Preamble #2: Disagreements with Gandhi

The root of the “lifelong feud” between Ambedkar and Gandhi is described in Aakash Singh Rathore’s Ambedkar’s Preamble. In 1930, Ambedkar represented the “depressed classes” (the term for the lower castes) at the Round Table Conference in London and did an outstanding job. In 1932, his continuous efforts yielded results – a scheme for separate electorates for the untouchables (In present-day speak, that means constituencies reserved for the untouchables).

 

Gandhi resorted to a fast-onto-death against the decision, which put Ambedkar in an impossible situation.

“Blackmailed into it, Dr Ambedkar signed a pact with Gandhi in 1932, with terms that were quite disagreeable to him.”

It was from this point (the 1932 Poona Pact) that Ambedkar would characterize Gandhi not as a Mahatma, but as a dangerous opponent, famously describing this episode as one where Gandhi “showed me his fangs”.

 

Why was Gandhi so opposed to such a reservation? The book doesn’t say, but here is what I can imagine by combining the info I found in this and other books. Was it simple upper caste unwillingness to empower the lower castes? Or was the fear that this was one more instance of Britain’s infamous divide-and-rule policy? Did Gandhi fear that such a structure of reserving constituencies would then spread to other groups, thereby striking at the very heart of the united India entity that he and others were trying to build? The answer is probably a mix of all of the above (and maybe other reasons as well).

 

What is clear from the book is that Ambedkar considered the upliftment of the untouchables more important than nation building or even independence. What would the lower castes gain if the only change with independence was a change in who the rulers were – British or upper castes. It is easy to demonize such a view today, but Ambedkar had suffered greatly under the caste system, so this was a deeply person matter for him.

 

In any case, there were plenty of other matters on which Ambedkar disagreed with Gandhi, as Ramachandra Guha pointed out. (1) Gandhi hoped to abolish untouchability while Ambedkar had no faith in such a change to Hinduism ever happening; (2) Gandhi was a romantic on rural life whereas Ambedkar admired city life and modern technology and considered villages a den of inequity; (3) Gandhi was suspicious of any government unlike Ambedkar who was a steadfast constitutionalist and believed problems needed to be solved within the framework of governance.

 

The deep resentment over Gandhi’s blackmail only added to the fundamental differences Ambedkar had on other issues, and we will see the fallout of that in later blogs.