their birth. The Dalits were considered untouchables in every context of our daily life. Their life started changing with the emergence of great leader Dr. B. R. Ambedkar who stood against the ruthless caste system of Hinduism.He was influenced by the teachings of Buddha andin 1956, Healong with millions of his followers, converted to Buddhism. Following the path of Dr. B. R. Ambedkar, hundreds of Dalits have converted themselves to Buddhism; many of them are now leading their life with courage and dignity. Although there have been constant improvement in their social status but the incidence of violence against Dalit has risen significantly in recent years. References I. Bhoite, U. and Bhoite, A., (1977). The Dalit sahitya movement in Maharashtra: a sociological analysis. Sociological bulletin, 26(1), pp.60-75. II. Bullwinkle-Schempp, M., (2004). Roots of Ambedkar Buddhism in Kanpur. III. Bullwinkle-Schempp, M., (2007). From Bhakti to Buddhism: Ravidas and Ambedkar. Economic and Political Weekly, pp.2177-2183. IV. Chan, L., (2015). The Spiritual Dimension of India's Dalit Buddhist Movement: The Untouchables' Self-Renewal (Doctoral dissertation). V. Contursi, J.A., (1989). Militant Hindus and Buddhist Dalits: hegemony and resistance in an Indian slum. American Ethnologist, 16(3), pp.441-457. VI. Contursi, J.A., (1993). Political theology: Text and practice in a Dalit Panther community. The Journal of Asian Studies, pp.320-339. 26Tomalin, E. and Starkey, C., (2013). Buddhism and development. In Handbook of research on development and religion. Edward Elgar Publishing. JOURNAL OF ORIENTAL RESEARCH 44 VII. [ Vol. XCI-XLI Fitzgerald, T., (1997). Ambedkar Buddhism in Maharashtra. Contributions to Indian Sociology, 31(2), pp.225-251. VIII. Funahashi, K., (2013). Living as a ‘minority’: A case of Buddhist-Dalits in contemporary Uttar Pradesh. The South Asianist Journal, 2(1). IX. Ganguly, D., (2004). Buddha, bhakti, and superstition: a post‐secular reading of Dalit conversion. Postcolonial Studies, 7(1), pp.49-62. X. Ghose, S., (2003). The dalit in India. Social Research: An International Quarterly, 70(1), pp.83-109. XI. Gokhale, J.B., (1986). The sociopolitical effects of ideological change: The Buddhist conversion of Maharashtrian Untouchables. The Journal of Asian Studies, pp.269-292. XII. Hartmann, E.M., (2009). The Dalit movement in India: Local practices, global connections. Oxford University Press. XIII. Jaoul, N., (2016). Citizenship in religious clothing?: Navayana Buddhism and Dalit emancipation in late 1990s Uttar Pradesh. Focaal, 2016(76), pp.46-68. XIV. Joshi, B.R. ed., (1986). Untouchable!: Voices of the Dalit liberation movement (Vol. 209). Zed Books. XV. Kantowsky, D., (2003). Buddhists in India today: descriptions, pictures, and documents. Manohar Publishers & Distributors. XVI. Murugkar, L., (1991). Dalit panther movement in Maharashtra: A sociological appraisal. Bombay: Popular Prakashan. XVII. Manali S Pande; (2010) History of Indian caste system and its impact on India today, SOCS 461,462, senior project, California polytechnic state university,San Luis Obispo fall XVIII. Naik, C.D., (2010). Buddhism and Dalits: Social Philosophy and Traditions. Gyan Publishing House. XIX. Omvedt, G., (1994). Dalits and the democratic revolution: Dr Ambedkar and the dalit movement in Colonial India. SAGE Publications India. XX. Omvedt, G., (2003). Buddhism in India: challenging Brahmanism and caste. Sage Publications India. ISSN : 0022-3301 | OCTOBER 2020 45 Khatib Ahmad Khan, Danabekova Aigerim XXI. Omvedt, G., (2006). Dalit visions: The anti-caste movement and the construction of an Indian identity. Orient Blackswan. XXII. Paik, S., (2011). Mahar–Dalit–Buddhist: The history and politics of naming in Maharashtra. Contributions to Indian Sociology, 45(2), pp.217-241. XXIII. Pandey, G., (2006). The time of the Dalit Conversion. Economic and Political Weekly, pp.1779-1788. XXIV. Tomalin, E. and Starkey, C., (2013). Buddhism and development. In Handbook of research on development and religion. Edward Elgar Publishing. XXV. Zelliot, E., (2010). India's Dalits: racism and contemporary change. Global Dialogue (Online), 12(2), p.1.