Imagine This...
It's September 24, 1932. Yerwada Central Jail, Pune. Gandhi is on the fifth day of a fast unto death.
His body is failing. His blood pressure is dropping. Doctors warn he has hours, not days.
The reason? Dr. B.R. Ambedkar — the most brilliant Dalit leader India has ever produced — has won separate electorates for the Depressed Classes (Dalits) from the British Prime Minister Ramsay MacDonald. The Communal Award (August 1932) gives Dalits their own voters' rolls, their own candidates, their own political power — independent of caste Hindus.
Gandhi says this will divide Hindu society permanently. He calls it a scheme to split India. He begins fasting — in prison — and tells India: "I will die unless this is reversed."
Ambedkar is furious. For the first time in history, Dalits have been given real political power. And now Gandhi — the most powerful man in India — is threatening to die unless they give it up.
If Gandhi dies, caste Hindus will blame Ambedkar. Dalits across India may face violence. Ambedkar knows this. He is being emotionally blackmailed by the Mahatma — and the whole nation is watching.
Under unbearable pressure, Ambedkar agrees to negotiate. On September 24, 1932, the Poona Pact is signed. Separate electorates are replaced with reserved seats within joint electorates.
Ambedkar gets more seats than the Communal Award offered. But he loses the one thing that mattered most: independent political power.
There was nothing noble in the fast. It was a foul and filthy act. The fast was not against the British but against the untouchables.
The Background — 3,000 Years of Caste
WHY THIS FIGHT MATTERED:
THE CASTE SYSTEM:
For 3,000+ years, Hindu society divided people into:
→ Brahmins (priests, scholars)
→ Kshatriyas (warriors, rulers)
→ Vaishyas (merchants, farmers)
→ Shudras (laborers, servants)
→ UNTOUCHABLES (outside the system entirely)
— later called Depressed Classes, Dalits,
Scheduled Castes
WHAT "UNTOUCHABLE" MEANT:
→ Cannot enter temples
→ Cannot use the village well
→ Cannot sit in the same room as caste Hindus
→ Cannot eat with caste Hindus
→ Shadow must not fall on a Brahmin
→ Forced into "polluting" work:
cleaning sewers, handling dead animals,
washing clothes of the dead
→ Children denied education
→ Women: doubly oppressed — by caste AND gender
Population: roughly 20% of Hindu society
— 60 MILLION people in the 1930s
This was not discrimination.
This was a CIVILIZATION built on exclusion.
The Two Giants
B.R. AMBEDKAR — The Architect of Justice
Born: April 14, 1891, Mhow (Dalit Mahar family) | Died: December 6, 1956 | Role: Dalit leader, Constitution architect
AMBEDKAR'S JOURNEY:
Born UNTOUCHABLE. In school:
→ Sat on the floor (others had desks)
→ Could not touch the water pitcher
→ Teacher would not correct his work
→ Called by caste name, not his name
EDUCATION (against all odds):
→ Elphinstone College, Bombay
→ Columbia University, New York (MA, PhD)
→ London School of Economics (DSc)
→ Gray's Inn, London (Bar-at-Law)
→ The most EDUCATED Indian of his generation
— possibly of any generation
HIS ARGUMENT:
"Caste is not just social discrimination.
It is a POLITICAL system that keeps
60 million people in permanent slavery.
The only cure is POLITICAL POWER.
Separate electorates give Dalits THEIR OWN
representatives — answerable to DALITS,
not to caste Hindus who oppress them.
Without independent political power,
reserved seats mean Dalit representatives
will always be CHOSEN by caste Hindu voters —
and will serve THEIR interests, not ours."
GANDHI — The Reformer Who Couldn't Let Go
GANDHI'S ARGUMENT:
"Untouchability is a sin.
I have fought it all my life.
But SEPARATE ELECTORATES will divide
Hindu society into two hostile camps.
Dalits are HINDUS. They must reform
Hinduism from within, not break away.
Separate electorates for Muslims
already divided India.
Separate electorates for Dalits
will shatter it completely."
THE CONTRADICTION:
Gandhi called untouchability a sin.
He called Dalits "Harijans" ("Children of God").
He wanted temple entry, well-sharing, reform.
But he did NOT want to destroy the caste system.
He wanted to REFORM it — remove untouchability
while keeping the broader structure.
