Life story · Chapter 7 of 13

1930–1935

The Round Table

Temple doors, London conferences, the Poona Pact and the Yeola declaration

Ambedkar on his return to Bombay on 29 January 1932, after attending the Second Round Table Conference in London.
Ambedkar on his return to Bombay on 29 January 1932, after attending the Second Round Table Conference in London. — Photo: Unknown author · Public domain (PD-India) · Wikimedia Commons

Between 1930 and 1935 Dr. Ambedkar’s work moved from a temple gate in Nashik to the conference halls of London. India was preparing a new constitution, and he made sure the people treated as “untouchable”, then called the Depressed Classes, had a voice in it. That brought him into a famous disagreement with Mahatma Gandhi.

Knocking at the temple door: Kalaram, Nashik (1930)

The Kalaram Temple in Nashik is a famous temple of the god Rama. Untouchables were not allowed inside. A local committee, with Bhaurao Gaikwad as secretary, warned the trustees to open it or face a protest 1.

On Sunday 2 March 1930 about 15,000 people gathered under Dr. Ambedkar 1. He told them the real aim was not to see an idol:

“Our real problem is not going to be solved by the entry into the Ram Temple. … But this is a test to judge the high caste Hindu mind.”

— Dr. B. R. Ambedkar, Nashik, 2 March 1930 (English translation by the BAWS editors from a Marathi source) 2

From 3 March, batches of protesters sat at the four gates, starting with 125 men and 25 women. The temple stayed locked 3. On 9 April, at the Ram Navami chariot procession, a deal to let both sides pull the chariot broke down. Stones were thrown and Dr. Ambedkar was slightly hurt 4. He wrote to the Governor that caste-Hindu constables had joined the attack 5.

The protest went on, on and off, for years. Dr. Ambedkar later wrote that it lasted “full six years” and was closed at Yeola in 1935 6.

A view of the Round Table Conference in London in 1931; the Commons description says that both Gandhi and Ambedkar are present.
A view of the Round Table Conference in London in 1931; the Commons description says that both Gandhi and Ambedkar are present.Photo: Unknown author · Public domain (PD-1996, PD-UK-unknown) · Wikimedia Commons

Janata and a national platform (1930)

His paper Bahishkrit Bharat had closed in 1929. On 2 October 1930 he announced a new paper, Janata (“The People”) 7. His colleagues Devrao Naik and B. R. Kadrekar launched it while he was in London 7. By late 1931 it had become a weekly 8. It ran until 1956 9.

On 8–9 August 1930 he presided over the All-India Depressed Classes Congress at Nagpur 10. He said his people should stay independent of both the British and the Congress 11. He also warned:

“Political power cannot be a panacea for the ills of the Depressed Classes. Their salvation lies in their social elevation.”

— Dr. B. R. Ambedkar, Nagpur, 8 August 1930 12

London: the Round Table Conferences (1930–1932)

The British government called Indian leaders to London to discuss a new constitution. These meetings were called Round Table Conferences. The first opened on 12 November 1930 and ended on 19 January 1931 7. Gandhi and the Congress, then leading a civil disobedience campaign against British rule, did not attend it 7. The Viceroy invited Dr. Ambedkar and Rao Bahadur R. Srinivasan to speak for the Depressed Classes 13 14.

On 20 November 1930 he told the conference that 150 years of British rule had not ended untouchability, and that the Depressed Classes wanted self-government, but with a share of power 14.

“We feel that nobody can remove our grievances as well as we can, and we cannot remove them unless we get political power in our own hands.”

— Dr. B. R. Ambedkar, Round Table Conference, 20 November 1930 15

With Srinivasan he set out written conditions. First came “equal citizenship”: a fundamental right ending every legal disability caused by untouchability 16. For elections they asked for votes for all adults and separate electorates for ten years, then joint electorates with reserved seats 17.

Two words to know. In a separate electorate, only voters of one community elect that community’s members. With reserved seats in a joint electorate, everyone votes together, but certain seats can only be won by a candidate from that community.

The second conference ran from 7 September to 1 December 1931, and this time Gandhi came to represent the Congress 7 18. The third began on 17 November 1932, without the Congress 7. Dr. Ambedkar attended all three 13.

The Round Table Conference at St James's Palace, London (1 September – 1 December 1931), chaired by British Prime Minister Ramsay MacDonald. Ambedkar and Gandhi disagreed sharply at this conference.
The Round Table Conference at St James's Palace, London (1 September – 1 December 1931), chaired by British Prime Minister Ramsay MacDonald. Ambedkar and Gandhi disagreed sharply at this conference.Photo: Unknown author · Public domain (PD-India) · Wikimedia Commons

Two leaders, two views

Gandhi and Dr. Ambedkar first met on 14 August 1931 at Mani Bhavan in Bombay. Gandhi’s tone was mild; Dr. Ambedkar spoke with passion and bitterness about how little had changed, according to Keer and Columbia’s timeline 7 13.

