A political row erupted on Friday after a video clip of AAP Minister Rajendra Pal Gautam at a religious conversion event went viral in which hundreds can be heard taking an oath denouncing Hindu deities.
The event took place at Karol Bagh on the occasion of Dussehra, when Ashok Vijayadashmi is also celebrated in the national Capital. Gautam himself Tweeted pictures of the event, saying “more than 10,000 people pledged to join Buddhism and work for making India free from casteism and untouchability.”
Sources in the AAP said the Chief Minister was "extremely displeased" with Gautam.
Gautam, who is the founder of Mission Jai Bhim, took to Twitter, penned, "Let’s call the mission Jai Bhim towards Buddha. Today, under the aegis of ‘Mission Jai Bhim’, on Ashoka Vijayadashami, more than 10,000 intellectuals took a pledge to make a caste-free and untouchable India by returning home to Tathagata Gautam Buddha’s Dhamma at Dr. Ambedkar Bhawan Rani Jhansi Road. Namo Buddha, Jai Bhim!" During the event, Gautam was seen repeating the controversial vows and delivering a speech wherein he urged Hindus to renounce their faith and tread the path of Dr Ambedkar. “Who benefitted from this caste system and who suffered the most? BR Ambedkar had found the medicine to this disease and we are now spreading it,” he was heard as saying.
Gautam, who is Social Welfare and Women & Child Development Minister in the Delhi Government, said he has faith in Buddhism and that the Constitution gives the freedom to follow any religion. "The BJP is afraid of AAP. They can only lodge fake cases against us," he said.
As per the video clips, during the event, a saffron-clad man administered an oath to the crowd, which closely resembled the controversial 22 vows of BR Ambedkar.
The man urged the Hindus to disassociate themselves from their original faith and desist from worship of deities.“I shall have no faith in Brahma, Vishnu and Maheshwara, nor shall I worship them. I shall have no faith in Rama and Krishna who are believed to be the incarnation of God nor shall I worship them,” he was heard as saying. “I do not and shall not believe that Lord Buddha was the incarnation of Vishnu. I believe this to be sheer madness and false propaganda. I shall not perform ‘Shraddha’ nor shall I give ‘pind-dan’,” he further added.
The man, dressed in saffron, continued, “I shall not allow any ceremonies to be performed by Brahmins. I renounce Hinduism which is harmful to humanity and impedes the advancement and development of humanity because it is based on inequality, and adopt Buddhism as my religion.”
