128-514: The Dalit Buddhist movement (also known as the Neo-Buddhist movement , Buddhist movement for Dalits , Ambedkarite Buddhist movement and Modern Buddhist movement ) is a religious as well as a socio-political movement among Dalits in India which was started by B. R. Ambedkar . It re-interpreted Buddhism and created a new school of Buddhism called Navayana . The movement has sought to be
256-487: A socially and politically engaged form of Buddhism . The movement was launched in 1956 by Ambedkar when nearly half a million Dalits – formerly untouchables – joined him and converted to Navayana Buddhism. It rejected Hinduism, challenged the caste system in India and promoted the rights of the Dalit community. The movement also rejected the teachings of Mahayana , Theravada and Vajrayana traditions of Buddhism; instead,
384-542: A temple car procession at a village in Tamil Nadu. In August 2015, it was claimed that a Jat Khap Panchayat ordered the rape of two Dalit sisters because their brother eloped with a married Jat girl of the same village. In 2003, the higher caste Muslims in Bihar opposed the burials of lower caste Muslims in the same graveyard. A Dalit activist was killed in 2020 for social media posts criticising Brahmins. A Dalit
512-645: A 2014 report to the Ministry of Minority Affairs , 33.8 percent of Scheduled Caste (SC) populations in rural India were living below the poverty line in 2011–12. In urban areas, 21.8 percent of SC populations were below the poverty line. A 2012 survey by Mangalore University in Karnataka found that 93 percent of Dalit families in the state of Karnataka live below the poverty line. Some Dalits have achieved affluence, although most remain poor. Some Dalit intellectuals, such as Chandra Bhan Prasad , have argued that
640-512: A 45-year-old Dalit woman was allegedly stripped naked and forced to drink urine by perpetrators in Madhya Pradesh. In some villages of India, there have been allegations that Dalit grooms riding horses for wedding ceremonies have been beaten up and ostracised by upper caste people. In August 2015, upper caste people burned houses and vehicles belonging to Dalit families and slaughtered their livestock in reaction to Dalits daring to hold
768-622: A butler of George Harrington, a European Civil Servant possibly in Madurai district. During the same time, Francis Whyte Ellis , a British civil servant in the Madras Presidency and a scholar of Tamil and Sanskrit who had established a Tamil sangam (academy) in Madras in 1825 and asked Tamil enthusiasts to "bring to him ancient Tamil manuscripts for publication". Between 1825 and 1831, Kandappan discovered handwritten manuscripts of
896-503: A casteless identity for Dalits. He emphasized the need to record Buddhism as their religion in the census, challenging the established caste hierarchy. On 19 June 1907, Iyothee Thass launched a weekly Tamil newspaper called Oru Paisa Tamizhan or One Paise Tamilian and Dravidia Pandian , later known simply as The Tamilan , which he ran until his death in 1914. This newspaper became the main instrument of his criticism against caste power. In addition to hosting Iyothee Thass' editorials,
1024-412: A constitution that enshrined rights or representations based on communal divisions, because he feared that such a constitution would not bring people together but divide them, perpetuate their status and divert the attention from India's struggle to end the colonial rule. After Gandhi returned from Second Round Table conference, he started a new satyagraha . He was immediately arrested and imprisoned at
1152-647: A couple of retreat centres, and hundreds of Indian Dharmacharis and Dharmacharinis. Funding for movement's social and dharma work has come from foreign countries, including the Western countries and Taiwan . Some of the foreign-funded organisations include Trailokya Bauddha Mahasangha Sahayaka Gana and Triratna (Europe and India). Triratna has links with the 'Ambedkarite' Buddhist Romanis in Hungary. Since Ambedkar's conversion, several thousand people from different castes have converted to Buddhism in ceremonies including
1280-530: A desire to find the ultimate truth, and he becomes a figure not unlike a minority politician in contemporary India. The discussion of water rights was also a familiar topic after the Mahad Satyagraha. These changes, though unorthodox, create a character for the Buddha that might be easily understood by oppressed communities, specifically Dalits. Scholars broadly accept that the depictions of the Buddha as
1408-553: A dispute of allocation of land, is an example of atrocities against Dalit girls and women. In August 2015, due to continued alleged discrimination from upper castes of the village, about 100 Dalit inhabitants converted to Islam in a ceremony at Jantar Mantar, New Delhi . Inter-caste marriage has been proposed as a remedy, but according to a 2014 survey of 42,000 households by the New Delhi-based National Council of Applied Economic Research (NCAER) and
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#17327717773581536-764: A greater Hindu nation rather than as in an independent community like Muslims. In addition, many Dalits found, and still find, the term patronizing and derogatory, with some even claiming that the term really refers to children of devadasis . When untouchability was outlawed after Indian independence, the use of the word Harijan to describe ex-untouchables became more common among other castes than within Dalits themselves. In Southern India, Dalits are sometimes known as Adi Dravida , Adi Karnataka , and Adi Andhra , which literally mean First Dravidians, Kannadigas, and Andhras, respectively. These terms were first used in 1917 by Southern Dalit leaders, who believed that they were
1664-593: A high number of sexual assaults against Dalit women, which were often committed by landlords, upper-caste villagers, and policemen, according to a study published in 2001. According to the research, only about 5% of assaults are recorded, and police dismiss at least 30% of rape reports as false. The study also discovered that police often seek bribes, threaten witnesses, and conceal evidence. Victims of rape have also been killed. There have been some reports of Dalits being forced to eat human faeces and drink urine by upper caste members in some villages In September 2015,
1792-518: A living by manual casual labour, the figure is 30 per cent for Adivasis. In the past, they were believed to be so impure that upper-caste Hindus considered their presence to be polluting. The "impure status" was related to their historic hereditary occupations that caste Hindus considered to be "polluting" or debased, such as working with leather , disposing of dead animals, manual scavenging , or sanitation work , which in much of India means collection & disposal of faeces from latrines. Forced by
1920-556: A long way towards ending untouchability there. However, educational opportunities for Dalits in Kerala remain limited. Other Hindu groups attempted to reconcile with the Dalit community. Hindu temples are increasingly receptive to Dalit priests, a function formerly reserved for Brahmins. Brahmins such as Subramania Bharati passed Brahminhood onto a Dalit , while in Shivaji's Maratha Empire Dalit warriors joined his forces. However, in