Both wanted untouchability to end. They disagreed about how. On 8 October 1931 Gandhi explained his position:

“I am opposed to their special representation. I am convinced that it can do them no good, and may do much harm.”

— M. K. Gandhi, Minorities Committee, 8 October 1931 19

Gandhi believed the Congress represented the untouchables. He thought votes for all adults and strict laws against caste persecution would help them more 19. He also feared that separate seats would create “a division in Hinduism” 20. Dr. Ambedkar answered at once that he truly spoke for his people: “whether I am a nominee or not, I fully represent the claims of my community” 21.

On 13 November 1931 Dr. Ambedkar joined Muslim, Anglo-Indian, European and some Christian delegates in a joint “Minorities Pact” 22. Gandhi rejected it that day:

“I would not sell the vital interests of the Untouchables even for the sake of winning the freedom of India.”

— M. K. Gandhi, Minorities Committee, 13 November 1931, quoted by Dr. Ambedkar 23

In the same speech Gandhi said he would resist separate rights for untouchables “with my life” 20. The British Library keeps the committee’s minutes and memoranda, including papers by Dr. Ambedkar 24.

The Communal Award (August 1932)

The Indian delegates could not agree, so Prime Minister Ramsay MacDonald decided. His “Communal Award” was announced on 17 August 1932 25. Depressed Classes voters would vote in general constituencies like other Hindus. They would also elect a few members of their own in special constituencies. This “double vote” was to last 20 years 26. A newspaper report written during the later talks counted 71 such seats in the provinces 27.

The First Round Table Conference was opened by King George V in London on 12 November 1930. According to the Commons description, Ambedkar, a delegate, is ninth in the left row.
The First Round Table Conference was opened by King George V in London on 12 November 1930. According to the Commons description, Ambedkar, a delegate, is ninth in the left row.Photo: Unknown author · Public domain (PD-India) · Wikimedia Commons

Gandhi’s fast and the Poona Pact (September 1932)

Gandhi, then a prisoner in Yerwada jail in Poona, wrote on 18 August that he would fast unto death unless the separate electorates for the Depressed Classes were withdrawn 28. MacDonald replied that the award kept them inside the Hindu electorate and only gave them “a limited number” of their own spokesmen 29. Gandhi answered that “for me this matter is one of pure religion”, and began fasting on 20 September 1932 30.

The British would change the award only if the two sides agreed. Everyone looked to Dr. Ambedkar. He later wrote that he faced a choice between saving Gandhi’s life and saving his people’s rights, and that he “responded to the call of humanity” 31. In the talks he asked for 197 seats; the other side first offered 126 32. The agreement was signed at 5 p.m. on 24 September 1932, by Dr. Ambedkar for the Depressed Classes and Pandit Madan Mohan Malaviya for the caste Hindus 33. Gandhi ended his fast on 26 September 34.

What the Poona Pact changed

Communal Award (Aug 1932)Poona Pact (Sept 1932)
How members were chosenSpecial seats elected only by Depressed Classes votersAll voters elect, from a panel of four chosen by Depressed Classes voters
Votes per Depressed Classes voterTwo (special seat plus general seat)One
Seats in provinces71 (some accounts say 78)148
Central legislatureLeft for later18% of general seats
How long20 yearsPanel system 10 years; reserved seats until both sides agree to end them

18 31 27

The pact also promised fair recruitment to public jobs and education funds in every province 35. The 148 seats later became 151 under the Government of India Act, 1935 36.

The day after signing, Dr. Ambedkar spoke generously at a meeting in Bombay:

“I must confess that I was immensely surprised, when I met him, that there was so much in common between him and me.”

— Dr. B. R. Ambedkar on Gandhi, Bombay, 25 September 1932 37

Later he judged the pact harshly. In 1945 he wrote that the extra seats did not make up for losing the second vote, which would have made caste-Hindu candidates depend on Depressed Classes votes 38. The caste-Hindu leaders who met in Bombay on 25 September 1932 also promised to work to remove untouchability, including the bar on entering temples 37. In 1933 Gandhi started a weekly paper named Harijan, the word he used for untouchables 13 39.

