The grandsons of Dr B.R. Ambedkar will conduct the conversion ceremony of Radhika Vemula (mother of deceased Rohith Vemula) from Hinduism to Buddhism in the presence of Buddhist monks during the 125th birth anniversary of Dr Ambedkar on Thursday. Rohith made headlines when he hanged himself in his hostel room inside the campus of Hyderabad University.
“Even though we belong to the Hindu religion, we are subjected to humiliation by upper caste Hindus. I am fed up with Hinduism where there is widespread discrimination among the upper castes and the backward castes. Also, it was very inhuman of the government to not hold the vice-chancellor of the Hyderabad University responsible for Rohith’s death,” Radhika told Anandraj Ambedkar, grandson of Dr Ambedkar.
The Hyderabad University had suspended Rohith and four other students after they allegedly assaulted an ABVP leader over a heated argument over the hanging of Yakub Memon in August 2015. It is said that the suspension led to depression, which eventually led Rohith to hang himself.
According to Anandraj Ambedkar, Rohith’s mother has also stated in an affidavit where she has mentioned that she was willingly converting from Hinduism to Buddhism and no one had forced her to do so.
The conversion ceremony will be conducted at Ambedkar Bhavan in Dadar on Thursday morning in the presence of Rohith’s mother and other family members. Buddhist monks, who have been invited for the conversion ceremony, will carry out the rituals necessary to be practiced before one converts to Buddhism.
