ABSTRACT
As for the Dalits, their oppression was fortified by the religious scriptures of Hinduism both with its operative rules and with the rationale for the caste system in terms of its theories of karma and rebirth. While none of these religious conversions brought them expected escape from the caste oppression, they persisted in seeing Hindu religion as the predominant cause of their oppression and therefore escaping its fold would lead to emancipation. Neera Burra is led to conclude this schizophrenic behaviour is a ‘symbol of identity transformation’ rather than a true religious conversion. ‘The Buddhist identity is important mainly for the outside world,’ she writes. Dr Ambedkar considered the real objective of a religion to be the development of individuals. According to him, ‘Birth of an individual is not for service of the society, it is for his or her own emancipation.’ Notwithstanding these facts, vipassana has been steadily luring the Ambedkarite Buddhists away from his navayana vision of collective emancipation.
