Dalits, mostly from Banaskantha and a few from Kutch district, converted to Buddhism at Ramapir temple here at the program organised by Banaskantha District Dalit Sangathan.
"The decision to embrace Buddhism was taken after Una Dalit atrocity case. Members of our community wanted to protest against growing inequality and atrocities against Dalits in Gujarat," said the organiser Dalpatbhai Bhatiya.
"After the Una incident we had intimated district administration about the decision of 191 Dalits to convert to Buddhism this day. Of them, 155 converted today at a function presided over by a Buddhist monk from Porbandar," Bhatiya said.
Such event will be organised every year on Mahaparinirvan Divas, he claimed.
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"If (despite) being Hindus we are not allowed to enter the temple, play garba during Navratri or draw water from the common well because we are Dalits, then there is no point being a Hindu. This is why we decided to convert to Buddhism," said Amrut Valmiki, who converted along with his three children.
"We had earlier rejected the application seeking permission for conversion. We had not given them permission for today's event and we will conduct an inquiry," Devan said.
In October, on Vijaya Dashami, more than 300 Dalits converted to Buddhism at various places in Gujarat and also at Nagpur. Una incident was cited as the main reason for high number of participants.