MUMBAI/HYDERABAD: Rohith Vemula’s mother Radhika Vemula and brother Raja Vemula embraced Buddhism in Mumbai on Thursday, the 125th birth anniversary of Dr BR Ambedkar, the chief architect of the Indian Constitution.
They took the Deeksha in the presence of Ambedkar’s grandson Prakash Ambedkar and monks at a programme held at Dadar in Mumbai, Maharashtra.
When Dalit research scholar Rohit Vemula died, his last rites were performed in Jan as per Buddhist tradition. Prakash Ambedkar said Radhika expressed her wish to embrace Buddhism and Buddhist monks offered deeksha to her and her son.
Dr BR Ambedkar had embraced Buddhism along with lakhs of followers at Nagpur in Maharashtra. Rohit was an ardent follower of Dr Ambedkar and his teachings.
Raja said that Rohit was a Buddhist at heart and used to speak at length about Buddhism. He said Rohit committed suicide as he was discriminated against for being a Dalit, and mentioned Rohit’s letter to the vice-chancellor of the University of Hyderabad about the discrimination faced by Dalits on the campus.
Raja said they were against the caste system in Hinduism. “We therefore decided to embrace Buddhism which does not have such an oppressive caste system,” Raja Vemula said.