Srinagar, Nov. 27 -- FOUR years after Dr. B. R. Ambedkar converted to Buddhism at Deeksha Bhoomi in Nagpur, the Uttar Pradesh government has introduced an ordinance to prevent the conversion of Hindu women to Islam. Though the ordinance technically applies to all women, it specifies women belonging to the schedule castes and schedule tribes.

Dr. Ambedkar belonged to the Mahar caste in Maharashtra. Before his conversion, he gave the matter a serious thought and came to the conclusion that Vedic Hinduism was inherently caste-based. No amount of reform, Gandhian or otherwise, would succeed in liberating the erstwhile untouchables from social discrimination, according to him. The Manu Smriti, using the metaphor of the human body, compared un...