Dilrook Kannangara

Buddhists in India are protesting against Hindu occupation and management (rather mismanagement) of Bodh Gaya. Bodh Gaya is to Buddhists what Mecca is to Muslims and Jerusalem is to Christians and Jews. Buddhists are not appointed to the management of Hindu shrines; then why appoint Hindus to manage a Buddhist shrine? Only Buddhists should be in charge of the affairs at Bodh Gaya, not Hindus. India despite being claimed the world’s largest democracy is in fact worse than a dictatorship in mistreating its minorities.

Some Hindus claim that Buddha was an avatar of Vishnu. That is manifestly absurd. Buddha was a normal human being who lived from 605BC to 525BC. Through his efforts he attained enlightenment and showed a path to achieve same for fellow humans. Buddha was no alien-like being and He had no paranormal powers which are the stuff of myths. If Buddha was an incarnation of Vishnu, why there aren’t any Buddhists in the management of Vishnu temples? If Buddha was an incarnation of Vishnu, why isn’t there a Buddha statue in Ram Mandir along with Vishnu?

History of Occupation, Deceit and Fraud by Hindus

Buddhist Emperor Ashoka visited Bodh Gaya to worship the Bodhi tree and constructed the Bodh Gaya Mahavihara. Until the 16^th century Bodh Gaya was under the control of Buddhists despite Buddhism almost totally disappearing in the landmass due to Hindu influence. In the 13^th century Turkish invader Bakhtiar Khiliji took control of the region. However, Bodh Gaya was still under the control of Buddhists.

In 1590 a Hindu priest by the name Ghamandi Giri occupied the temple and started living there uninvited. He claimed Bodh Gaya to be a Hindu shrine, evicted Buddhists and monks and performed Hindu rituals. For 301 years Hindus occupied and controlled Bodh Gaya.

In 1891 Anagarika Dharmapala visited Bodh Gaya and urged British rulers to do justice to Buddhists by handing over the management of Bodh Gaya to Buddhists as the management of Hindu shrines were in the hands of Hindus. Anagarika Dharmapala fearlessly encouraged Buddhists to perform Buddhist rituals in Bodh Gaya and stopped the worship of idols and other nonsensical objects at the shrine.

However, Hindus craftily avoided the matter though British rulers allowed Buddhists to manage Bodh Gaya since 1922. Sadly, with India gaining independence in 1947 things turned bad. In 1948 the Bodh Gaya Temple Act was passed and the management was handed to a committee made up of Hindus and Buddhists. The committee had 4 Hindus and 4 Buddhists but the Chairman was to be a Hindu District Magistrate. This skewed the balance in favor of Hindus. In addition to this injustice, Hindus deliberately disrupted the appointment of the full number of members to the committee whereby rendering it unworkable.

2012 Court Case with No Hearing

In 2012, two Buddhist monks – Bhante Arya Nagarjuna Shurai Sasai and Gajendra Mahanand – filed a writ petition before the Indian Supreme Court to repeal the Bodh Gaya Temple Act, but nothing came out of the case as it is yet to be heard. India has clearly showed the world that they accept no minority rights.

There is no rift between Hindus and Buddhists. Bodh Gaya is a Buddhist shrine with no association whatsoever with Hinduism and Hindus who have thousands of shrines in India. Buddha ridiculed Hindu practices as meaningless and unwise and instead came up with a practical approach to achieve enlightenment which can be followed by anyone with self-discipline without magical acts or alien association that Hinduism is fascinated with. The differences must be respected, not bulldozed.

Silence of Fake Patriots in Sri Lanka

Despite claiming to be guardians of Buddhist interests, fake patriots in Sri Lanka, particularly politicians and their backers maintain a deafening silence on what matters most to Buddhists. They compete against each other to be the favored viceroy of Modi. What is a bigger tragicomedy is the silence of their usually loud henchmen who used to howl at almost anything, particularly on matters that their masters are too afraid to talk about. They too have lost their speaking abilities! Buddhists in Sri Lanka must accept the fact that these fake patriots are no representatives of theirs but foot soldiers of Modi to continue the oppression of Buddhism and Buddhists. The world should take note of India’s oppression of minorities and ridiculous Hindu beliefs that claim others’ shrines as theirs – a problem that has unfortunately spread like a cancer to Sri Lanka as well. The fate of Bodh Gaya must not be allowed to befall Buddhist shrines in the island.