2048-611: A monastic order. A number of critics also argue that there is no moral foundation for the political practices that are based on Neo-Buddhist notions, since religion is totally voluntary, and Neo-Buddhism may thus violate democratic principles by restricting its followers to abide to certain non-religious rules. The mass conversions to Buddhism are also seen as a political stunt rather than a genuine spiritual movement. Politicians such as Udit Raj, Ramdas Athawale, Kanshi Ram and Mayawati have also been involved in staging or planning to stage mass conversions—these politicians are members of either
2176-537: A parallel between the apartheid system and untouchability. Eleanor Zelliot also notes Singh's 2006 comment but says that, despite the obvious similarities, race prejudice and the situation of Dalits "have a different basis and perhaps a different solution". Though the Indian Constitution abolished untouchability, the oppressed status of Dalits remains a reality. In rural India, stated Klaus Klostermaier in 2010, "they still live in secluded quarters, do
2304-600: A publishing house owned by Dalit Ezhilmalai , published his writings. Ezhilmalai, then the Union Health Minister, also made a desired to name the planned National Center for Siddha Research after the leader. However, the proposal did not come into effect until 2005, when vehement protests by Se. Ku. Tamilarasan of the Republican Party of India (RPI) forced the Government to take serious note of
2432-437: A social reformer are inaccurate. Gombrich (2012), states that there is no evidence that the Buddha began or pursued social reforms, rather his aim was at the salvation of those who joined his monastic order. Modernist interpreters of Buddhism, states Gombrich, keep picking up this "mistake from western authors", a view that initially came into vogue during the colonial era. Richard Gombrich adds that Buddha should not be seen as
2560-401: A social reformer: "his concern was to reform individuals and help them leave society forever, not to reform the world... He never preached against social inequality, only declared its irrelevance to salvation. He never tried to abolish the caste system nor to do away with slavery" Dalit Dalit ( English: / ˈ d æ l ɪ t / from Sanskrit : दलित meaning "broken/scattered") is
2688-597: A temple in Karnataka. There have been allegations that Dalits in Nepal are denied entry to Hindu temples. In at least one case, Dalits were reportedly beaten by upper-caste people while attempting to enter a local temple. In 1956, the Dalit jurist Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar (1891–1956) launched the Dalit Buddhist movement , leading several mass conversions of Dalits from Hinduism to Buddhism. Ambedkar's Buddhism
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#17327717773582816-591: A term used for untouchables and outcasts , who represented the lowest stratum of the castes in the Indian subcontinent . They are also called Harijans . Dalits were excluded from the fourfold varna of the caste hierarchy and were seen as forming a fifth varna, also known by the name of Panchama . Several scholars have drawn parallels between Dalits and the Burakumin of Japan, the Baekjeong of Korea and
2944-461: Is "unconstitutional" for official documents to do so. In 2004, the NCSC noted that some state governments used Dalits rather than Scheduled Castes in documentation and asked them to desist. Some sources say that Dalit encompasses a broader range of communities than the official Scheduled Caste definition. It can include nomadic tribes and another official classification that also originated with
3072-545: Is a new kind of Buddhism that focuses on social and political engagement . About half a million Dalits joined Ambedkar in rejecting Hinduism and challenging its caste system. The movement is centered in Maharashtra , and according to the 2011 census, there were 6.5 million Marathi Buddhists (mainly Dalit Buddhists) in Maharashtra. Another Dalit Buddhist leader and reformer was Pandit Iyothee Thass , founder of
3200-419: Is a self-applied concept for those called the "untouchables" and others that were outside of the traditional Hindu caste hierarchy. Economist and reformer B. R. Ambedkar (1891–1956) said that untouchability came into Indian society around 400 CE, due to the struggle for supremacy between Buddhism and Brahmanism . Some Hindu priests befriended untouchables and were demoted to low-caste ranks. Eknath , who
3328-535: Is diminishing. India is home to over 200 million Dalits. According to Paul Diwakar , a Dalit activist from the National Campaign on Dalit Human Rights , "India has 600,000 villages and almost every village a small pocket on the outskirts is meant for Dalits." Discrimination against Dalits has been observed across South Asia and among the South Asian diaspora. In 2001, the quality of life of
3456-549: Is generally considered to be the pioneer of the Dalit movement, seeking a society in which they were not discriminated against. Another pioneer was Harichand Thakur (c. 1812–1878) with his Matua organisation that involved the Namasudra ( Chandala ) community in the Bengal Presidency . Ambedkar himself believed Walangkar to be the progenitor. Another early social reformer who worked to improve conditions for Dalits
3584-458: Is highest in Maharashtra (50 percent), Karnataka (36.4 percent) and Madhya Pradesh (36 percent). Dalits have been arrested on false pretexts. According to Human Rights Watch, politically motivated arrests of Dalit rights activists occur and those arrested can be detained for six months without charge. Caste-related violence between Dalit and non-Dalits stems from ongoing prejudice by upper caste members. The Bhagana rape case, which arose out of
3712-466: Is most commonly practised in Madhya Pradesh (53 per cent), followed by Himachal Pradesh (50 per cent), Chhattisgarh (48 per cent), Rajasthan and Bihar (47 per cent), Uttar Pradesh (43 per cent), and Uttarakhand (40 per cent). Examples of segregation have included the Madhya Pradesh village of Ghatwani , where the Scheduled Tribe population of Bhilala do not allow Dalit villagers to use
3840-633: Is the Indian wing of the UK-based Triratna Buddhist Community founded by Sangharakshita . Its roots lie in the scattered contacts that Sangharakshita had in the 1950s with Ambedkar. Sangharakshita, then still a bhikshu, participated in the conversion movement from 1956 until his departure to the UK in 1963. When his new ecumenical movement had gained enough ground in the West, Sangharakshita worked with Ambedkarites in India and
3968-546: Is the holy book of Navayana or Dalit Buddhists. According to Junghare, for the followers of Navyana, Ambedkar has become a deity and he is worshipped in its practice. After publishing a series of books and articles arguing that Buddhism was the only way for the Untouchables to gain equality, Ambedkar publicly converted on 14 October 1956, at Deekshabhoomi , Nagpur , over 20 years after he declared his intent to convert. Around 365,000 of his followers converted to Buddhism at
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4096-747: The Bahujan Samaj Party or the Republican Party of India . According to Janet Contursi, Ambedkar re-interprets Buddhist religion and with Navayana "speaks through Gautama and politicizes the Buddha philosophy as he theologizes his own political views". Ambedkar not only rejected Hinduism but also the most popular Buddhist schools . Ambedkar considered all ideas in Theravada, Vajrayana and Mahayana Buddhism that relate to an individual's merit and spiritual development as insertions into Buddhism, and something that "cannot be accepted to be
