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Rajendra Pal Gautam
Individual

Known Connections

Rajendra Pal Gautam

Known Connections

Background


Rajendra Pal Gautam has a long history of criminal and radical activities ranging from doxing minors, conspiring to convert Hindus en masse, making absurd claims about Hinduism in an attempt to divide communities, maligning Indian Armed forces, targeting places of worship, distorting history etc. Despite Rajendra self-portraying to be a Buddhist activist has been denounced by numerous Buddhist organisations on the grounds of promoting enmity between the Hindu and Buddhist communities and acting against the


Executive Note

      ➣   Rajendra Pal Gautam who claims to be a Buddhist was denounced by several prominent Buddhist organisations and alleged of not following Buddhism and principles of Lord Buddha. He was also accused of being against Ambedkar and the Indian constitution. These Buddhist organisations demanded the President of India to take action against him for promoting enmity between the communities.

      ➣   Rajendra had also in the past stoked controversy by making derogatory comments about Hindu gods and targeted Hindu places of worship with baseless remarks.

      ➣   Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) joint general secretary Surendra Jain alleged Rajendra of siding with 'Jihadis' in his constituency. Jain also stated about the dismal state of Dalit community in Rajendra's constituency where Dalit women are not safe to venture out.

 
  1. INTRODUCTION
  2. SOCIAL MEDIA
  3. IMPORTANT ACTIVITIES
  4. CONNECTED INDIVIDUALS
  5. CONNECTED ORGANISATIONS
  6. CITING PICTURES
  7. REFERENCES
 
INTRODUCTION
 
Rajendra Pal Gautam has a long history of criminal and radical activities ranging from doxing minors, conspiring to convert Hindus en masse, and making farcical claims about Hinduism in an attempt to divide communities. He has also been involved in maligning the Indian Armed forces, targeting places of worship, and proclaiming distorted history. Despite him claiming to be a Buddhist, he had been denounced by numerous Buddhist organisations on the grounds of promoting enmity between the Hindu and Buddhist communities. Several Buddhist organisations also accused him of acting against the Buddhist principles and teachings of Lord Buddha. These organisations also approached the President of India demanding legal action against him regarding his alleged Hindu hatred.
Rajendra Pal Gautam joined Samata Sainik Dal. The position of National General Secretary in Samata Sainik Dal was given to him in 2002 and held for eight years. He joined the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in 2014. On December 24, 2015, Rajendra Pal was appointed as a convener of the Delhi Legal Cell by the Aam Aadmi Party. Pal was fielded as a candidate in Dec 2015 Delhi assembly elections by AAP. In 2015, he won the MLA elections from Seemapuri assembly constituency. He was appointed as the Cabinet Minister of Govt of NCT of Delhi in 2017 (Gurudwara Elections, SC & ST, Social Welfare, Cooperative). Since the ninth grade, Rajendra Pal Gautam has been involved in Ambedkarite campaigns and organisations. He acknowledged attending the Samata Sainik Dal's daily shakha when he was a teenager.
He has not yet made any statements regarding the Church's influence over the conversion of Scheduled Castes members. Pal is trying to convert Hindus into Buddhism [1]. He claimed that, “Over 110 crore people in this country belong to the SC/ST community. Within 5-6 years, they will all convert to Buddhism.”
 
SOCIAL MEDIA 
 
 
IMPORTANT ACTIVITIES
 
Mass Religious Conversion of Hindus
 
  • On October 5 2022, Rajendra Pal Gautam participated in an event where allegedly 10,000 Hindus were converted en masse to Buddhism. This controversial event, organised by the Buddhist Society of India, was conducted at the Dr BR Ambedkar Bhavan in Jhandewalan, New Delhi. During the event, Rajendra Pal Gautam urged Hindus to renounce their Faith [2]. 
    •  
  • Rajendra Pal Gautam claimed, “Over 110 crore people in this country belong to the SC/ST community. Within 5-6 years, they will all convert to Buddhism. Let’s see who will remain the majority after that.” He also added that 2 lakh people had converted to Buddhism in 2022 [3]. Pal also revealed that they are conspiring to turn India into a Buddhist country. “It is time to turn India into a Buddhist country. We are working to convert India into a Buddhist nation. Our target is to convert 10 crore people to Buddhism by October 2025 [4],”
    •  
  • Rajendra has also claimed that resigning from the post was to focus on his objective of achieving the goal of converting Hindus into Buddhism by 2025. Rajendra remarked, “I have resigned so as to achieve this objective. We have created teams in a bid to reach each and every household and make people distinguish between good and bad [3].”
    •  
  • After the Conversion event so called “NRI Ambedkarites Organisations” from USA, Canada, UK, Germany, France, Nederland, Ireland, Spain, Sweden, Japan, Korea, Singapore, New Zealand, Belgium, Hungary, Australia, UAE, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Malaysia, stated their support of the alleged Hindu Hater Rajender Pal Gautam [5].
 