The Second Round Table Conference in London, October 1931, with British Prime Minister Ramsay MacDonald to the right of Gandhi. Ambedkar, representing the depressed classes, is fourth from left in the foreground.
The Second Round Table Conference in London, October 1931, with British Prime Minister Ramsay MacDonald to the right of Gandhi. Ambedkar, representing the depressed classes, is fourth from left in the foreground.Photo: Unknown author · Public domain (PD-1996, PD-UK-unknown) · Wikimedia Commons

Principal, and a great loss (1935)

He taught part-time at the Government Law College from June 1934 7. The Bombay government made him its Principal from 1 June 1935 7. A January 1936 article signed “Principal, Government Law College, Bombay” shows his ideas for better legal education 40.

His wife Ramabai died on 27 May 1935 after a long illness 7. She had wished to visit the temple at Pandharpur, which would not have admitted her 13. Another chapter tells her story.

“I will not die a Hindu”: Yeola (1935)

On 13 October 1935 about 10,000 people met at Yeola, in Nashik district 41. Dr. Ambedkar said ten years of struggle for equal rights inside Hindu society had failed. He said he had been born a Hindu untouchable, which he could not prevent, but he could refuse to live under humiliation:

“I solemnly assure you that I will not die a Hindu.”

— Dr. B. R. Ambedkar, Yeola, 13 October 1935, as reported by Keer 42

The conference ended the Kalaram satyagraha 43. Gandhi replied that “religion is not like house or cloak” to be changed at will. Dr. Ambedkar answered that inequality was the basis of Hinduism and that “Hindu religion is not good for us” 44. He kept that promise 21 years later, as a later chapter shows.

Where sources disagree

  • Start of the Nashik satyagraha. Most sources give 2 March 1930 1. The 1982 introduction to BAWS Vol. 2 says 1929 45.
  • How long it lasted. Keer says the temple stayed shut “for a whole year” 46; Dr. Ambedkar wrote “full six years” 6; PARI says he pursued it until 1934 47.
  • Start of Janata. Columbia’s timeline puts it in 1929 9; Keer places the launch in late 1930 7. The often-quoted day, 24 November 1930, we could not confirm in a primary source.
  • Communal Award seats. A 1932 press report and Keer say 71 27 7; Dr. Ambedkar himself wrote 78 in 1945 38.
  • Date of the award. BAWS says 17 August 1932 25; many textbooks say 16 August.
  • Central seats. The pact’s text says 18% 35; Keer’s narrative says 10% 33.
  • Bombay’s seats in the pact. BAWS prints “Bombay with Sind 15” (total 148); constitutionofindia.net prints 25, which would not add up to 148 34.
  • Yeola date. BAWS and Keer say 13 October 1935; Forward Press says 12 October 48.
  • How long he was Principal. Keer says he resigned in May 1938 7; in 1951 he himself recalled “five years” 49.