4224-724: The British Raj positive discrimination efforts in 1935, being the Scheduled Tribes . It is also sometimes used to refer to the entirety of India's oppressed peoples, which is the context that applies to its use in Nepalese society. An example of the limitations of the Scheduled Caste category is that, under Indian law, such people can only be followers of Buddhism, Hinduism or Sikhism, yet there are communities who claim to be Dalit Christians and Muslims, and
4352-479: The Great Renunciation in order to try and gain mass appeal from Dalits by giving the impression that The Buddha founded Buddhism as a social reform movement rather than a spiritual movement. Virginia Hancock writes about Ambedkar's reinterpretations as turning the Buddha into a politician. According to Ambedkar, the Buddha advocated a rational and peaceful resolution of an inter-tribe water conflict but
4480-536: The Madras Mahajana Sabha for the right of Parayars to enter Vishnu and Shiva temples, traditionally denied to Dalit communities, and advocated with the British for free education up to the fourth grade and allocation of unused lands to oppressed Parayars. Iyothee Thass died on 5 May 1914, just two weeks before his 69th birthday. Iyothee Thass claimed that his grandfather Kandappan worked as
4608-607: The Parliament of India passed the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Amendment Act to address issues regarding the implementation of the POA, including instances where the police put procedural obstacles in the way of alleged victims or indeed outright colluded with the accused. It also extended the number of acts that were deemed to be atrocities. One of those remedies, in an attempt to address
4736-671: The Ramakrishna Mission actively participated in the rights of Dalits. While Dalits had places to worship, the first upper-caste temple to openly welcome Dalits was the Laxminarayan Temple in Wardha in 1928. It was followed by the Temple Entry Proclamation issued by the last King of Travancore in the Indian state of Kerala in 1936. In the 1930s, Gandhi and Ambedkar disagreed regarding
4864-622: The Supreme Court of the Union of Burma on 28 October 1956. The conversion ceremony was attended by Medharathi, his main disciple Bhoj Dev Mudit, and Mahastvir Bodhanand's Sri Lankan successor, Bhante Pragyanand. Ambedkar asked Dalits not to get entangled in the existing branches of Buddhism (Theravada, Mahayana and Vajrayana), and called his version Navayana or 'Neo-Buddhism'. Ambedkar would die less than two months later, just after finishing his definitive work on Buddhism. Many Dalits employ
4992-654: The Swami Achhutanand Harihar in Uttar Pradesh and Babu Mangu Ram in Punjab . Born in an untouchable family, Achhutanand joined the Arya Samaj suddhi reform movement and worked there for about eight years (1905–1912). He felt Arya Samaj practiced untouchability in subtle ways, and subsequently left it to launch the socio-political Bharitiya Achhut Mahasabha movement. Achhutanand published
5120-642: The Theravada Buddhism tradition founded in Sri Lanka (where Thass had received his training and initiation in Buddhism). Ambedkar was an Indian leader, influential during the colonial era and post-independence period of India. He belonged to a Dalit community, traditionally the most oppressed and marginalized group in Indian society. He was the fourteenth child in an impoverished Maharashtra Dalit family, who studied abroad, returned to India in
5248-717: The Thirukkural as well as the Tiruvalluva Maalai (a hagiographic anthology of Valluvar and his work) and the Naaladi Naannurru (also known as Naalatiyaar , a poetry collection from the Sangam period ). According to popular sources, Kandappan preserved the works from destruction after finding the manuscripts written on palm leaves in a pile of leaves used for cooking. Kandappan had them delivered to Ellis. The books were finally published in print for
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5376-601: The Todas and other tribes of the Nilgiri Hills into a formidable force. In 1876, Thass established the Advaidananda Sabha and launched a magazine called Dravida Pandian in collaboration with Rev. John Rathinam . In 1886, Thass issued a revolutionary declaration that Scheduled caste people ( Dalits ) were not Hindus . Following this declaration, he established the "Dravida Mahajana Sabha" in 1891. During
5504-509: The University of Maryland , it was estimated that only 5 per cent of Indian marriages cross caste boundaries. The latest data available from India's National Crime Records Bureau is from the year 2000. In that year a total of 25,455 crimes against Dalits were committed; 2 Dalits were assaulted every hour, and in each day 3 Dalit women were raped, 2 Dalits were murdered, and 2 Dalit homes were set on fire. Amnesty International documented
5632-609: The Yerwada Jail , Pune. While he was in prison, the British government enacted a new law that granted untouchables a separate electorate. It came to be known as the Communal Award . In protest, Gandhi started fast-unto-death, while he was held in prison. The resulting public outcry forced the government, in consultations with Ambedkar, to replace the Communal Award with a compromise Poona Pact . Ambedkar accepted
5760-500: The peasant class of the medieval European feudal system . Dalits predominantly follow Hinduism with significant populations following Buddhism , Sikhism , Christianity , and Islam . The constitution of India includes Dalits as one of the Scheduled Castes ; this gives Dalits the right to protection, positive discrimination (known as reservation in India ), and official development resources. The term Dalit
5888-701: The "Ad Dharm" movement as well as a weekly newspaper titled Adi-Danka to spread his ideas. According to Teltumbde, Mandu Ram's religious movement failed to materialize, and Mangu Ram later joined the Ambedkarite movement. In 1914, Prakash was ordained as a Bodhanand Mahastavir in Calcutta , and began preaching Buddhism in Lucknow . He founded the Bharatiye Buddh Samiti in 1916, and set up a vihara in 1928. In 1898, Pandit Iyothee Thass founded
6016-449: The 1837 edition by his brother Saravana Perumal Iyer that suggested that both parents of Thiruvalluvar were Brahmins. Kandappan complained to Ellis that "four new verses had been added to the original version of Thiruvalluvar Malai ". He also noted that Ellis' omissions about Valluvar 's possible parentage as the son of a brahmin father and a pariah mother contributed to historical distortion and "co-opting Thiruvalluvar and his work into
6144-512: The 1891 census, he urged the members of Scheduled castes to register themselves as "Casteless Dravidians" instead of identifying themselves as Hindus. His activities served as an inspiration to Sri Lanka's Buddhist revivalist Anagarika Dharmapala . Iyothee Thass met Colonel H. S. Olcott with his followers and expressed a sincere desire to convert to Buddhism. According to Thass, the Paraiyars of Tamilakam were originally Buddhists and owned
6272-565: The 1920s and joined the political movement. His focus was social and political rights of the Dalits. During 1931–32, the Mahatma Gandhi led Indian independence movement held discussions with the British government over the Round Table Conferences . They sought constitutional reforms as a preparation to the end of colonial British rule, and begin the self-rule by Indians. The British side sought reforms that would keep