Maligning of the Indian Armed Forces
 
  • Rajendra Pal Gautam, an AAP legislator, attempted to stir up public opinion against the Indian Army by alleging that casteist insults and slurs are used by Indian Army jawans' superiors [6]. 
    •  
  • Following the sharing of a video by Rajendra Pal Gautam in which an Army Jawan accused his superior of using casteist insults against him, the Indian Army released a strongly worded statement denouncing the dissemination and curation of an antiquated footage intended to denigrate the nation's armed forces. It was said to be regrettable that the footage had been released without first being confirmed by the Army. Without making any mention of caste, ethnicity, or religion, the Indian Army declared that it is proud of every soldier from the Indian community [6].
    •  
  • In an effort to save his reputation, Rajendra Pal persisted in asserting that caste prejudice still exists today and that no meaningful steps are being taken to stop the widespread prejudice [7].
    •  
  • In order to deflect the criticism received for sharing an outdated video of an Indian Army jawan, Gautam further cited incidents of Una, Jhajjar, Rohit Vemula, Payal Tadvi and several others incidents, along with the incident in AIIMS Delhi [8].
 
Hindu Hatred
 
  • He is working towards distorting the historicity of Hindu festivals. He has, in the past, posted on social media associating Diwali with Buddha instead of Sri Ram.
    •  
  • Rajendra Pal targeted Hindu temples and asked 'Dalits' not to visit temples. He said that, “Hindu temples are places where Dalit women are raped and Dalits are killed”. The ex-AAP MLA can be seen addressing a crowd donning a Buddhist flag-coloured scarf [9]. Such baseless rhetorics have been a staple of his alleged Hindu hatred.
    •  
  • Gaurav Bhatia, a BJP spokesperson, hinting towards Kejriwal being complicit in Pal’s Hindu hatred stated, “AAP MLA Rajendra Pal Gautam once again abused temples and Hindus. Earlier, during the mass conversion of 10,000 people, he was making people take an oath to boycott Hinduism and Hindu gods. Why hasn’t Kejriwal, a staunch “Hanuman devotee”, taken action against him” [10].
    •  
  •  In 2019, Rajendra Pal stoked a controversy after he made remarks filled with Hindu hatred. He claimed that Lord Krishna and Lord Ram have no historical proof. Gautam made remarks by stating that Lord Krishna and Lord Ram found no mention in history textbooks, but only in mythology. He also added that as Periyar’s ideology was found in history texts, it was based on reason and authenticity. Later, Rajendra deleted his Tweet and refuted such allegations and said he did not issue any such statements. He claimed that somebody has misused or hacked his twitter handle and tweeted against religious leaders to harm his party in the upcoming elections [11].
    •  
  • Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) Surendra Jain alleged Rajendra Pal Gautam is siding with ‘jihadis’ in his own electoral constituency. He stated that “Instead of such a farcical show, Gautam must first focus on the dismal state of the Dalit community of his own constituency. Seemapuri has become a safe haven for the ‘sar tan se juda’ gang. Gautam is siding with these jihadis, who have made life impossible for Hindu Dalits. Dalit women of his constituency are regularly molested and are afraid to venture out[12].”
    •  
  • In 2023, Rajendra Pal Gautam attacked “Sanatan Dharma” stating that,“Any social system or religion which spreads hatred on the basis of caste, caste system or religion or which promotes discrimination and untouchability or which is against the principles of equality, liberty, fraternity and justice, should be abolished. It is beneficial for both the society and the country [13].”
 
Criminal activities
 
  • In December 2022, The police had detained the former AAP leader for holding the protest and misleading the public despite being told gatherings were restricted to curb the spread of Coronavirus [14].
    •  
  • In 2021, The National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) wrote a letter to the Lieutenant Governor of Delhi demanding action against former AAP leader Rajendra Pal Gautam for disclosing the identity of children staying in a child care institution situated in Delhi. The details of such children are prohibited from being made public so that the confidentiality of the children is maintained and these vulnerable children are not made susceptible to trafficking, abuse, cruelty, illegal adoption etc [15].
    •  
  • On October 7, 2022, a complaint was filed by public and political parties against AAP minister Rajendra Pal Gautam. The complaint claimed that Gautam had made statements in the Conversion Ceremony at Ambedkar Bhavan and shared them on social media platforms, "provoking the general public at large against the Hindus and subsequently defaming them to incite riot, violence, and public nuisance [16]."
    •  
  • Former MLA Rajendra Pal Gautam, was summoned by the Delhi police for a religious conversion event. Shweta Chauhan, DCP (Central) said, “We had received a complaint against Gautam wherein the complainant made several allegations. Based on the complaint, Gautam was called and questioned. We are conducting an inquiry right now. He was questioned about the event” [17].
 
