Ahmedabad- Members of the Dalit Buddhist community in Gujarat have strongly objected to the state government's neglect to declare Buddha Purnima as a gazetted holiday. In 2025, Buddha Purnima was observed on May 12, and while the Gujarat government listed it only as an optional/restricted holiday, the central government and several other states recognized it as a mandatory public holiday.

Community leaders argue that this decision reflects the state's indifference toward Buddhist heritage, especially at a time when Prime Minister Narendra Modi repeatedly portrays India as the 'land of Buddha' on international platforms, promoting messages of peace to the world. In recent years, incidents of Dalit conversions to Buddhism have surged in Gujarat, yet government policies have not accorded sufficient recognition to this religious identity, leading to widespread discontent within the community.

The significance of Buddha Purnima is profound and multifaceted for followers of Buddhism. Observed on the full moon day of the Vaishakha month, this festival symbolizes the tripartite events in the life of Gautama Buddha, his birth, enlightenment (Bodhi), and Mahaparinirvana (final passing). Born around 2,500 years ago in Lumbini (Nepal), Siddhartha Gautama attained Buddhahood at age 35 under the Bodhi tree in Bodh Gaya (Bihar) after intense meditation, propounding principles such as the Eightfold Path, Four Noble Truths, and the ideals of non-violence and compassion.

Buddha Purnima is not merely a religious observance but a beacon of social equality, ethics, and peace, offering relevance to contemporary global challenges like violence, inequality, and environmental crises. In India, following Dr. B.R. Ambedkar's mass conversion of millions of Dalits to Buddhism in 1956, the festival has become particularly vital for the Dalit Buddhist community, serving as a cultural symbol of resistance against caste discrimination. This year, millions across the country marked it with meditation sessions, prayer gatherings, and recitations from Buddhist scriptures, underscoring its enduring relevance.

According to the official list of public holidays issued by Gujarat's General Administration Department (GAD) for 2026, Buddha Purnima is not included as a gazetted or mandatory holiday. Instead, it appears in the optional holidays category, allowing employees to take leave at their discretion, while government offices and educational institutions operated normally.

In contrast, the central government's holiday list, issued by the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) and applicable for 2026, designates Buddha Purnima as a gazetted holiday, which would mean closures of central offices, banks, and public institutions nationwide.

Meanwhile, several other states grant Buddha Purnima as gazetted public holiday considering the Buddhist population and cultural importance. These included Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Mizoram, Sikkim, Tripura, Uttar Pradesh, and West Bengal.

This year, the Maharashtra government fully closed schools, colleges, and government offices on May 12, while Jharkhand and Jammu and Kashmir also declared it a mandatory holiday. Uttar Pradesh, home to numerous Buddhist pilgrimage sites, similarly recognized it as a public holiday. These states honor the demands of the Buddhist community, viewing the festival as integral to national unity, whereas its absence in states like Gujarat symbolizes disparity.

In this context, Prime Minister Narendra Modi's statements have intensified the debate. Modi has frequently invoked India as the 'land of Buddha' on global stages, emphasizing that the country contributed 'Buddha' (enlightenment) to the world, not 'Yuddha' (war).

In his September 27, 2019, speech at the United Nations General Assembly, Modi affirmed, "India has given the world Buddha's message of peace, not war," while addressing terrorism.

He reiterated this on October 17, 2024, during Abhidhamma Divas, noting, "The world's solution lies in Buddha, not Yudh." These remarks bolster India's soft power diplomacy, yet the BJP-ruled Gujarat government's refusal to declare Buddha Purnima a gazetted holiday creates a stark contradiction. As Modi's home state, Gujarat is expected to champion Buddhist heritage, but the lack of official recognition at the state level has left the community disillusioned.

Second Highest Number of Buddhist Adherents in Gujarat After Maharashtra

Bhante Anand (Buddhist monk) from Amravati, Maharashtra, has been actively propagating Buddhism in several villages and towns of Gujarat for quite some time. According to Bhante Anand, after Baba Saheb Ambedkar embraced Buddhism in 1956, lakhs of people in Maharashtra abandoned Hinduism. In Maharashtra, 95 percent of Dalits have adopted Buddhism and have become empowered.

Bhante Anand says that miraculous transformations have occurred in the lives of those who have adopted Buddhism, their standard of living, lifestyle, and education levels have improved, cases of atrocities against Dalits have decreased, and they have been freed from discrimination. He states that in the past few years, the number of Buddhist adherents in Gujarat has increased rapidly because the Dalit community in the state is aware and vigilant.

The Self-Soldier Dal (SSD), established in 2006 in Rajkot by 50 like-minded Dalit social activists, is at the forefront of promoting and propagating Buddhism in the state. SSD member Sanjay Bauddh says that the government grants holidays even for communities with populations smaller than that of Buddhist adherents, but the members of our SC community who are in Gujarat's ruling party have not raised this question against this unequal system, which is regrettable.