6400-650: The 19th century, Dalits in the Mahar Regiment of British Bombay , defeated the oppressive rule of the Peshvas . The fight for temple entry rights for Dalits continues to cause controversy. In a 2015 incident in Meerut , a Dalit belonging to the Valmiki caste was denied entry to a Hindu temple; he went on to convert to Islam . In September 2015, four Dalit women were fined by the upper-caste Hindus for entering
6528-421: The 6–59 months age group were anaemic in 2015. Dalits comprise a slightly disproportionate number of India's prison inmates. While Dalits (including both SCs and STs) constitute 25 percent of the Indian population, they account for 33.2 percent of prisoners. About 24.5 percent of death row inmates in India are from Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes which is proportionate to their population. The percentage
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#17327717773586656-595: The Adi-Hindu magazine, wherein he called on Dalits to return to Adi-Dharma as the "original religion of Indians." Achhutanand formulated his philosophy on the basis of a shared cultural and ethnic identity. He presented it to an audience beyond just Dalits, including tribal societies as well. He opposed Mahatma Gandhi 's non-cooperation movement and fasts as well as the Indian National Congress , stating that Brahmins were "as foreign to India as were
6784-600: The BSP forms a government at the Centre. Japanese-born Surai Sasai emerged as an important Buddhist leader in India. Sasai came to India in 1966 and met Nichidatsu Fujii , whom he helped with the Peace Pagoda at Rajgir . He fell out with Fuji, however, and started home, but, by his own account, was stopped by a dream in which a figure resembling Nagarjuna appeared and said, "Go to Nagpur". In Nagpur, he met Wamanrao Godbole,
6912-474: The Brahminical Hindu value system". Thass found the discrepancy between the 1831/1834 texts and the 1835/1837 texts notable, suggesting a deliberate intervention. Thass proposed that the publication of Thirukkural by Ellis likely alerted the brahmanas to the existence of an ethical text authored by a valluvan, a sub-sect of the pariahs. This awareness may have led them to reconcile their views on
7040-541: The Brahminical Hindu value system. Iyothee Thass remains the first recognized anti-caste leader of the Madras Presidency. In many ways, Periyar , Dravidar Kazhagam , and B. R. Ambedkar are inheritors of his legacy. He was also the first notable Scheduled Caste leader to embrace Buddhism. However, Iyothee Thass was largely forgotten until recent times when the Dalit Sahitya Academy ,
7168-596: The British", according to Anand Teltumbde . Babu Mangu Ram was also born in an untouchable family of Punjab with a flourishing leather trade. Mangu Ram arrived in the United States in 1909 at the age of 23 and worked in California . There, he joined the Ghadar Party and smuggled weapons from California to India in order to oppose British rule. In 1925, he shifted his focus onto Dalit freedom, launching
7296-425: The Constitution which outlawed Untouchability. After India's independence in 1947, secular nationalism based on a "composite culture" made all people equal citizens. Most Dalits in India are Hindu. There have been incidents which showed that Dalits were restricted from entering temples by high-caste Hindus, and participation in religious processions . In the 19th century, the Brahmo Samaj , Arya Samaj and
7424-480: The Dalit population in India was worse than that of the overall Indian population on metrics such as access to health care, life expectancy, education attainability, access to drinking water and housing. According to a 2007 report by Human Rights Watch (HRW), the treatment of Dalits has been like a "hidden apartheid" and that they "endure segregation in housing, schools, and access to public services". HRW noted that Manmohan Singh , then Prime Minister of India , saw
7552-422: The Dravida Mahajana Sabha and organized its First Conference in Ooty. The conference addressed issues such as enacting criminal laws against the humiliation of untouchables and providing education and employment opportunities for them. Iyothee Thass actively engaged with the colonial census and sought recognition for the Depressed Classes as Adi-Tamilar, distinct from Hinduism. In the 1870s, Iyothee Thass organized
7680-406: The Government of India issued an advisory to all media channels in September 2018, asking them to use "Scheduled Castes" instead of the word "Dalit". Scheduled Caste communities exist across India and comprised 16.6% of the country's population, according to the 2011 Census of India. Uttar Pradesh (21%), West Bengal (11%), Bihar (8%) and Tamil Nadu (7%) between them accounted for almost half
7808-421: The Indian subcontinent as a colony. The British negotiators proposed constitutional reforms on a British Dominion model that established separate electorates based on religious and social divisions. They invited Indian religious leaders, such as Muslims and Sikhs , to press their demands along religious lines, as well as B. R. Ambedkar as the representative leader of the untouchables. Gandhi vehemently opposed
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#17327717773587936-450: The Muslim power. Efforts to revive Buddhism in India began in the 19th century, such as with the efforts of Sri Lankan Buddhist leader Anagarika Dharmapala who founded the Maha Bodhi Society . The Maha Bodhi Society, according to Bhagwan Das, was not a Dalit movement however, because it mainly attracted upper-caste Hindus to Buddhism. The two Adi Dharma movements – those that rejected Hinduism in favor of Buddhism – were launched by
8064-489: The Poona Pact under public pressure, but disagreed with Gandhi and his political methods. He dismissed Gandhi's ideas as loved by "blind Hindu devotees", primitive, influenced by spurious brew of Tolstoy and Ruskin, and "there is always some simpleton to preach them". Ambedkar concluded that Dalits must leave Hinduism and convert to another religion, and announced his intent to leave Hinduism in 1935. He considered Islam, Christianity, Sikhism, Zoroastrianism and Buddhism. Ambedkar
8192-417: The Sakya Buddhist Society also known as Indian Buddhist Association in Tamil Nadu . He presented Buddhism as a religious alternative to Hinduism for Dalits. Thass's efforts led to the creation of a broader movement amongst Tamil Dalits in South India until the 1950s. The first president of the Indian Buddhist Association was Paul Carus . Unlike the Ambedkarite movement , the Indian Buddhist Association adopted
8320-415: The Sakya Buddhist Society of Tamil Nadu . The Scheduled Castes Order (Amendment) Act, 1990 granted reservation to Dalit Buddhists and recognized their SC status. Guru Nanak in Guru Granth Sahib calls for everyone to treat each other equally. Subsequent Sikh Gurus , all of whom came from the Khatri caste, also denounced the hierarchy of the caste system. Despite this, social stratification exists in
8448-419: The Sikh community. The bulk of the Sikhs of Punjab belong to the Jat caste; there are also two Dalit Sikh castes in the state, called the Mazhabis and the Ramdasias . Iyothee Thass C. Iyothee Thass (20 May 1845 – 1914) was an Indian anti-caste activist and a practitioner of Siddha medicine. He famously converted to Buddhism and called upon the Paraiyars to do the same, arguing that this
