NEW DELHI, India -- In a bid to shun centuries of caste discrimination thousands of India's low-caste Hindus have converted to Buddhism.
India's most disadvantaged community, Hindu Dalits, defied police restrictions and sweltering heat Sunday in a ceremony that they hope will release them from lives marked by discrimination.
Whilst facing a bronze idol of Buddha, bare-headed converts chanted "we will no longer pray to Hindu gods and goddesses," and other mantras.
Police fearful of religious clashes dampened the ceremony, billed as the largest mass conversion in the country's history.
India's more than 100 million Dalits, referred to as 'untouchables', say they are fed up with being exploited by upper-caste Hindus, even though caste discrimination is illegal.
Many hope the conversion to Buddhism will lead to better treatment and social equality in a country steeped in a 3,000 year-old caste system.
Supporters of conversion say it is more about liberating the minds of individuals and strengthening the belief that their place in society is not pre-ordained, yet even after conversion they are still considered by many Hindus as low caste.
Hindu activists closely allied to members of the governing political party Bharatiya Janata Party have often opposed conversions, including moves towards Christianity from a religion set at birth.
Larger rally blocked
Monks shaved the heads of converts, while onlookers showed support for the downfall of caste discrimination. The ceremony would have been bigger, yet "police blocked more than 80 percent of (the) one million people expected … by stopping their buses in neighboring states," chief organizer Ram Raj told the Associated Press.
Critics say the conversion ceremony was a political rally organized with an eye on elections in the politically crucial state of Uttar Pradesh due before next March.
Yet others dismissed the suggestion. "It's not a political move. If it had been, why would people from all over the country have come for this ceremony?" D.R. Rahul, a lawyer from central Madhya Pradesh state, told Reuters.
He converted to Buddhism in 1967 after upper castes did not allow him to enter a Hindu temple.
Discrimination rules
Converts line up at the first of many conversions planned every month until April next year. It has been nearly 50 years since India's constitution outlawed discrimination in India based on caste, although it does still exist in Hindu society, particularly in rural areas.
Dalits are often barred from sharing wells or temples with upper-caste Hindus, a system sanctified by ancient religious texts.
Dehumanized each day, Dalits are discriminated against in schools and teashops. Many are landless laborers taking on society's minimum wage jobs.
India's minority Christians, often at odds with the majority Hindus over conversions and discrimination, supported the Dalits move towards Buddhism.