Rajasthan: 250 Dalits allegedly  convert to Buddhism in Baran district

Jaipur: Around 250 Dalits, hurt by the alleged atrocities of the upper caste community, have allegedly converted to Buddhism in the Baran district of Rajasthan. These people immersed the idols and pictures of Hindu deities in the Bethli river on Friday. The video of the incident is going viral on social media.

The incident happened in Bhulon village of Chhabra block of Baran district. On Friday, a protest, namely the Aakrosh rally, was held in the village, and the deities' idols and pictures were immersed in the river.

Expressing their displeasure against the state government, Dalits have alleged that two youths of the Dalit community were assaulted by the upper castes for performing the aarti of Goddess Durga 15 days ago.

On October 5, Balmukand Bairwa, president of District Bairwa Mahasabha Yuva Morcha, alleged that Rajendra and Ramhet Airwal, youths of the Dalit community, organized the aarti of Goddess Durga in Bhulon village. These youths were assaulted by Rahul Sharma and Lalchand Lodha.

No justice provided

He said, "We pleaded for justice from the President to the district administration, but no action was taken against the accused of assault, so we decided to convert to Buddhism." Bairwa warned that if the main accused is not arrested soon, the Dalits of the area will stage a protest at the Chhabra SDM office.

The Bapcha police station officer, Surend Kuntal, said that 25-30 people had taken part in a procession in Bhulon village and demanded the arrest of Sarpanch Rahul Sharma. They have also claimed to have adopted Buddhism by immersing the idols of deities in the river on Friday.

The officer said that only one person had been accused in the assault case and had already been arrested by the police. The Supridentent of Police Kalyanmal Meena said, "A Dalit had lodged a report in Bapcha police station on October 5th against one person."

The police had registered the case under the SC and ST Act and arrested the accused. Now some more people are being named as accused and we are investigating the matter.