Remembering lyothee Thass – Pioneer of the revival of Buddhism in India and beyond - Velivada

Today (5th May) is the death anniversary of the great Buddhist leader lyothee Thass. He died on 5th May 1914. He left behind the vast movement, literature, and leaders. Like most of his writings are in Tamil, and mostly in Modi (the old script) even modern Tamil has some difficulties in reading, but this did not stop the people from knowing what lyothee Thass accomplished.

Some of the great insights of lyothee Thass are:

1. That the untouchables were the erstwhile Buddhists

2. The untouchable community was never Hindus; in fact, there were no Hindus

3. The Indian history is dominantly Buddhist history

4. The community can be mobilized on the basis of India and the world geographically

5. Internationalism is a dimension important for ending the caste

The movement of lyothee Thass reached far and wide as can be seen in the photo attached herewith

Also, the followers of lyothee Thass threw all their weight behind Babasaheb Ambedkar

Author – Mangesh Dahiwale, Human Rights Activist