8576-422: The UK to develop Indian Buddhism further. After visits in the late 1970s by Dharmachari Lokamitra from UK, supporters developed a two-pronged approach: social work through the Bahujan Hitaj (also spelled as Bahujan Hitay) trust, mainly sponsored from the general public by the British Buddhist-inspired Karuna Trust (UK) , and direct Dharma work. Currently the movement has viharas and groups in at least 20 major areas,
8704-452: The arrival of Dipankar, a Chamar bhikkhu, in 1980. Dipankar had come to Kanpur on a Buddhist mission and his first public appearance was scheduled at a mass conversion drive in 1981. The event was organised by Rahulan Ambawadekar, an RPI Dalit leader. In April 1981, Ambawadekar founded the Dalit Panthers (U.P. Branch) inspired by the Maharashtrian Dalit Panthers. The event met with severe criticism and opposition from Vishva Hindu Parishad and
8832-403: The cases filed under this Act are as neglected as the victims". While Dalit rights organisations were cautiously optimistic that the amended Act would improve the situation, legal experts were pessimistic. Discrimination is illegal under Indian law by the Removal of Civil Disabilities Act (Act 21 of 1938), the Temple Entry Authorization and Indemnity Act 1939 (Act XXII of 1939) and Article 17 of
8960-918: The circumstances of their birth and poverty, Dalits in India continue to work as sanitation workers: manual scavengers, cleaners of drains and sewers, garbage collectors, and sweepers of roads. As of 2019, an estimated 40 to 60 percent of the 6 million Dalit households are engaged in sanitation work. The most common Dalit caste performing sanitation work is Valmiki (also Balmiki) caste. Discrimination against Dalits exists in access to healthcare and nutrition. A sample survey of Dalits, conducted over several months in Madhya Pradesh and funded by ActionAid in 2014, found that health field workers did not visit 65 per cent of Dalit settlements. 47 per cent of Dalits were not allowed entry into ration shops, and 64 per cent were given fewer grains than non-Dalits. In Haryana state, 49 per cent of Dalit children under five years were underweight and malnourished while 80 percent of those in
9088-475: The core beliefs and doctrines of traditional Buddhist traditions such as the Four Noble Truths and Anatta were flawed and pessimistic, and may have been inserted into the Buddhist scriptures by wrong-headed Buddhist monks of a later era. These should not be considered as Buddha 's teachings in Ambedkar's view. Other foundational concepts of Buddhism such as Karma and Rebirth were considered by Ambedkar as superstitions. Navayana as formulated by Ambedkar and at
9216-492: The country's total Scheduled Caste population. They were most prevalent as a proportion of the states' population in Punjab, at about 32 per cent, while Mizoram had the lowest at approximately zero. Similar groups are found throughout the rest of the Indian subcontinent; less than 2 per cent of Pakistan's population are Hindu and 70–75 per cent of those Hindus are Dalits, in Nepal, Bangladesh had 5 million Dalits in 2010 with
9344-401: The death of Ambedkar. Some critics also argue that Neo-Buddhism deviates too much from traditional Buddhism. Even though traditional Buddhism emphasizes equality among people, it does not deny the caste system. In addition, its emphasis on people's liberation in the religious sense does not deny social distinctions as the norm of organizations in society, as the Buddha himself was the founder of
9472-558: The demeaning Dalit masses. James Lochtefeld, a professor of religion and Asian studies, said in 2002 that the "adoption and popularization of [the term Dalit ] reflects their growing awareness of the situation, and their greater assertiveness in demanding their legal and constitutional rights". India's National Commission for Scheduled Castes considers official use of dalit as a label to be "unconstitutional" because modern legislation prefers Scheduled Castes ; however, some sources say that Dalit has encompassed more communities than
9600-484: The dirtiest work, and are not allowed to use the village well and other common facilities". In the same year, Zelliot noted that "In spite of much progress over the last sixty years, Dalits are still at the social and economic bottom of society." According to the 2014 NCAER/University of Maryland survey, 27 per cent of the Indian population still practices untouchability; the figure may be higher because many people refuse to acknowledge doing so when questioned, although
9728-423: The entire population of untouchables in India as being united by a radical politics. Anand Teltumbde also detects a trend towards denial of the politicised identity, for example among educated middle-class people who have converted to Buddhism and argue that, as Buddhists, they cannot be Dalits. This may be due to their improved circumstances giving rise to a desire not to be associated with what they perceive to be
9856-406: The first time in 1831 thanks to the collaboration between Ellis, his manager Muthusamy Pillai, and Tamil scholar Tandavaraya Mudaliar . The 1831 and 1834 editions published by Ellis did not mention Thiruvalluvar's parentage or specify his birth to a Brahmin father and a Pariah mother. However, differences were later identified in the 1835 edition of Thiruvalluvar Malai by Vishaka Perumal Iyer and
9984-513: The foundations of buildings, thus wiping out generations of Dalits. Under the rule of Baji Rao, if a Dalit crossed in front of a gym, they would cut off his head and play "bat and ball" on the ground, with their swords as bats and his head as a ball. Under these 17th century kings, human sacrifice of untouchable persons was not unusual. They also created intricate rules and operations to ensure that they stayed untouchables. George Kunnath claims that there "is and has been an internal hierarchy between
10112-612: The grounds that he had overstayed his visa was dismissed, and he was granted Indian citizenship. Sasai and Bhante Anand Agra are two of main leaders of the campaign to free the Mahabodhi Temple at Bodh Gaya from Hindu control. A movement originating in Maharashtra but also active in Uttar Pradesh, and spread out over quite a few other pockets where Neo Buddhists live, is Triratna Bauddha Mahāsaṅgha (formerly called TBMSG for Trailokya Bauddha Mahasangha Sahayaka Gana). It
10240-480: The immediate mass support from the Untouchable population that Ambedkar had hoped for. Division and lack of direction among the leaders of the Ambedkarite movement have been an additional impediment. According to the 2011 census, there are currently 8.44 million Buddhists in India, at least 6.5 million of whom are Marathi Buddhists in Maharashtra. This makes Buddhism the fifth-largest religion in India and 6% of
10368-682: The indigenous inhabitants of India. The terms are used in the states of Tamil Nadu , Karnataka , and Andhra Pradesh / Telangana , respectively, as a generic term for anyone from a Dalit caste. In Maharashtra , according to historian and women's studies academic Shailaja Paik, Dalit is a term mostly used by members of the Mahar caste, into which Ambedkar was born. Most other communities prefer to use their own caste name. In Nepal, aside from Harijan and, most commonly, Dalit , terms such as Haris (among Muslims), Achhoot , outcastes and neech jati are used. Gopal Baba Walangkar (c. 1840–1900)