Denounced by Buddhist organisations
 
  • Numerous Buddhist organisations have denounced Aam Aadmi Party Former MLA Rajendra Pal Gautam's forceful and disparaging remarks directed towards Hindus during the contentious Buddhist oath ceremony. Several Buddhist organisations have now requested that Rajendra Pal Gautam be the target of immediate legal action in a letter to President Draupadi Murmu [18].
    •  
  • These organisations contend that the incident that occurred in Gautam's presence was not in accordance with Buddhism or the teachings of Lord Buddha. Nineteen Buddhist dignitaries, including Secretary Dr. Vishakha Sailani and National General Secretary Rajesh Lamba of Dharma Sanskriti Sangam, signed the letter. Among them are Bhante Sumihananda Thero, Bhikkhu Shanti Mitra, and Bhante Wayne P Sivali Thero, general secretary of the Mahabodhi Society of India [18].
    •  
  • Organisations alleged that Buddhism is not inimical to any religion or causes hostility within any group. Buddhism is not at odds with deity; rather, it coexists peacefully with other faiths. The message continued, "Awaken yourself and appreciate all religions. Buddhists and Hindus have coexisted in this country for millennia. The philosophies of Buddhism are Sarvadhamma, Sarvadharma Sambhav, and Appo Deepo Bhava [18]."
 
CONNECTED INDIVIDUALS
 
  1. Arfa Khanum Sherwani
  2. Arvind Kejriwal
  3. Arvinder Singh Lovely
  4. Bhanu Pratap Singh
  5. Chandrashekhar Azad
  6. Deepak Babaria , Gen Secy - Congress
  7. Gautam Navlakha
  8. Mehmood Pracha
  9. Prakash Ambedkar
  10. Rajratna Ambedkar
  11. Ritu Singh
  12. Udit Raj, Ex-MP & Convenor- EVM Hatao Morcha
  13. Waman Meshram (BAMCEF)
  14. Mahesh Wasnik
 
CONNECTED ORGANISATIONS
 
  1. Aam Aadmi Party (AAP)
  2. Ambedkar Association of North America (AANA)
  3. Ambedkar Buddhist association of Texas (ABAT)
  4. Ambedkar Chetna Parishad, Jharkhand
  5. Ambedkar International Center (AIC)
  6. Ambedkar International Mission
  7. Ambedkar King Study Circle, USA (AKSC)
  8. Ambedkar Mission, Toronto, Canada
  9. Ambedkarnama
  10. Ambedkar Times
  11. Ambedkarites International Mission Society-Canada (AIMS)
  12. Bhim Patrika Media
  13. Blue Morning Weekly
  14. Bodhimaggo Mahavihara
  15. Boston Study Group (BSG)
  16. Buddhist Council of America (BCA)
  17. Buddhist Society of India
  18. Coalition of Seattle Indian American’s (CSIA)
  19. Dalit Dastak
  20. Dhamma Waves,Canada
  21. Dr Ambedkar Buddhist organisation Birmingham UK
  22. Dr Ambedkar Buddhist Society ,New York
  23. Dr Ambedkar Mission Society
  24. Dr. B. R. Ambedkar International Mission Center, Houston Texas
  25. Human Metta Foundation
  26. Indian Association of Minorities New Zealand (IAM)
  27. International Bahujan Organization, New York
  28. International Bodhisattva Guru Ravidas Organization, New York
  29. International SSD, California, USA
  30. Lokmanya Samiti, Maharashtra, India
  31. Mission Jai Bhim
  32. Mulnivasi Nayak
  33. NRI Ambedkarites Organisations
  34. Periyar International USA
  35. Samata Sainik Dal
  36. South Asian Dalit Adivasi Network Canada (SADAN)
 
CITING PICTURES
 
 
Pic 4    Pic 3
 
 
Pic 2      Pic 1
 
REFERENCES
 

[1] YouTube. (2022, October 7). AAP minister Rajendra Pal offers an apology for attending religious conversion event | news18. YouTube, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kyuPDlH-eYI.

[2] Rajendra Pal Gautam on Twitter. Twitter. (2022, October 5), https://web.archive.org/web/20221007030351/https://twitter.com/AdvRajendraPal/status/1577644333175488512.

