NEW DELHI: “My brother Rohith was a Buddhist at heart although he did not convert. He took his own life because he was discriminated against as he was a Dalit," Rohith Vemula’s brother, Raja, said, as he and his mother Radhika announced that they will embrace Buddhism on April 14 -- the same day as Ambedkar’s 125th birth anniversary.

Speaking to the Express, Raja said that, “we performed his [Rohith’s] last rites according to Buddhist traditions, honoring his love for Buddhism. Rohith used to talk of Buddhism a lot. He had also written a letter to the VC about how Dalits are discriminated against in the campus. My mother feels that we should honor Rohith by embracing Buddhism. We are against the caste system in Hindusim and have, therefore, decided to embrace Buddhism which does not have such an oppressive system of castes. We will convert tomorrow at 12 pm at Chaitya Bhoomi near Dadar in the presence of Prakash Ambedkar.”

The family reportedly took the decision to convert in March. "She [Rohith’s mother, Radhika] expressed this idea to me sometime in March. Rohith's friend, Prashanth, told me that she would like to officially convert on Babasaheb's birth anniversary. Her son's last letter where he mentioned that he would prefer to live in the stars rather than living in this society, may have prompted her to take the decision," Prakash Ambedkar, Babasaheb Ambedkar's grandson and the head of Bharipa Bahujan Mahasangh, told the Times of India.

PTI reports that the Buddhist Society of India will carry out the conversion ceremony and Radhika and Raja will be given "deeksha" by Buddhist monks. The ceremony will take place at Ambedkar Bhavan in Dadar.

Raja confirmed the decision to PTI saying, “"it is true that we are going to embrace Buddhism. We are on the way to Mumbai."

Rohith committed suicide on January 17 this year, leaving behind a suicide note that highlighted the discrimination faced by dalits in Indian society in general, and in educational institutions specifically. In his suicide note, he lamented “The value of a man was reduced to his immediate identity and nearest possibility. To a vote. To a number. To a thing. Never was a man treated as a mind. As a glorious thing made up of stardust. In very field, in studies, in streets, in politics, and in dying and living.”

Although Rohith himself did not blame anyone for his suicide as per the note, the university administration and the central government came under the scanner as it was revealed that the decision to expel Rohith from the hostels -- a move just prior to his suicide -- came after HRD Minister Smriti Irani wrote a series of letters to the Vice Chancellor demanding action against a number of dalit students.

Five dalit students, including Rohith were then expelled from the hostels. Irani’s own intervention came at the behest of a letter by Union Minister of State for Labour Bandaru Dattatraya on August 11 to the HRD minister that called the university “a den of casteist, extremist and anti-national politics,” specifically naming the Ambedkar Students Association.

Action, however, had even preceded the letter that was just a formal cover for what was then made official. From July the University stopped paying Rohith the monthly stipend of Rs 25,000 with students alleging that he was targeted for raising important issues under the banner of the Ambedkar Students Association that the Minister, in his intolerance, had dubbed anti-national.

Rohith’s suicide provided the trigger for a huge movement, centred on dalit rights but fitting also into the narrative of government intervention in educational institutions.

At the time of writing, protests continue at Rohith’s university -- the Hyderabad Central University. “Jai Bhim” echoes from Rohith’s compatriots, as his brother and mother convert to Buddhism on Ambedkar Jayanti.

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