10496-637: The land which had later been robbed from them by Aryan invaders. With Olcott's help, Thass was able to visit Ceylon and obtain diksha from the Sinhalese Buddhist monk Bikkhu Sumangala Nayake. On returning, Thass established the Sakya Buddhist Society in Madras with branches all over South India . The Sakya Buddhist Society was also known as the Indian Buddhist Association and was established in
10624-480: The living standards of many Dalits have improved since the economic system became more liberalised starting in 1991 and have supported their claims through large surveys. According to the Socio Economic and Caste Census 2011 , nearly 79 percent of Adivasi households and 73 percent of Dalit households were the most deprived among rural households in India. While 45 percent of SC households are landless and earn
10752-858: The majority being landless and in chronic poverty, and Sri Lanka. They are also found as part of the Indian diaspora in many countries, including the United States, United Kingdom, Singapore, and the Caribbean. While discrimination against Dalits has declined in urban areas and in the public sphere, it still exists in rural areas and in the private sphere, in everyday matters such as access to eating places, schools, temples and water sources. Some Dalits successfully integrated into urban Indian society, where caste origins are less obvious. In rural India, however, caste origins are more readily apparent and Dalits often remain excluded from local religious life, though some qualitative evidence suggests that exclusion
10880-446: The matter. The institute for Siddha Research ( National Institute of Siddha ) was subsequently inaugurated by Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Anbumani Ramadoss the then Union Health Minister on 3 September 2005 and named it after the anti-caste Buddhist leader. At its inauguration, the hospital had 120 beds. The patients were treated as per the traditional system of Siddha medicine . A commemorative postage stamp on him
11008-440: The methodology of the survey was also criticised for potentially inflating the figure. Across India, Untouchability was practised among 52 per cent of Brahmins , 33 per cent of Other Backward Classes and 24 per cent of non-Brahmin forward castes . Untouchability was also practised by people of minority religions – 23 per cent of Sikhs, 18 per cent of Muslims and 5 per cent of Christians. According to statewide data, Untouchability
11136-478: The most senior jobs in government agencies and government-controlled enterprises, only 1 per cent were held by Dalits, not much change in 40 years. In the 21st century, Dalits have been elected to India's highest judicial and political offices. In 1997, India elected its first Dalit President, K. R. Narayanan . Many social organisations have promoted better conditions for Dalits through education, healthcare and employment. Nonetheless, while caste-based discrimination
11264-482: The movement claims to be a form of engaged Buddhism as taught by Ambedkar. Buddhism originated in ancient India and grew after Ashoka adopted it. By the 2nd century CE, Buddhism was widespread in India and had expanded outside of India into Central Asia, East Asia and parts of Southeast Asia. During the Middle Ages, Buddhism slowly declined in India, while it vanished from Persia and Central Asia as Islam became
11392-426: The newspaper gave a voice to the public, including members of the Dalit community, who had the opportunity to publish articles on areas such as "religion, law, Tamil literature, economy, agriculture and a Ladies Column" . The newspaper enjoyed a wide reach among marginalized communities and took an explicit anti-caste stance, also reflected in its refusal to use caste names . Iyothee Thass fought (unsuccessfully) with
11520-405: The official term of Scheduled Castes and is sometimes used to refer to all of India's oppressed peoples. A similar all-encompassing situation prevails in Nepal. Scheduled Castes is the official term for Dalits in the opinion of India's National Commissions for Scheduled Castes (NCSC), who took legal advice that indicated modern legislation does not refer to Dalit and that therefore, it says, it
11648-427: The other religions and chose Buddhism. However, Ambedkar remained a Hindu for the next 20 years, studied then re-interpreted Buddhism, and adopted Neo-Buddhism or Navayana few weeks before his death. The Italian Buddhist monk Lokanatha visited Ambedkar's residence at Dadar on 10 June 1936. Later in an interview to the press, Lokanatha said that Ambedkar was impressed with Buddhism. According to Ambedkar, several of
11776-577: The outcome of the Pact – the Government of India Act 1935 – introduced the new term of Scheduled Castes , as a replacement for the term Depressed Classes , and also reserved seats for them in the legislatures. Soon after its independence in 1947, India introduced a reservation system to enhance the ability of Dalits to have political representation and to obtain government jobs and education. The 1950 Constitution of India included measures to improve
11904-400: The person who had organised the conversion ceremony for Ambedkar in 1956. Sasai claims that when he saw a photograph of Ambedkar at Godbole's home, he realised that it was Ambedkar who had appeared in his dream. At first, Nagpur folk considered Surai Sasai very strange. Then he began to greet them with " Jai Bhim " (victory to Ambedkar) and to build viharas. In 1987 a court case to deport him on
12032-535: The population of Maharashtra , but less than 1% of the overall population of India. The Buddhist revival remains concentrated in two states : Ambedkar's native Maharashtra , and Uttar Pradesh – the land of Bodhanand Mahastavir, Acharya Medharthi and their associates. Acharya Medharthi retired from his Buddhapuri school in 1960, and shifted to an ashram in Haridwar . He turned to the Arya Samaj and conducted Vedic yajnas all over India. After his death, he
12160-634: The public borewell for fetching water and thus they are forced to drink dirty water. In metropolitan areas around New Delhi and Bangalore , Dalits and Muslims face discrimination from upper caste landlords when seeking places to rent. In 1855, Mutka Salve, a 14-year-old student of Dalit leader Savitribai Phule , wrote that during the rule of Baji Rao of the Maratha Empire , the Dalit castes were chased away from their lands to build large buildings. They were also forced to drink oil mixed with red lead causing them to die, and then they were buried in
12288-741: The retention of the Varna system. Whilst Ambedkar wanted to see it destroyed, Gandhi thought that it could be modified by reinterpreting Hindu texts so that the untouchables were absorbed into the Shudra varna. It was this disagreement that led to the Poona Pact. Gandhi began the Harijan Yatra to help the Dalits, but ran into some opposition from Dalits that wanted a complete break from Hinduism. The declaration by princely states of Kerala between 1936 and 1947 that temples were open to all Hindus went
12416-505: The root of Dalit Buddhist movement abandons mainstream traditional Buddhist practices and precepts such as the institution of monk after renunciation, ideas such as karma, rebirth in afterlife, samsara, meditation, nirvana and Four Noble Truths. Ambedkar's new sect of Buddhism rejected these ideas and re-interpreted the Buddha's religion in terms of class struggle and social equality. Ambedkar called his version of Buddhism Navayana or Neo-Buddhism. His book, The Buddha and His Dhamma ,
