(Letter to Editor)
Durai Anbalagan, Dalit Panthers President, Dharavi unit, Bombay:
We came to know during our tour of Tamil Nadu that more than 10,000 people in the State are planning to embrace Islam to get equal status.
We admit that conversion to Islam will bring status. But at the same time, Muslims are less in number. By joining Islam our strength will go down. Therefore I suggest the Dalits to get converted to Buddhism. Ambedkar had shown us the path.
The truth is that Dalits need no ‘religious conversion’ but ‘spiritual conversion’.
Dalits should think over this. By going over to Islam they will never solve their problem. On the other hand, Dalits will lose their strength in population.
Is there any guarantee that in future our converted Dalits will not be called “Harijan-Muslims and they continue to be untouchables like “Harijan-Christians”?
