Dalits have bigger issues at hand: Channaiah swamiji

 
While Maadaara Channaiah Swamiji maintained that Dalits had bigger issues at hand with their dignity and lives being threatened with repeated attacks on the community members, Pejawar seer said conversion into other faiths would not serve as an answer to the existing problems.

 In an interaction meeting with Pejawar seer Vishvesha Theertha Swamiji at Krishna Dhama, Pontiff of Maadiga community stood his ground and said conversion into Christianity or Buddhism was ‘individual preference’. “Issue of conversion is not of paramount importance for Dalits, as they feel they are being discriminated against, by upper castes all the time,” he said. 

 In all his concern towards Dalits, Pejawar Seer, who has held padayatras in Dalit colonies in an attempt to end centuries of discrimination and humiliation against Dalits, offered to give ‘Bhakti Dikshe’ to Dalits. This would be an attempt to restrain them from converting to Christianity or Buddhism either by force or through enticement in view of protecting Hindu culture, as conversion would put an end to their native culture by imposing its own practices on them. To a query pertaining to the attempt being a move to strengthen Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) vote bank, Pejawar seer clarified that, his initiative was devoid of any such motives. “I am not responsible if politicians use it to their benefit,” he asserted. Prior to that, prominent members of Brahmin community in the leadership of MLA S A Ramadas welcomed Maadaara Channaiah Swamiji at Krishna Dhama, where the Pejawar seer is camping as part of his Chaturmasya celebrations.