12544-459: The same ceremony. On this occasion, many upper caste Hindus too accepted Buddhism. After Nagpur, on 16 October 1956, Ambedkar again gave Buddhism to more than 300,000 of his followers at Chandrapur , since the place is also known as Deekshabhoomi. Inspired by this Ambedkar's conversion, 5,000 Tamils of Myanmar had accepted Buddhism in Rangoon under the leadership of Chan Htoon , the justice of
12672-464: The same time. Part of the significance of this plan was that Ram's followers include not only Untouchables, but persons from a variety of castes, who could significantly broaden Buddhism's support. But, he died 9 October 2006 after a lengthy illness; he was cremated as per Buddhist tradition. Another popular Dalit leader, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister and Bahujan Samaj Party leader Mayawati , has said that she and her followers will embrace Buddhism after
12800-509: The same. After receiving lay ordination , Ambedkar gave dhamma diksha to his followers. This ceremony organised on 14 October 1956 in Nagpur included 22 vows administered to all new converts after Three Jewels and Five Precepts . On 16 October 1956, Ambedkar performed another mass religious conversion ceremony at Chandrapur . The Buddhist movement was somewhat hindered by Ambedkar's death so shortly after his conversion. It did not receive
12928-768: The schools studied Dalit children are forbidden from touching mid-day meals . They are required to sit separately at lunch in 35 percent of schools and are required to eat with specially marked plates in 28 percent. There have been incidents and allegations of SC and ST teachers and professors being discriminated against and harassed by authorities, upper castes colleagues and upper caste students in different education institutes of India. In some cases, such as in Gujarat, state governments have argued that, far from being discriminatory, their rejection when applying for jobs in education has been because there are no suitably qualified candidates from those classifications. According to
13056-750: The scriptures of the Theravada, the Mahayana, or the Vajrayana. The question that is then clearly put forth: is a fourth yana, a Navayana , a kind of modernistic Enlightenment version of the Dhamma really possible within the framework of Buddhism? According to Omvedt, Ambedkar and his Buddhist movement deny many of the core doctrines of Buddhism. All the elements of religious modernism, state Christopher Queen and Sallie King, may be found in Ambedkar Buddhism where his The Buddha and His Dhamma abandons
13184-525: The slow process of cases, was to make it mandatory for states to set up the exclusive Special Courts that the POA had delineated. Progress in doing so, however, was reported in April 2017 to be unimpressive. P. L. Punia , a former chairman of the NCSC, said that the number of pending cases was high because most of the extant Special Courts were not exclusive but rather being used to process some non-POA cases, and because "The special prosecutors are not bothered and
13312-616: The social status of valluvans and pariahs with the newfound intellectual strength and achievements demonstrated in Thirukkural. To address this, Thass suggested that a new genealogy for Thiruvalluvar emerged, attempting to align him with noble birth. Different versions of these stories circulated, with the 1847 edition by Muthuveerapillai and Vedagiri Mudaliar linking Thiruvalluvar's birth to puranic myths. Thass argued that these stories, often inconsistent and absurd, aimed to distance Thiruvalluvar from his Buddhist origins and integrate him into
13440-607: The socioeconomic conditions of Dalits. Aside from banning untouchability, these included the reservation system, a means of positive discrimination that created the classification of Scheduled Castes as Dalits. Communities that were categorised as being one of those groups were guaranteed a percentage of the seats in the national and state legislatures, as well as in government jobs and places of education. By 1995, of all federal government jobs in India – 10.1 per cent of Class I, 12.7 per cent of Class II, 16.2 per cent of Class III, and 27.2 per cent of Class IV jobs were held by Dalits. Of
13568-440: The state religion. According to Randall Collins, Buddhism was already declining in India by the 12th century, but with the pillage by Muslim invaders it nearly became extinct in India. In the 13th century, states Craig Lockard, Buddhist monks in India fled to Tibet to escape Islamic persecution, while the monks in western India, states Peter Harvey, escaped persecution by moving to south Indian Hindu kingdoms that were able to resist
13696-483: The term "Ambedkar(ite) Buddhism" to designate the Buddhist movement, which started with Ambedkar's conversion. Many converted people call themselves "-Bauddha" i.e. Buddhists. The Twenty-two vows or twenty-two pledges are the 22 Buddhist vows administered by B. R. Ambedkar , the revivalist of Buddhism in India, to his followers. On converting to Buddhism , Ambedkar made 22 vows, and asked his 400,000 supporters to do
13824-449: The term had become "intensely political ... While the use of the term might seem to express appropriate solidarity with the contemporary face of Untouchable politics, there remain major problems in adopting it as a generic term. Although the word is now quite widespread, it still has deep roots in a tradition of political radicalism inspired by the figure of B. R. Ambedkar." They went on to suggest that its use risked erroneously labelling
13952-405: The traditional precepts and practices, then adopts science, activism and social reforms as a form of Engaged Buddhism . Ambedkar's formulation of Buddhism is different from Western modernism, states Skaria, given his synthesis of the ideas of modern Karl Marx into the structure of ideas by the ancient Buddha. Critics have argued that Neo-Buddhism does not have a strong influence, especially after
14080-480: The tribal communities often practise folk religions . The term Harijan , or 'children of God', was coined by Narsinh Mehta , a Gujarati poet-saint of the Bhakti tradition, to refer to all devotees of Krishna irrespective of caste, class, or sex. Mahatma Gandhi, an admirer of Mehta's work, first used the word in the context of identifying Dalits in 1933. Ambedkar disliked the name as it placed Dalits in relation to
14208-446: The twenty-two vows. Prerna Singh Bindra argued a mass-conversion of Hindus to Ambedkarite Buddhism under Udit Raj to be a political stunt. According to Gail Omvedt , an American-born and naturalised Indian sociologist and human rights activist: Ambedkar's Buddhism seemingly differs from that of those who accepted by faith, who 'go for refuge ' and accept the canon. This much is clear from its basis: it does not accept in totality
14336-712: The various Dalit castes". According to Kunnath, the Dusadhs are considered the highest while the Musahars are considered the lowest within the Dalit groups. According to an analysis by The IndiaGoverns Research Institute, Dalits constituted nearly half of primary school drop-outs in Karnataka during the period 2012–14. A sample survey in 2014, conducted by Dalit Adhikar Abhiyan and funded by ActionAid , found that among state schools in Madhya Pradesh , 88 percent discriminated against Dalit children. In 79 percent of
14464-499: The word of the Buddha". Buddhism, to Ambedkar, must have been a social reform movement. Ambedkar's radical reinterpretations of the faith rejected many of the main tenets of mainstream Buddhism such as renunciation , meditation , Samsara , Karma , reincarnation and even the Four Noble Truths , which Ambedkar claims to have been invented by wrong-headed monks. Ambedkar reinvents the traditional story of The Buddha and
