Road To Freedom

---

• For God and Country
• The Empire Builders
• Tribal Uprisings
• Sepoys on the Move
• British Authority Collapses
• The Empire Strikes Back
• Roll of Honour
• The Trial of the Last Emperor
• English Education
• The Blue Mutiny
• Perishing in Peace
• ‘Rani Ka Hookum’
• Barbarous Britannia
• Return to Swadeshi
• The Delhi Durbar
• Hunger Deaths
• The One-Man Army
• Mamool Raj
• The British Raj in Black and White
• Europeans Take To The Street!
• Pressing On !
• The Battle For A Free Press
• The Battle Lines are Drawn
• Women : Crossing the Threshold
• An Old Man's Dream
• Father of Indian Unrest
• The Monk Who Shook The Nation
• The Battle is Taken to the Legislature!
• Partition of Bengal
• The Great Divide
• The New Spirit of India
• Swadeshi Enterprise
• From Swadeshi to Swaraj
• Gandhi in South Africa
• Heroes and Martyrs
• Revolutionaries Outside India
• Carrot and Stick
• Gandhi in Champaran
• The Gentle Satyagrahi
• Massacre at Jallianwala Bagh
• Jallianwala — The Aftermath
• A People Reject Their Rulers
• The Himalayan Blunder
• Gandhiji Withdraws from Political Activities
• Bardoli
• Saga of Indian Revolutionaries
• A Pinch of Salt!
• Gandhi and Ambedkar
• Leave India to God… or to Anarchy
• Quit India
• The Last War of Independence
• Apostle of Peace
• India Wins Freedom
• The Light Has Gone Out
• Under One Flag

Gandhi and Ambedkar

Gandhi and Ambedkar

Gandhiji visited England in 1931 to attend the second Round Table Conference which was called to decide the future of India. The conference produced no concrete results. Gandhiji met several people and addressed meetings pleading India's case for freedom. "How far would you cut India off from the Empire?" Gandhiji was asked. "From the Empire entirely," Gandhiji replied. "From the British nation not at all." Gandhiji returned to India on December 28, 1931 and in less than one week he was thrown back into Yeravada jail. The Congress was banned and over 80,000 satyagrahis were jailed. Through a series of ordinances the country was brought under 'Civil Martial Law' or martial law under civilian control. Whipping as punishment was re-introduced with a vengeance. Satyagrahis were beaten up and awarded rigorous imprisonment and heavy fines which the government collected by selling their lands and houses at auctions. Gandhiji was dismayed when the British prime minister announced a separate electorate for the Depressed Classes — the so-called Untouchables. Gandhiji held that 'a separate electorate for Depressed Classes is harmful for them and for Hinduism... separate electorates would simply vivisect and disrupt it (Hinduism)'. Gandhiji went on a fast unto death. The fast was 'intended to sting Hindu conscience into right religious action.' The man who was pushing for a separate electorate for the Depressed Classes in the teeth of opposition from national leaders was Dr. Bhimrao Ambedkar reverently called 'Babasaheb' by his followers. Twenty per cent of Hindu Society had been branded for centuries as untouchables. The caste Hindus considered their touch, shadow and even voice to be polluting and therefore they were kept away from the mainstream with no rights to education and access to places frequented by the caste Hindus which included waterfronts and temples. They were denied opportunities for self-development. Well-meaning liberals including Gandhiji tried to bring about a change in the attitude of caste Hindus towards the Depressed Classes so that the social barriers separating them could be dismantled. But these efforts did not bring about any concrete change and exploitation of the depressed classes continued unabated.

---

Dr. Ambedkar was convinced that caste Hindus would not change their attitude towards his people unless they raised their collective voice in protest. He maintained that if his people had resisted the practice of untouchability, the caste Hindus would not have been able to force untouchability on them. He urged his followers to 'make the thoughtless think' and 'to make those who were thoughtful to act in conformity with their thoughts.'
Dr. Ambedkar set out to empower the Depressed Classes and when caste Hindus urged him not to press for a separate electorate, he laughed in their face and wondered why those who had kept his people out of the Hindu mainstream for so long were now beseeching them to stay within the Hindu fold.
Explaining why Gandhiji had to go on a fast unto death on the issue, the eminent sociologist, Dr. M.S. Gore writes: "....... he (Gandhiji) had not been able to change the attitude of the Hindu community towards the untouchables. Caught between the orthodoxy of his own followers and the militant demands of the newly–aroused untouchables, he had found no effective strategy."
Gandhiji's fast stirred the conscience of the Hindu community. As the fast progressed, temples began to throw open their doors to the Depressed Classes. At the Benaras Hindu University, brahmins led by principal Dhruva, dined publicly with street cleaners, cobblers and scavengers. In villages and towns, untouchables were given access to wells. The practice of segregation of untouchables and caste Hindus in classrooms was given up in many schools across the country.
Dr. Ambedkar was concerned about Gandhiji's fast. In a statement, he said: "I trust the Mahatma will not drive me to the necessity of making a choice between his life and the rights of my people. For I can never consent to deliver my people bound hand and foot to the caste Hindus for generations to come."
Mediators shuttling between Gandhiji and Ambedkar hammered out an understanding between the two leaders. Dr. Ambedkar agreed to give up his demand for a separate electorate and Gandhiji agreed to reservation of seats in the legislature for the Depressed Classes.
The country heaved a sigh of relief when Gandhiji ended his fast on 26 September 1932.