Around 200 Dalits, fifty of them women, converted to Buddhism at a programme organised by the Gujarat Buddhist Academy in Ahmedabad said the organisation’s secretary Ramesh Banker.

“Deeksha (initiation) was given by a Buddhist religious head from Kushinagar, the place where Lord Buddha gave up his body to attain Parinirvana,” Ramesh said.

In another incident at a function in Vadodara, over 100 Dalits converted to Buddhism. Pragna Ratna, a monk from Porbandar, gave them the Deeksha.

“We chose Sankalp Bhoomi (in Vadodara) to organise the conversion as it was here that Babasaheb Ambedkar had, on September 23 a century ago, spent five hours before leaving the city and also his job as the Dewan of the royal Gaekwad family to launch his fight against untouchability,” Rohit zonal coordinator of the Bahujan Samaj Party.said.

“Ashok Vijaya Dashmi is important for us as on this day Ambedkar embraced Buddhism with lakhs of people in Nagpur in 1956. Ambedkar chose Vijaya Dashmi as it was on this day that Emperor Ashok had converted to Buddhism,” he said.

Recently south Indian actor kamal hasana second daughter been switched to Buddhism and this is been welcomed by him in his twitter.