14592-406: The year 1898. Identifying the caste system's origin with the decline of Buddhism, Iyothee Thass urged Dalits to return to Buddhism for the annihilation of caste. In 1898, he embraced Buddhism during a visit to Sri Lanka and founded 'The Sakya Buddhist Society .' The society established branches in various locations, including South Africa and Sri Lanka. Iyothee Thass's efforts aimed at constructing
14720-482: Was Jyotirao Phule (1827–1890). The present system has its origins in the 1932 Poona Pact between Ambedkar and Mahatma Gandhi , when Ambedkar conceded his demand that the Dalits should have an electorate separate from the caste Hindus in return for Gandhi accepting measures along these lines. The notion of a separate electorate had been proposed in the Communal Award made by the British Raj authorities, and
14848-619: Was an excommunicated Brahmin, fought for the rights of untouchables during the Bhakti period . In the late 1880s, the Marathi word 'Dalit' was used by Jyotirao Phule for the outcasts and untouchables who were oppressed and broken in the Hindu society. Dalit is a vernacular form of the Sanskrit दलित ( dalita ). In Classical Sanskrit, this means "divided, split, broken, scattered". This word
14976-422: Was approached by various leaders of different denominations and faiths. On 22 May 1936, an "All Religious Conference" was held at Lucknow . It was attended by prominent Dalit leaders including Jagjivan Ram , though Ambedkar could not attend it. At the conference, Muslim, Christian, Sikh, and Buddhist representatives presented the tenets of their respective religions in an effort to win over Dalits. Ambedkar rejected
15104-550: Was banned. The number of Buddhists in the Lucknow district increased from 73 in 1951 to 4327 in 2001. According to the 2001 census, almost 70% of the Buddhist population in Uttar Pradesh is from the scheduled castes background. In 2002, Kanshi Ram , a popular political leader from a Sikh religious background, announced his intention to convert to Buddhism on 14 October 2006, the fiftieth anniversary of Ambedkar's conversion. He intended for 20,000,000 of his supporters to convert at
15232-742: Was born Kathavarayan on 20 May 1845 in Thousand Lights , a neighbourhood in Madras (now Chennai), and later migrated to the Nilgiris district . His family followed Vaishnavism and on that basis he named his children Madhavaram, Pattabhiraman, Janaki, Raman and Rasaram. His grandfather worked for George Harrington in Ootacamund (now Ooty) and little Kathavarayan profited immensely from this association. In 1870, Iyothee Thass founded Adhvaidhananda Sabha, considered one of his early institution-building activities. Later, in 1891, he established
15360-847: Was cremated according to Arya Samaj rites. His Buddhpuri school became embroiled in property disputes. His follower, Bhoj Dev Mudit, converted to Buddhism in 1968 and set up a school of his own. Rajendranath Aherwar appeared as an important Dalit leader in Kanpur. He joined the Republican Party of India and converted to Buddhism along with his whole family in 1961. In 1967, he founded the Kanpur branch of "Bharatiya Buddh Mahasabha". He held regular meetings where he preached Buddhism, officiated at Buddhist weddings and life cycle ceremonies, and organised festivals on Ambedkar's Jayanti (birth day), Sambuddhatva jayanthi , Diksha Divas (the day Ambedkar converted), and Ambedkar Paranirvan Divas (the day Ambedkar died). The Dalit Buddhist movement in Kanpur gained impetus with
15488-511: Was determined that neither of those Acts were effective, so the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act of 1989 (POA) came into force. The POA designated specific crimes against SCs and STs as "atrocities" – a criminal act that has "the quality of being shockingly cruel and inhumane" – which should be prosecuted under its terms rather than existing criminal law. It created corresponding punishments. Its purpose
15616-607: Was killed in 2019 for eating in front of upper-caste men. The Government of India has attempted on several occasions to legislate specifically to address the issue of caste-related violence that affects SCs and STs. Aside from the Constitutional abolition of untouchability, there has been the Untouchability (Offences) Act of 1955, which was amended in the same year to become the Protection of Civil Rights Act. It
15744-571: Was popularised by Ambedkar, himself a Dalit, who included all depressed people irrespective of their caste into the definition of Dalits. It covered people who were excluded from the fourfold varna system of Hinduism and thought of themselves as forming a fifth varna, describing themselves as Panchama . In the 1970s its use was invigorated when it was adopted by the Dalit Panthers activist group. Socio-legal scholar Oliver Mendelsohn and political economist Marika Vicziany wrote in 1998 that
15872-738: Was prohibited and untouchability abolished by the Constitution of India , such practices are still widespread. To prevent harassment, assault, discrimination and similar acts against these groups, the Government of India enacted the Prevention of Atrocities Act , also called the SC/ST Act, on 31 March 1995. In accordance with the order of the Bombay High Court , the Information and Broadcasting Ministry (I&B Ministry) of
16000-417: Was repurposed in 19th-century Sanskrit to mean "(a person) not belonging to one of the four Varnas ". It was perhaps first used in this sense by Pune -based social reformer Jyotirao Phule , in the context of the oppression faced by the erstwhile "untouchable" castes from other Hindus . The term Dalits was in use as a translation for the Indian census classification of Depressed Classes prior to 1935. It
16128-717: Was their original religion. He also founded the Panchamar Mahajana Sabha in 1891 along with Rettamalai Srinivasan . Panchamas are the ones who are outcastes. "Iyothee Thass" is the most common Anglicized spelling of his name; other spellings include Pandit C. Ayodhya Dasa, C. Iyothee Doss, C. Iyodhi Doss, C. Iyothee Thoss, K. Ayōttitācar (avarkaḷ), K. Ayōttitāsa (paṇṭitaravarkaḷ), or Ayothidas Pandithar. Iyothee Thass possessed deep knowledge in Tamil, Siddha medicine and philosophy, and literary knowledge in languages such as English, Sanskrit and Pali. Iyothee Thass
16256-471: Was to curb and punish violence against Dalits, including humiliations such as the forced consumption of noxious substances. Other atrocities included forced labour, denial of access to water and other public amenities, and sexual abuse. The Act permitted Special Courts exclusively to try POA cases. The Act called on states with high levels of caste violence (said to be "atrocity-prone") to appoint qualified officers to monitor and maintain law and order. In 2015,
16384-502: Was unable to gain the necessary political leverage because he lacked majority vote. He then went into exile and became a renunciant because it was the only way to prevent his tribe from going to war with their neighbors. Ambedkar omits any mention of old age, sickness, and death (the forms of suffering the Buddha is usually understood to have encountered). In this way the Buddha’s renunciation is motivated more by political exigencies rather than
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