Rohith Vemula's mother, brother say goodbye to Hinduism; embrace new faith

April 14, 2016

Mumbai, Apr 14: Mother and brother of Dalit scholar Rohith Vemula, who committed suicide at Hyderabad Central University in January sparking strong protests across the country, today embraced Buddhism on the occasion of Dr B R Ambedkar's 125th birth anniversary.

VemulaRohith's mother Radhika and brother Naga Chaitanya Vemula, also known as Raja Vemula, were given 'deeksha' at a function in Dadar here in the presence of Prakash Ambedkar, the grandson of Dr B R Ambedkar.

Ambedkar, Dalit icon and architect of the Indian Constitution, coverted to Buddhism at a grand ceremony in Nagpur in 1956 as he was strongly opposed to the caste system in Hindusim. At the venue of the deeksha ceremony, the mother-son duo paid tributes to Dr Ambedkar and bowed before his portrait.

Raja Vemula said, "My brother Rohith was a Buddhist at heart although he did not convert. He took his own life as he was discriminated because he was a Dalit. We performed his last rites according to Buddhist traditions, honouring his love for Buddhism."

"Rohith used to talk of Buddhism a lot. He had also written a letter to the Vice Chancellor about how Dalits are discriminated against on the campus. My mother feels that we should honour Rohith by embracing Buddhism," he said.

"We are against the caste system in Hinduism and have, therefore, decided to embrace Buddhism which does not have such an oppressive system of castes," Rohith's brother said.

Prakash Ambedkar said Buddhist monks gave 'deeksha' to Rohith's mother and brother at a function on the sidelines of a programme marking the birth anniversary of Dr Ambedkar.

"The function to covert the duo to Buddhism was organised after Radhika Vemula approached me and conveyed their wish to embrace Buddhism when I visited Hyderabad recently," he said.

Raja and Radhika Vemula, along with Rohith's childhood friend Riyaz Shaikh and Hyderabad university student Charbad Raju, had left for Mumbai from Hyderabad yesterday. Rohith's elder sister, who is married, has not converted to Buddhism.

Rohith Vemula, 27, committed suicide on January 17 in a hostel room in Hyderabad Central University where he was a PhD scholar after he and four others were suspended from the hostel last year and restrictions were put on their movement by the university administration as part of disciplinary action for allegedly assaulting ABVP leader N Susheel Kumar.

Comments

Dean
 - 
Thursday, 14 Apr 2016

We welcome Dalits to convert to Islam for peaceful dignified life. In sha Allah

Ahmed
 - 
Thursday, 14 Apr 2016

Islaam is the only religion which last long.So learn Islam.

Dean
 - 
Thursday, 14 Apr 2016

Majority of Muslims converted to Islam in India are from Buddism.

HUMANS PONDER
 - 
Thursday, 14 Apr 2016

ALLAH says in QURAN 49:13
O mankind, We have created you from a male and a female and have made you into nations and tribes for you to know one another. Truly, the noblest of you with God is the MOST PIOUS. Truly God is all knowing, All aware.

Prophet of ALLAH (Mohammad pbuh) said : Lend me an attentive ear.
All mankind is from Adam & Eve, An Arab has NO Superiority over a Non Arab NOR a Non Arab has any superiority over An Arab, also a WHITE has No superiority over a Black, Nor a Black has any superiority over a White EXCEPT BY PIETY and GOOD ACTION.
Remember ONE DAY U will appear before ALLAH and answer YOUR DEEDS. So beware, Do not stray from the path of RIGHTEOUSNESS after Im Gone.

A very beautiful teaching which kills the RACISM from the SOCIETY...
THANK YOU ALLAH for making me A MUSLIM

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News Network
June 28,2020

Bengaluru, Jun 28: Novel coronavirus has claimed another police officer's life here, official sources said on Sunday.

According to official sources, the deceased police officer attached to station in Whitefield division had collapsed in his home on Saturday.

The 57-year-old Police officer, working as an Assistant Sub-Inspector (ASI) who was diagnosed with COVID-19 infection, also reportedly suffered from breathing related problems, the sources said.

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News Network
February 1,2020

New Delhi, Feb 1: The budget is a little more demanding of the non-resident Indian. Firstly, to be categorized a non-resident, an Indian now has to stay abroad for 240 days, against 182 previously. In other words, an Indian national, to claim the non-resident status, can’t stay in India for 120 days or more in a year.

“We've made changes in Income Tax Act where if an Indian citizen stays out of the country for more than 182 days, he becomes non-resident,” said Revenue Secy Ajay Bhushan Pandey. “Now in order to become non-resident, he has to stay out of the country for 240 days.”

The second rule is more deadly: a non-resident Indian, who is not taxed in the foreign country, will become taxable in India.

“If any Indian citizen is not a resident of any country in the world, he'll be deemed to be a resident of India and his worldwide income will be taxed,” said Pandey.

"It's a very big disadvantage for Indians residing overseas only to save on tax,"  said Dinesh Kanabar of Dhruva Advisors. He expects that many Indians stay abroad in countries, where the income tax is low or nil such as Dubai. Now they will be taxed in India if they are in the income tax bracket.

For Indians, finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman revised income tax rats and proposed new tax slabs.

The new income tax rates will, however, not allow exemptions under Section 80C. Home loan exemption, insurance exemptions, the standard deduction will also not stay under the regime.

"The new tax regime will be optional and the taxpayers will be given the choice to either remain in the old regime with exemptions and deductions or opt for the new reduced tax rate without those exemptions," Sitharaman said while unveiling Budget.

Comments

Kannadiga
 - 
Saturday, 1 Feb 2020

Good news NRIs vote for modi . 

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News Network
April 27,2020

Bengaluru, Apr 27: As many as 345 Bengaluru-based journalists tested negative for coronavirus on Monday after undergoing a medical check-up got up for them at a hospital here, a top official said.

They had undergone the tests at the Sir C V Raman General Hospital here on April 25 and the results came out negative on Monday. They were among a total of 1,170 journalists who took the tests at the four-day medical check-up camp at the Hospital here from April 23.

"The medical check-up was done in four slots at the Hospital here from Thursday and concluded on Monday. A total of 1,170 journalists undertook the tests, 480 of them on Monday alone, the joint director of the Department of Information and Public Relation D P Muralidhar said.

The test reports of the 480 journalists may come out on Wednesday, he said. Only one journalist tested positive so far and has been admitted to the designated COVID-19 hospital, he said, adding 36 of his primary and secondary contacts have been quarantined.

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