Vol. 17, Part I · pages 451–455

52 STARVING PEOPLE ASK FOR BREAD Hyderabad Government proposed to allot lands to Scheduled Caste people. Hon. Minister Andhra Pradesh Shri Bindu told this decision to Dr. B. R. Ambedkar at the time of his visit to Delhi. Dr. Ambedkar asked Hon. Bindu to send copy of that order as early as possible. Government of Hyderabad had taken back possession of the land which was allotted to Scheduled Castes. In protest of this the Scheduled Castes started. Satyagraha. 1700 people were arrested. Dr. Ambedkar wrote a strong letter to Hon. Bindu that the Government should handover the ownership of lands to the Scheduled Castes then only he will advise Scheduled Castes to withdraw the Satyagraha. The said letter is as follows : Editors. 26, Alipur Road, Delhi Dated the 6th Nov. 1953. Dear Mr. Bindu, When we met in Delhi you promised to send me copies of the decision taken by the Hyderabad Government in regard to the grant of land to the Scheduled Castes. It is now more than a week but have not sent me the copies. From the newspapers it appears that about 1700 men and women belonging to the Scheduled Castes in the Aurangabad district have been arrested and sent to jail for offering Satyagraha for the return of their lands which were granted to them and which were afterwards resumed. I do not know what the intention of the Government is. Perhaps it is to prosecute them and send to jail. If this happens it would be a great tragedy. It cannot redound to the credit of the Government to prosecute starving people and send them to jail because they ask for bread. I think you ought to release them, the law having been vindicated.

427STARVING PEOPLE ASK FOR BREAD If the orders that your cabinet has passed are satisfactory from our point of view I may intervene and ask the Scheduled Castes to drop the Satyagraha. I shall be grateful for an early reply. Yours Sincerely, (Sd.) B. R. Ambedkar. Shri Bindu, Minister for Home Affairs, Hyderabad State, HYDERABAD”1 zz 1 : Khairmode, Vol. 11, Pp. 67-68.

53 BUDDHIST SEMINARY TO BE STARTED IN BANGALORE “Dr. B. R. Ambedkar, M. P., said in Bombay on Tuesday* that a Buddhist seminary would be started in Bangalore as a preliminary steps to spreading Buddhism in India. Dr. Ambedkar, who has declared his intention to embrace Buddhism recently, said in an interview with P. T. I. that the Rajpramukh of Mysore had donated a five-acre plot which was situated in between the two well-known centres of learning, the Raman Institute and the Indian Institute of Science. He said as a result of his two visits to Burma recently, all help—financial and technical—from the world Buddhist Mission and the Buddha Sasana Council, had been promised. Dr. Ambedkar revealed that he had approached successfully for financial help to many people in the country and he would also shortly set out with the begging bowl for public contributions. Training Preachers With the money forthcoming, Dr. Ambedkar said, the seminary would be ready in about two year’s time. The main object of this institution would be to train preachers for propagating Buddhism among the common folk, he said. Dr. Ambedkar said that students would be admitted to the seminary without consideration of caste, creed or nationality and would undergo courses in comparative study of religions and other allied subjects. He believed that no one could uphold Buddhism truly without studying the other religions also scientifically. Dr. Ambedkar said the seminary would also have a press where Buddhist literature would be printed. A group of eminent scholars from all over the world would be engaged in translating Buddhist texts in Pali and other languages into English and they would be published by the seminary, he said. *The 11th January 1955.

429BUDDHIST............IN BANGALORE A large library with books on religion and philosophy would be another feature of the seminary. There would be also temples and classrooms and dormitories for students, teachers research scholars. He also said that an essay competition, with prizes worth Rs. 10,000 would be announced shortly.” 1 zz 1 : The Times of India, dated 12th January 1955.

54 BUDDHISM DISAPPEARED FROM INDIA DUE TO WAVERING ATTITUDE OF THE LAITY Dr. B. R. Ambedkar, in his letter to D. Wali Sinha, General Secretary. Maha Bodhi Society, Calcutta, on 16th February 1955 expressed his opinion about Dhamma Diksha. Following is the letter.—Editors. “I have been of the opinion that the conversion of the laity is not conversion at all. It is only a nominal thing. The so-called Buddhist laity besides worshipping the Buddha also continued to worship other Gods and Goddesses which were set up by the Brahmins to destroy Buddhism. Buddhism disappeared from India largely of this wavering attitude of the laity. If hereafter Buddhism is to be firmly established in India the laity must exclusively be tied up to it. This did not happen in the past because in Buddhism there was a ceremoney for initiation into the Sangh but there was no such ceremony for initiation into the Dhamma, In Christianity there are two ceremonies. (1) Baptism which is initiation into the Christian religion, (2) Ordination of the priest. In this respect the new movement for the propagation of Buddhism in India must copy Christianity. To remove this dangerous evil in Buddhism I have prepared formula which I call Dhamma Diksha. Every one who wishes to be converted to Buddhism shall have to undergo through ceremony. Otherwise he will not be regarded as a Buddhist.” 1 zz 1 : Khairmode, Vol. 12 First Edition—July 1992, Pp. 24-25.