Over 200 people from the Dalit community from Gujarat converted to Buddhism in three separate events organised by Buddhist organisations here on the occasion of Vijayadashmi.
Another 90 from the State converted to Buddhism in Nagpur, taking the total to over 300 Dalits.
According to organisers, though conversions are carried out every year on Vijayadashmi, this year the numbers were high on account of the Una Dalit flogging incident.
Dalits prefer to embrace Buddhism on Vijayadashmi because on this day in 1956, Babasaheb BR Ambedkar took to Buddhism along with other Dalits at an event in Nagpur, said PG Jyotikar of the Buddhist Society of India. The reaction to the Una incident was evident in the response we received,” he said.
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