Anti-Hindu row: Black flags shown, banners displayed, ‘Kejriwal go back’ slogans chanted in Vadodara

Vadodara: The city which is known as Sanskar Nagari and cultural capital of Gujarat today staged strong protest against Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal as he held a road show. Black flags were shown to Kejriwal by the locals including women ; slogans were chanted against Kejriwal and in favor of Prime Minister Narendra Modi ; banners were shown in protest on the route of Kejriwal’s road show. An AAP office bearer from Anand district who was participating in the road show claimed that there was a stone attack on the road show.

Kejriwal who a few days ago insisted that he didn’t want police security in Gujarat and argued with a police officer over this in Ahmedabad to create a scene in social media today concluded his road show early and took police security to board his car and reach destination. Kejriwal in his brief address claimed he was born on Janmashtami, the birthday of Bhagwan Shri Krishna and he was here to eliminate all children of Kansa (demons).

A lady who participated in protest told a private TV channel – “Kejriwal is Revibaj, gaddar, he realized the anger of the people of Vadodara and therefore he came in dark and returned in dark. He is a traitor who has not apologized … He ran away. He read the anger in Vadodara and fled.”

Another citizen who was part of the protest questioned why Kejriwal has not taken action against his minister who spoke against Hindu Gods.

On Wednesday (October 5), AAP MLA (Seemapuri) Rajendra Pal Gautam was spotted at an event where 10,000 Hindus were converted en masse to Buddhism.

The controversial event, organised by the Buddhist Society of India, was conducted at the Dr. BR Ambedkar Bhavan in Jhandewalan in New Delhi.

Gautam, who serves as the Social Welfare Minister in the Delhi Cabinet took to Twitter to gloat over the mass conversion of Hindus. The event coincided with the Dusshera celebrations during which the Hindu community celebrates the victory of Lord Ram over Ravana.

The AAP leader wrote, “With the support of Mission Jai Bhim”, more than 10,000 intellectuals took a pledge to make a caste-free and untouchable India by converting to the Faith of Gautam Buddha.” The archived version of the tweet can be accessed here.

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 the 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 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.”

During the event, AAP Minister Rajendra Pal Gautam was seen repeating the controversial vows and sharing the stage with the man.

Later, he was seen delivering a speech wherein he urged Hindus to renounce their Faith and tread the path of Dr Ambedkar. “If you don’t want to be called a traitor, then, we need to spread this message of BR Ambedkar to every household,” Gautam said.

“If caste has been made by nature, why there is no caste in France, China, Korea, Australia, New Zealand?” the AAP leader displayed his ignorance about social hierarchy and affirmative action in other nations.

“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.

Rajendra Pal Gautam also lamented how BR Ambedkar died within a month of converting to Buddhism and failed to convert the whole nation. Known as Dhamma Chakra Pravartan Din, Ambedkar converted to Lord Buddha’s Faith on October 14, 1956 along with 3,80,000 of his followers.

‘We are working to turn India into a Buddhist country’: Rajendra Pal in 2020 interview

It is worth noting that in a 2020 interview, Pal revealed that they are working to turn India into a Buddhist country. “It is time to turn India into a Buddhist country. We are working to convert India into a Buddhist nation. Our target is to convert 10 crore people to Buddhism by October 2025,” he had said.