Conversation with a Buddhist Meghwar activist at Umerkot 2--02-2016

Recording codes: ABC
Me: This meal tastes delicious.
B: Yup. I prefer to host my guests at this hotel.
Me: You became a Buddhist. Previously you were Hindu. Do you think this brought you out of untouchability? Do you think others will follow you?
B: Nope. They have been rather hinduised. They are not going to be Hindus. We tried our best a few years back. We a few activists had decided to convert, and even had changed our names to sound like a Buddhist. Still others chose to be Sikhs. A friend of mine even symbolically changed his Hindu name and adopted Sikh name ‘Gurmeet Singh Bedi’. Mass conversion is far better than a few persons converting. A few converts get isolated. We also suffered the same fate and many of our friends returned back to their original positions. They could not bear the social pressure. So, our friends speak of revolutions and change, they desire to change, but the end result is invariably nill.
[Further read in the attachment]