BOMBAY: The Buddhist rath which rolled off from Bombay on September 27 en route of Bodh Gaya in Bihar via New Delhi with a Japanese born monk, Dante Arya Harajun Surai Sasai, taking an Advani like lead in the procession has fuelled apprehension about possibility of Buddhist-Hindu Clashes.
The objective of Suraj and his fellow Buddhist monks is to wrest control of the Buddhist shrine at Buth Gaya from the hands of Hindu priests, The Buddhist rath will also carry the Dhamma Jyot torch through its journey which ends on Oct.22.
Sasai claims that an earlier agitation failed because of a leadership tussle between Dr.P.C. Foy, the then president of the Bodhi stave Ambedkar Sangh and the Bhante Dhamma Viriyo, member, All-India Minorities Commission. The agitation also did not have a local support base. But now Maharashtra has become a center of activity because of a significant rumor of Buddhists and Ambedkantes. The rath would, therefore pass through important Buddhist centers at Magpur, Pune Aurangabad, Akaola and after a three-day demonstration at the Boat Club, Delhi (beginning on October 14), the procession would continue onwards to Patna. It hopes to reach Bodh Gaya via Rajgir on October 22 and form a human chain around the shrine Sasai claims that more than two lakh Buddhists have confirmed participation and would jointly appeal for the liberation of the temple. The convenor of the All India Buddha Gaya Mahabodhi Temple Protection Committee, Bombay branch, are Bhikshus Sumaches and Prof. K.G. Yesambara. They claim that the management of the Bodh Gaya temple has been infiltrated by the manhunts. Says Prof. Yesambare, The five monks who control the temple are, in actuality, men directly connected to the Vishwa Hindu Parishad and the RSS, At the root of this conflict between Buddhist monks and those who are in control of their temple is the large property and money that flows into the temple coffers from Indian and foreign pilgrims, And to add insult to injury, says Bhikshu Sumedha, the Brahmins have now started describing the five images of Buddha in the temple as the five Pandavas, He contends that the temple itself is undergoing a character transformation.
Historically, the Buddhist in India flowed only during the time of Ashoka the Great and his successors Harshvardhan a and Kanishka. After the bloody battle of Kalinga, Ashoka converted to Buddhism and undertook the reconstruction and prevention of Buddhist temples on a massive scale. Amongst the monuments that were restored were the temples at Bodh Gaya, Sarnath, Kusinagar and Lumbini, Bodh Gaya is specially revered as it was here that Buddha attained enlightenment (588 B.C.) and started preaching a new philosophy. Fornext45 years he gave disclosures which sought to liberate mankind from the bondage of suffering, At the same time, his teachings also attacked the Hindu social structure which was based on the Vedas and the caste system. After Buddha’s death at Kusinagar, his Eighth fold Path spread riot only in India, but also to Mongolia, Tibet, Korea, Thailand, Japan and Europe.
But with the Muslim invasion of India during the 10thcentury A.D. the movement got caught between Prof. Yesambare calls the onslaught of Brahminism and the destructive urges of Muslims. So, the period between 10th century A.D. to the first half of the 19th century saw the foundations of Buddhism being eroded will the movement became almost extinct. It revived when Angarika Dharampal established the Mahabodhi Society in 1891 in Colombo, Sri Lanka with the objectives of maintaining a staff of Bhikshus (who would represent Buddhist countries of Asia) and the publication of Buddhist literature in England.
The present revival is being spearheaded by Suraj Sasai who claims that he has been living in India for 25 years and was responsible for the conclusion of the Peace Pajoda at Rajgiri, Bihar. He informed Sunday Mail that the Bihar government had, in 1949, passed an Act ending the mahant monopoly on the temple management. However, the mahant was retained as a permanent member of the temple committee which included four Hindus and four Buddhists. The Act also declared that the Hindu district magistrate of Gaya would be the ex-officio chairman of the committee.
Sasai therefore set up a Protection Committee and in December 1991 go the Laloo Prasad Yadav government to draft an amendment for setting up an all-Buddhist committee to manage the shrine. But the arrangement is gathering dust.
Article extracted from this publication >> October 23, 1992
