Patna: Nearly 500 Hindus, including women and children, converted to Buddhism Saturday in half a dozen villages in Bihar's Gaya district, officials said.

All those converted to Buddhism are resident of Khanjahapur, Usri, Bara, Joda Masjid, Kukra, Beldari, Bansibigha and Tapsi villages under Manpur block in Gaya, about 100 km from here, said a district police official.

"The conversion took place at a Buddhist temple in Khanjahapur village," said the official.

Basant Mahto, a member of Bodh Gaya-based Mahatma Budh Gayan Ashram, played an important role in the event.

Sitabia Devi, Sona Devi, and Barti Devi, who were among the more than 100 women who converted to Buddhism, said that they have changed their religion for a more peaceful and prosperous life.

This was the second major incident of conversion of Hindus after 42 poor Mahadalits families converted to Christianity in a village near Bodh Gaya on Dec 25.

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Nearly 500 Hindus convert to Buddhism in Bihar

At least five lakh people from the other backward classes (OBC) have decided to convert to Buddhism from Hinduism in Nagpur in 2016. This indeed is a major setback for the RSS and its affiliated organisations who, through their Ghar Wapsi drive, have started reconverting people to Hinduism who embraced other religions.

If the Satyashodhak OBC Parishad is to be believed, the other backward classes have no respectable space in Hinduism. "We were treated as Shudhras in spite of being in Hinduism for a long time. So, we felt that it is better to go back to our original religion Buddhism. OBCs are Nagvanshi and so Buddhism is our real religion. We want to do our Ghar Wapsi by embracing Buddhism," said Hanumant Upre, the Parishad's president.

At least five crore of Maharashtra's 12 crore population are from other backward classes. Stating that religion is for them and they are not for religion, Upre said: "Religion is like a home, where we all should be treated equally and respectfully. However, we were treated badly and in the religious texts too we were given bad names. There is no point staying in this home. Therefore, we had launched our Ghar Wapsi mission in 2011. By 2016, five lakh other backward class people and even people from some castes will embrace Buddhism. And many more will follow in future."

He added that registration for this mass conversion has already started.

The OBC people believed that the caste system would be abolished after Independence. "In reality, it is very rigid and there is no hope of that. We are mental slaves of this religion. The upper caste Hindus have kept this caste system alive and so we will always remain poor and deprived," Upre said.

Pravin Gaikwad, president of Sambhaji Brigade, which is affiliated to Maratha Seva Sangh, has welcomed Upre's decision. "Philosophically, Buddhism is one of the best religions in the world to follow. Here, you accept the things on the basis logic and arguments. You are allowed to think scientifically and if you are not convinced with any idea, then you can reject them. Such freedom and liberty is not available in Islam, Hinduism and Christianity.

But rather than going from one religion to another, we should focus on adopting India as our religion and the Constitution our religious scripture. Only when this happens, India will be a progressive country and our society will be at peace," Gaikawad said.

Gaikwad added that in the 21st century religion has no room and scope. "Scientific thoughts should be propagated. RSS has started the Ghar Wapsi drive, but in which class and caste will these people be placed? Such things should be answered before bringing them back to Hinduism. Actually, we should abandon these outdated concepts of religion," Gaikwad said.

VHP spokesperson Venkatesh Apdeo, however, said that there is no difference between Hinduism and Buddhism. "We have no issue with the OBC people embracing Buddhism. The philosophy of both the religions is one," he said.

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Five lakh Hindu-OBC people to embrace Buddhism by 2016

Rohit Chandavarkar, ET Bureau Dec 30, 2014, 04.00AM IST

(BJPsMaharashtra)

MUMBAI: Maharashtra-based social organisation Satyashodhak OBC Parishad has said it plans to convert over a thousand families belonging to OBCs to Buddhism early next year, an initiative that it calls ghar wapsi much like VHP's programme to bring Muslims into the fold of Hinduism. The organisation claims hundreds of Maratha families and some Brahmin families have also agreed to participate in the conversion, taking the total count to about 6,500 individuals.

"We have been working on this campaign since October 14, 2011. Today we have a list of 1,677 families, which are part of the Hindu religion and belong to various castes right from OBCs, Marathas to Brahmins, who have agreed to convert to Buddhism," Hanumant Upre, president of Satyashodhak OBC Parishad told ET on Monday.

BJP's Maharashtra spokesperson Madhav Bhandari said the party does not oppose such a conversion since it considers Buddhism an Indian religion. He added, "We will oppose it if conversion is happening through threats or things like 'love jihad'."

Shiv Sena, BJP's partner in the ruling alliance, said it will oppose any attempts of conversion through force or allurement. "We have heard about this activity but have not really got the details of who are actually running this. If there is any sign that this is being done by tempting the people or scaring them, then we will not let it happen," said Shiv Sena leader and Maharashtra's environment minister Ramdas Kadam.

The parishad claims over 50 Christian families in Ahmednagar district and three Muslim families have also agreed to convert to Buddhism, as have three Brahmin families. Upre said the parishad had originally termed the programme "homecoming" of OBCs as it believes all people belonging to backward classes are decedents of Emperor Ashoka. "We have been demanding that OBCs must be given their rights. They have been following all the practices of Hindu religion, yet the religious leaders have never accepted them wholeheartedly," he said.

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Satyashodhak OBC Parishad plans to convert a thousand families to Buddhism in Maharashtra

PTI Dec 30, 2014, 07.59PM IST

(An organisation of Other)

MUMBAI: An organisation of Other Backward Classes (OBCs) in Maharashtra will conduct a mass conversion of five lakh OBCs to Buddhism in 2016.

"We will conduct the mass conversion at Nagpur in October 2016," Satyashodhak OBC Parishad activist Hanumant Upare told here today.

"We had declared our intention in 2011 at Parli Vaijnath in Beed district. We were originally Buddhists. This is the real ghar vapsi," Upare said.

So far, about 7,000 OBC people in Maharashtra have registered for the "ghar vapsi" campaign, he said.

"While finding out about our roots, we came to know that we are 'nagvanshi'. It proves that OBCs were originally Buddhists. So we have decided to return to our home. This is not conversion. This is the real ghar vapsi," he said.

The outfit began its mission to reach out to OBCs by personally visiting homes of those desired to return to Buddhism, besides holding small rallies, group discussions and conclaves, he said.

"We were forced into Hinduism in the 19th century, but the caste system always considered us 'shudras'. The present social set up does not reward us as it should. The only way is to break out of the system," he said.

In 2015, the OBC outfit's activists plan to reach out to every tehsil of Maharashtra with their message and a statewide conference would also be called to push the agenda, he said.

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Maharashtra OBC outfit to hold mass conversion to Buddhism