[3] If parties don’t fight to end casteism, more and more Indians will go towards Buddha-Rajendra Gautam. YouTube. (2022a, November 4), https://youtu.be/eXMyl3jQXHE.

[4] Mr Sinha. X (formerly Twitter). (n.d.), https://x.com/MrSinha_/status/1578350692976107521?s=20.

[5] Round Table India. (2023, March 20). Nri ambedkarites bodies stand in solidarity with rajendra pal gautam strongly condemn delhi and central govts. Round Table India, https://muslimmirror.com/eng/nri-ambedkarites-bodies-stand-in-solidarity-with-rajendra-pal-gautam-strongly-condemn-delhi-and-central-govts/ .

[6] ANI. X (formerly Twitter). (n.d.-a), https://x.com/ANI/status/1259824122428715008?s=20.

[7] Adv Rajendra Pal. X (formerly Twitter). (n.d.-a), https://x.com/AdvRajendraPal/status/1259824838140559361?s=20.

[8] Adv Rajendra Pal. X (formerly Twitter). (n.d.-a), https://x.com/AdvRajendraPal/status/1259826978581962754?s=20.

[9] Ankur Singh. X (formerly Twitter). (n.d.-c), https://x.com/iAnkurSingh/status/1732318046034055637?s=20.

[10] Gaurav Bhatia bjp. X (formerly Twitter). (n.d.-d), https://x.com/gauravbhatiabjp/status/1732350675697508619?s=20.

[11] Adv Rajendra Pal. X (formerly Twitter). (n.d.-a), https://x.com/AdvRajendraPal/status/1197741821163474945?s=20.

[12] “embracing buddhism isnot conversion,” says VHP, calls AAP’s Rajendra Pal Gautam “anti-dalit jihad supporter.” Firstpost. (2022, October 7), https://www.firstpost.com/politics/embracing-buddhism-is-not-conversion-says-vhp-calls-aaps-rajendra-pal-gautam-anti-dalit-jihad-supporter-11403931.html.

[13] Sanatan dharma row: फिर बिगड़े aap नेता राजेंद्र पाल गौतम के बोल, इस बार “सनातन धर्म” पर दिया विवादित बयान - aam aadmi party leader Rajendra Pal Gautam given controversial statement on Sanatan dharma. Jagran. (2023, September 5), https://www.jagran.com/delhi/new-delhi-city-ncr-aam-aadmi-party-leader-rajendra-pal-gautam-given-controversial-statement-on-sanatan-dharma-23522149.html.

[14] India Today. (2022, December 2). Delhi court acquits ex-minister Rajendra Pal Gautam, 37 others in2020 protest case. India Today, https://www.indiatoday.in/law/story/delhi-court-acquits-rajendra-pal-gautam-others-2020-protest-case-2304517-2022-12-02.

[15] K, P. (n.d.). NCPCR seeks action against AAP minister Rajendra Pal gautam. The New Indian Express, https://www.newindianexpress.com/thesundaystandard/2021/May/16/ncpcr-seeks-action-against-aap-ministerrajendra-pal-gautam-2303046.html.

[16] BJP files complaint against Kejriwal, AAP MLA gautam alleging attempt to incite riots. Times Now. (2022, October 7), https://www.timesnownews.com/india/bjp-files-complaint-against-kejriwal-aap-mla-gautam-alleging-attempt-to-incite-riots-article-94702863.

[17] Conversion event: AAP leader Rajendra Pal Gautam questioned by Delhi police. The Indian Express. (2022, October 11), https://indianexpress.com/article/cities/delhi/conversion-event-aap-leader-rajendra-pal-gautam-questioned-by-delhi-police-8203092/.

[18] Aap के पूर्व मंत्री राजेंद्र गौतम की मुश्किलें बढ़ीं, बौद्ध संगठनों ने राष्ट्रपति को पत्र लिखकर की यह मांग. Hindustan. (2022, October 14), https://www.livehindustan.com/ncr/story-delhi-aap-mla-rajendra-gautam-trouble-buddhist-organizations-demand-legal-action-from-president-7216830.html.

[19] India Today. (2022a, November 12). “anti-hindu”: BJP slams aap for naming Rajendra Pal Gautam as Star campaigner. India Today, https://www.indiatoday.in/india/story/anti-hindu-bjp-slams-aap-for-naming-rajendra-pal-gautam-as-star-campaigner-2296303-2022-11-12.

[20] Why does Kejriwal Hate Hindus? union minister Rijiju on video of AAP minister at “conversion” event. The Indian Express. (2022b, October 8), https://indianexpress.com/article/cities/delhi/dont-understand-why-kejriwal-and-his-gang-hate-hindu-hindutva-rijiju-8197483/.


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