At least 180 Dalit families from three villages of Saharanpur district have converted to Buddhism in protest against what they called unfair targeting of the community and Bhim Army, after incidents of violence over the past month in Saharanpur.
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Dalit residents of villages around Shabbirpur, where 60 houses of the community were allegedly burnt by Thakurs, said they had been living in fear ever since.
"Police and the Thakurs are hand-in-glove. We want to flee. We hope that the conversion will give us some strength," said a Dalit resident of Shabbirpur.
In the recent past, several incidents of violence involving Dalits have been reported in Saharanpur. On April 20, skirmishes broke out in Sadak Doodhli village over an Ambedkar Jayanti procession.
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On May 5, another clash occurred over a procession of Maharana Pratap taken out by Thakurs in Shabbirpur village, in which a Thakur man died and several people of both communities were injured.
On May 9, a group of Dalits led by the Bhim Army were on their way to hold a 'mahapanchayat' when they were stopped by the police, leading to stone pelting and arson in which three policemen were injured.
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Members of the Bhim Army have been on the run ever since after multiple FIRs were registered against them. "Everybody is targeting Dalits and the Bhim Army. The truth is it was a pre-planned attack on Dalits.
The villages were attacked at a time when the men were out in the fields. Women were beaten up. One woman's hand was cut off by a sword. But, the police are not doing anything about that. Instead, they are targeting the Bhim Army, which is only working for the powerless and voiceless Dalits. They are calling us Naxalites, and putting 14-year-old Dalits behind bars," said Vinay Ratan Singh, national president of Bhim Army to TOI, talking on the phone from an undisclosed location.
"This conversion is just the beginning. Now more and more of us will convert to Buddhism. If we are not treated as human beings in Hinduism, we will not remain silent spectators," Singh added.
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Saharanpur police, however, are not taking the conversion seriously. "See, Buddhism is only a branch of Hinduism. Like some people go to Arya Samaj temple, some people will go to Buddhist temples. Everybody at the end of the day is Hindu," a policeman told TOI.
Dalit thinker and writer Chandra Bhan Prasad said, "I am not surprised that Dalits have converted. When people are oppressed, there is bound to be a reaction. There has been a rise in anti-Dalit feeling in society since 2014."
"People are free to follow whatever religion they want. As regards Chandrashekhar (president of Bhim Army), we will arrest him soon," said SC Dubey, SSP Saharanpur.