On Friday (November 4), former minister and AAP legislator Rajendra Pal Gautam revealed his nefarious agenda of converting India into a Buddhist-majority nation.
He made the remarks during an interview with ‘journalist’ Arfa Khanum Sherwani of The Wire. At about 15 minutes into the conversation, he said, “People who want to fight against those indulging in politics of religion and majoritarianism must come forward.”
He followed it up with comments about turning this country into a non-Hindu majority. “They are going to remain a majority, only for a few years’ time. I have not resigned from the party without any goal in mind,” the AAP MLA contended. Rajendra Pal Gautam said that the way the majority population (Hindus) was spreading terror in the country, they would soon turn into the majority.
He then attempted to rationalise his sinister plans by painting the Hindu community as inherently ‘violent and discriminatory.’
Rajendra Pal Gautam claimed, “The only way to stop them (Hindus) from striking fear in people’s hearts, creating chaos in the name of caste and religion and terrorising people is to make them a minority.”
“They (Hindus) will soon become a minority, won’t stay majority for long,” he asserted. The AAP MLA claimed that the SC/ST community will convert to Buddhism en masse, owing to the supposed ‘atrocities’ committed by the Hindu majority on them.
Half of the country will convert to Buddhism in 5-6 years: Rajendra Pal Gautam
He claimed, “Over 110 crore people in this country belong to SC/ST community. Within 5-6 years, they will all convert to Buddhism. Let’s see who will remain the majority after that.” He also added that 2 lakh people had converted to Buddhism this year.
Rajendra Pal Gautam then tried to undo the damage by ironically claiming that he did not believe in the concept of ‘majority’ or ‘minority’ and how he upheld the concept of ‘unity in diversity.’
Later, he warned political parties to end ‘caste-based discrimination’ or else risk the conversion of India into a Buddhist-majority country.
The Wire journalist wants SC/ST communities to shed their Hindu identity
At about 17 minutes into the conversation, Arfa Khanum Sherwani lamented about the ‘Sanskritisation/ Hinduisation’ of the SC/ ST communities.
“Will people like you be able to stop it (detach them from this Hindu identity)?” she asked.
The AAP MLA remarked, “I have resigned so as to achieve this objective. We have created teams in a bid to reach each and every household and make people distinguish between good and bad (brainwash them to convert).”
Rajendra Pal Gautam peddles conspiracy theory and disinformation
During the interview, he said that a survey conducted by him concluded that 98% of top Judges, bureaucrats and government officials have studied in government schools.
Rajendra Pal Gautam then insinuated that the mushrooming of private schools is being facilitated to ‘stop’ poor, Dalit children from reaching positions of power.
“Our survey found that 98% of those in powerful positions studied in government schools. It means quality education was being provided by these institutes. In the past 40 years, government schools have been weakened and private schools have been incentivised. What is this conspiracy?” he claimed.
“The conspiracy is to keep poor Dalit children out of schools and condemn them to a life of labourers,” the AAP MLA continued. During the interview, he also reiterated the fake news that PM Modi promised 2 crore jobs to the people of India.
He kept on berating others for indulging in politics of religion (Dharam ki Rajneeti) while revealing his sinister plans of converting vulnerable factions of the Hindu community to Buddhism.
AAP MLA compares himself to Ambedkar
The former AAP MLA likened himself to BR Ambedkar for resigning from the Delhi cabinet of the Arvind Kejriwal-led-Aam Aadmi Party (AAP). It must be mentioned that BR Ambedkar resigned from the Nehru cabinet in 1951 after the government backtracked on the Hindu Code Bill.
Rajendra Pal Gautam compared that historical event to that of his own resignation from AAP, which was done as a face-saving measure ahead of the 2022 Gujarat polls.
“I am experiencing the same euphoria that BR Ambedkar must have felt. Not everyone gets to experience this feeling,” he emphasised.
Rajendra Pal Gautam participated in the event where 10000 Hindus were converted
On October 5, he 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.
The AAP leader had tweeted, “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, Rajendra Pal Gautam 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,” he said.
“If caste has been made by nature, why there is no caste in France, China, Korea, Australia, or 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.
