SURAT: Over 400 people will convert to Buddhism at a function to be organized by Buddha Dharma Diksha Angikar Samiti (BDDAS) in the city on Saturday. This is first time where so many people will be embracing Buddhism at a mass conversion in the city.The invitation card says the event will be inaugurated by Surat district collector Dhaval Patel. Chief income tax commissioner Subacchan Ramsaheb will be chief guest at the function to be held at Mangal Pandey Community Hall, Godadara where 432 people from 125 families will be given their certificates. They are residents of areas such as Bhathena, Dindoli, Limbayat-Nilgiri, Mandarwaja, Parvat and Uttran Power House in the city.Meanwhile, Dhaval Patel said, “It will be difficult to attend the function because Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be in city on January 19.”More than 500 people had applied for conversion to the district authorities in the past five years. Police inquiries were also conducted to find out if they were forced to convert or doing it of free will. “We have disposed of 432 cases and allowed the applicants to convert to Buddhism,” Dhaval Patel said. Inquiries are on with regard to over 500 similar applications.BDDAS convener Parikshit Rathod said, “These 432 people have completed legal formalities for conversion to Buddhism. They will be given legal certificates at the event.”Five years ago nearly 238 people had converted to Buddhism from Hinduism in Rajkot. Over one lakh people had gathered for conversion in Junagadh some time ago, but in the absence of permission from the authorities as per the law, they could not. Thus, the mass conversion in the city on Saturday could be the biggest in Gujarat in the recent past, samiti sources said.Rajebhai Suryavanshi, a BDDAS member, said, “These people belong to lower middle class and work in textile mills and textile markets to earn their livelihood.”

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