neo-Buddhist movement in India

The atrophy of the neo-Buddhist movement in India

08/10/2022

 

Every year in October, thousands of people assemble at Nagpur’s Deekshabhoomi

1 to pay homage to B.R. Ambedkar and remember the historic day of October 14, 1956, when he and half a million of his followers embraced ग्रहण Buddhism.

2 Ambedkar chose Buddhism 

after examining various religions to understand the suitability of each to liberate socially marginalised communities from the exploitative caste order. 

He found that Buddhism is rooted in India’s civilization, supplements modern ethical values and is averse to social hierarchies and patriarchal domination. 

3 Neo-Buddhism 

was proposed as a mass movement that would elevate former ‘Untouchables’ and help them achieve self-respect.

 He hoped that Buddhist principles would mobilise them into a robust community to battle the ruling Brahmanical elites.

Struggles of neo-Buddhism

1 Neo-Buddhism emerged as a maverick phenomenon that offered strong psychological trust  to the struggling Dalit masses. 

2 However, Ambedkar’s grand hopes remain unfulfilled.

3  Today, the Buddhist population in India is one of the smallest minorities,

 its ideological challenge against the Hindu social order has not been taken seriously, and even within the Dalit community,

 conversion to Buddhism is not perceived देखना as a suitable path to achieve social emancipation अधिकार संपन्नता.

4  Instead, it is the BJP that often fashions itself as the new torchbearer of Buddhist identity.

A large majority

1 (close to 80%) of Indian Buddhists resides in Maharashtra. 

2 The neo-Buddhists have established social and educational institutions, initiated cultural movements, and organised popular public festivals to make Buddhism a visible force in Maharashtra’s public sphere. 

3 However, it is mainly the Mahar caste and recently, smaller sections within the Matang and the Maratha castes which have identified themselves as neo-Buddhists.

4  Other socially marginalised groups are still defined by Hindu caste nomenclatures and traditional occupations.

The Dalit sociopolitical movements

1 in States including Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka have also not promoted conversion to Buddhism.

2  In U.P., during the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP)’s regime, cultural symbols related to Buddhism, such as the Rashtriya Dalit Prerna Sthal and Green Garden, were erected निर्माण किया गया  in public spaces, 

3 but there was still hesitation in suggesting religious conversion as an alternative to fight the battle for social justice. 

4 Even in States where the Scheduled Caste population is relatively high, such as in Punjab, West Bengal and Odisha, Dalits have shown restraint in adopting Buddhism to challenge their social location.

Importantly, India’s neighbouring Buddhist countries

1 also have not identified neo-Buddhists as significant partners in their theological engagements

. महत्वपूर्ण रूप से, भारत के पड़ोसी बौद्ध देशों ने भी नव-बौद्धों को उनके धार्मिक कार्यों में महत्वपूर्ण भागीदार के रूप में नहीं पहचाना है।

2 Several Buddhist countries have built their own pagodas and temples in Bodh Gaya 

3 and are more concerned with adding new sites in India’s Buddhist Circuit. 

4 Certain individuals and Buddhist associations from Japan, Thailand and the U.K. have established some close links with the neo-Buddhists of Maharashtra, but this is small support.

Appropriation अनुचित उपयोग by the right wing

1 Interestingly, it is the Narendra Modi-led government at the Centre that has often presented itself as the promoter of Buddhist cultural heritage at the national and international levels.

2  In overseas diplomatic gatherings, Mr. Modi has frequently invoked India’s ancient Buddhist identity, सरकार ने अक्सर खुद को राष्ट्रीय और अंतरराष्ट्रीय स्तर पर बौद्ध सांस्कृतिक विरासत के प्रवर्तक के रूप में प्रस्तुत किया है। 

especially in China, Nepal, Myanmar and Japan. Mr. Modi has made a conscious effort to emphasise shared Buddhist heritage with these countries. 

विदेशों में राजनयिक सभाओं में, श्री मोदी ने अक्सर भारत की प्राचीन बौद्ध पहचान का आह्वान किया है, खासकर चीन, नेपाल, म्यांमार और जापान में। 

श्री मोदी ने इन देशों के साथ साझा बौद्ध विरासत पर जोर देने के लिए एक सचेत प्रयास किया है।

3 He also visited Deekshabhoomi in 2017, paid rich tributes to Ambedkar and announced multiple developmental projects. It is his government that proposed a Buddhist Circuit.

Theoretically, the neo-Buddhist movement 

1 is seen as an ideological and intellectual challenge to the dominant social and political ideas of the ruling elites.

2  Interestingly, within the Hindutva discourse, Buddhism has been appropriated as an integral part of greater ‘Indic Civilization’

3  and the Buddhist conversion movement has not been seen as antithetical विरोधात्मक to the Hindu cultural pantheon ख्याति प्राप्त लोगों का समूह.

4  Further, Hindutva forces, using assertive राय देना  cultural strategies, overtly प्रकट या प्रत्‍यक्ष रूप से appropriate crucial Dalit-Bahujan icons and underplay the fierce आक्रामक और डरावना ideological antagonism that the early Dalit movement had against the Hindu social order.

इसके अलावा, हिंदुत्ववादी ताकतें, मुखर सांस्कृतिक रणनीतियों का उपयोग करते हुए, महत्वपूर्ण दलित-बहुजन प्रतीकों को स्पष्ट रूप से उपयुक्त बनाती हैं और उस भयंकर वैचारिक विरोध को कम करती हैं जो प्रारंभिक दलित आंदोलन में हिंदू सामाजिक व्यवस्था के खिलाफ था।

5 When right-wing forces are asserting their Hindu identity to build a monolithic majoritarian community, 

a popular deliberation on Ambedkar’s logic of conversion to Buddhism would have helped the Opposition, including the popular Dalit political class, to challenge such hegemonic appropriation.

6 Independent cultural and religious strategies are crucial in building a challenge to the dominant narrative of Hindutva.

7 However, the current Opposition lacks effective cultural strategies to challenge right-wing assertion.

 Instead, it still uses the same old formal electoral strategies, as we are seeing in Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s current Bharat Jodo Yatra. 

HpIn this context, revisiting the ideals of Ambedkar’s neo-Buddhist movement can be helpful in building fierce ideological challenges to Hindutva’s understanding of history and culture.

अंबेडकर के नव-बौद्ध आंदोलन के आदर्शों की समीक्षा हिंदुत्व की इतिहास और संस्कृति की समझ के लिए भयंकर वैचारिक चुनौतियों के निर्माण में सहायक हो सकती है।

Source The Hindu