Read more

Sources

  1. BAWS Vol. 17 Part I, p. 181 Read this page on the site · Official PDF ↗ ↩
  2. BAWS Vol. 17 Part I, p. 182 Read this page on the site · Official PDF ↗ ↩
  3. BAWS Vol. 17 Part I, p. 183 Read this page on the site · Official PDF ↗ ↩
  4. BAWS Vol. 17 Part I, p. 184 Read this page on the site · Official PDF ↗ ↩
  5. BAWS Vol. 17 Part I, pp. 187–191 Read this page on the site · Official PDF ↗ ↩
  6. BAWS Vol. 9, p. 247 Read this page on the site · Official PDF ↗ ↩
  7. Keer, Dr. Ambedkar: Life and Mission, p. 145 archive.org ↗ ↩
  8. BAWS Vol. 17 Part II, p. 408 Read this page on the site · Official PDF ↗ ↩
  9. Pritchett timeline, 1920s franpritchett.com ↗ ↩
  10. BAWS Vol. 17 Part III, p. 13 Read this page on the site · Official PDF ↗ ↩
  11. BAWS Vol. 17 Part III, p. 54 Read this page on the site · Official PDF ↗ ↩
  12. BAWS Vol. 17 Part III, p. 58 Read this page on the site · Official PDF ↗ ↩
  13. Pritchett timeline, 1930s franpritchett.com ↗ ↩
  14. BAWS Vol. 2, p. 503 Read this page on the site · Official PDF ↗ ↩
  15. BAWS Vol. 2, p. 505 Read this page on the site · Official PDF ↗ ↩
  16. BAWS Vol. 2, p. 546 Read this page on the site · Official PDF ↗ ↩
  17. BAWS Vol. 2, p. 551 Read this page on the site · Official PDF ↗ ↩
  18. BAWS Vol. 9, p. 80 Read this page on the site · Official PDF ↗ ↩
  19. BAWS Vol. 2, p. 660 Read this page on the site · Official PDF ↗ ↩
  20. BAWS Vol. 9, p. 69 Read this page on the site · Official PDF ↗ ↩
  21. BAWS Vol. 2, p. 661 Read this page on the site · Official PDF ↗ ↩
  22. BAWS Vol. 9, pp. 67–68 Read this page on the site · Official PDF ↗ ↩
  23. BAWS Vol. 9, p. 68 Read this page on the site · Official PDF ↗ ↩
  24. British Library, IOR/Q/RTC/25 searcharchives.bl.uk ↗ ↩
  25. BAWS Vol. 9, p. 79 Read this page on the site · Official PDF ↗ ↩
  26. BAWS Vol. 9, pp. 81–82 Read this page on the site · Official PDF ↗ ↩
  27. BAWS Vol. 17 Part I, p. 164 Read this page on the site · Official PDF ↗ ↩
  28. BAWS Vol. 9, p. 82 Read this page on the site · Official PDF ↗ ↩
  29. BAWS Vol. 9, pp. 83–86 Read this page on the site · Official PDF ↗ ↩
  30. BAWS Vol. 9, p. 87 Read this page on the site · Official PDF ↗ ↩
  31. BAWS Vol. 9, p. 88 Read this page on the site · Official PDF ↗ ↩
  32. BAWS Vol. 17 Part I, p. 160 Read this page on the site · Official PDF ↗ ↩
  33. BAWS Vol. 17 Part I, pp. 165–166 Read this page on the site · Official PDF ↗ ↩
  34. constitutionofindia.net constitutionofindia.net ↗ ↩
  35. BAWS Vol. 9, p. 89 Read this page on the site · Official PDF ↗ ↩
  36. BAWS Vol. 9, p. 94 Read this page on the site · Official PDF ↗ ↩
  37. BAWS Vol. 17 Part I, p. 170 Read this page on the site · Official PDF ↗ ↩
  38. BAWS Vol. 9, p. 90 Read this page on the site · Official PDF ↗ ↩
  39. BAWS Vol. 17 Part III, p. 98 Read this page on the site · Official PDF ↗ ↩
  40. BAWS Vol. 17 Part II, p. 5 Read this page on the site · Official PDF ↗ ↩
  41. BAWS Vol. 17 Part III, p. 94 Read this page on the site · Official PDF ↗ ↩
  42. BAWS Vol. 17 Part III, p. 95 Read this page on the site · Official PDF ↗ ↩
  43. BAWS Vol. 17 Part III, p. 96 Read this page on the site · Official PDF ↗ ↩
  44. BAWS Vol. 17 Part III, pp. 97–98 Read this page on the site · Official PDF ↗ ↩
  45. BAWS Vol. 2, 2014 reprint, p. xi (Internet Archive) archive.org ↗ ↩
  46. BAWS Vol. 17 Part I, p. 185 Read this page on the site · Official PDF ↗ ↩
  47. PARI ruralindiaonline.org ↗ ↩
  48. Forward Press forwardpress.in ↗ ↩
  49. BAWS Vol. 17 Part III, p. 422 Read this page on the site · Official PDF ↗ ↩

Key dates in this chapter

  1. Kalaram Temple satyagraha conference at Nashik; protest at the gates begins next day Writings & Speeches
  2. Clash at the Ram Navami chariot procession in Nashik Writings & Speeches
  3. Presides over the All-India Depressed Classes Congress at Nagpur (8–9 August) Writings & Speeches
  4. First Round Table Conference opens in London source
  5. His first speech to the full conference Writings & Speeches
  6. Janata starts in Bombay while he is in London source
  7. First meeting with Gandhi, at Mani Bhavan, Bombay source
  8. Second Round Table Conference opens; Gandhi attends for the Congress source
  9. Gandhi tells the Minorities Committee he will resist separate representation for untouchables 'with my life' Writings & Speeches
  10. British 'Communal Award' announced (some sources say 16 August) Writings & Speeches
  11. Gandhi begins his fast in Yerwada jail, Poona Writings & Speeches
  12. Poona Pact signed Writings & Speeches
  13. Third Round Table Conference opens source
  14. Death of Ramabai Ambedkar source
  15. Appointed Principal of the Government Law College, Bombay source
  16. Yeola conference: 'I will not die a Hindu' Writings & Speeches
See the full timeline →
Cite this page

“The Round Table: Temple doors, London conferences, the Poona Pact and the Yeola declaration.” Prabuddha Pathak — Dr. B. R. Ambedkar, in his own words, prabuddhapathak.com. https://prabuddhapathak.com/life/round-table/

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