Ambedkar wanted to ANNIHILATE caste.
Gandhi wanted to CLEANSE it.
That was the fundamental divide.
Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar was an Indian jurist, economist, social reformer and politician who chaired the committee that drafted the Constitution of India based on the debates of the Constituent Assembly of India and the first draft of Sir Benegal Narsing Rau. Ambedkar served as Law and Justice minister in the first cabinet of Jawaharlal Nehru. He later renounced Hinduism and converted to Buddhism, inspiring the Dalit Buddhist movement.Explore: B.R. Ambedkar on Wikipedia
B. R. Ambedkar
The Communal Award and the Fast
THE SEQUENCE OF EVENTS:
ROUND TABLE CONFERENCES (1930-1932):
Ambedkar attends as Dalit representative
Argues powerfully for separate electorates
British PM Ramsay MacDonald is convinced
AUGUST 17, 1932 — COMMUNAL AWARD:
MacDonald announces:
→ Separate electorates for Depressed Classes
→ Dalits get their OWN voters' rolls
→ Only Dalits can vote for Dalit candidates
→ 71 reserved seats
Ambedkar: VICTORY.
For the first time, Dalits have INDEPENDENT
political power — not dependent on
caste Hindu goodwill.
SEPTEMBER 16, 1932 — GANDHI'S FAST:
Gandhi (in Yerwada prison) announces:
"I will fast unto death unless the
Communal Award is revised."
He begins fasting on September 20.
THE PRESSURE:
→ All of India watches
→ Temples open their doors to Dalits
(for the first time in history —
out of fear that Gandhi will die)
→ Caste Hindus BEG Ambedkar to negotiate
→ The implicit threat: if Gandhi dies,
Dalits will face a BACKLASH
Ambedkar later said:
"I was told that if I did not agree,
my people would be massacred."
The Poona Pact — September 24, 1932
THE DEAL:
WHAT AMBEDKAR GAVE UP:
→ Separate electorates
→ Independent political power
→ Dalits choosing ONLY Dalit representatives
WHAT AMBEDKAR GOT:
→ RESERVED SEATS: increased from 71 to 148
(double what the Communal Award offered)
→ Within JOINT electorates
(all voters — caste Hindu AND Dalit —
vote together, but seats reserved for
Dalit candidates)
THE CATCH:
In joint electorates, Dalit candidates
need CASTE HINDU votes to win.
This means:
→ Dalit representatives must be ACCEPTABLE
to the caste Hindu majority
→ They cannot be too radical
→ They cannot challenge the system too hard
→ The most vocal Dalit voices are FILTERED OUT
Ambedkar knew this. He signed anyway.
Because Gandhi was dying.
And dead Dalits were worse than compromised seats.
GANDHI BREAKS HIS FAST:
September 24, 1932 — after 6 days.
Rabindranath Tagore is by his side.
The nation celebrates.
Ambedkar does not celebrate.
The Aftermath — Two Legacies
WHAT EACH MAN BUILT:
GANDHI:
→ Launched the Harijan movement
→ Temple entry campaigns
→ Anti-untouchability propaganda
→ Changed caste Hindu ATTITUDES (somewhat)
→ But did NOT challenge caste STRUCTURE
AMBEDKAR:
→ Continued fighting through law and politics
→ Founded the Independent Labour Party (1936)
→ Wrote "Annihilation of Caste" (1936)
— the most devastating critique of
Hinduism's caste system ever written
→ Served as Labour Minister (1942-46)
→ Appointed CHAIRMAN of the Constitution
Drafting Committee (1947)
→ Wrote India's CONSTITUTION — embedding
the rights he couldn't win through
the Poona Pact:
Article 15: Prohibition of discrimination
Article 17: ABOLITION of untouchability
Article 46: Protection of Scheduled Castes
Reservations in education and government jobs
→ Converted to BUDDHISM (1956)
with 600,000 followers
— his final rejection of the caste system
THE IRONY:
The man who lost the Poona Pact
won the CONSTITUTION.
What Ambedkar couldn't get through
separate electorates, he embedded
in the supreme law of the land.
Why This Moment Matters
- It defined India's approach to caste. Reservations within joint electorates — not separate political identities. This system continues today: reserved seats in Parliament, reservations in education and government jobs. The framework is the Poona Pact's.
- It exposed Gandhi's blind spot. Gandhi fought untouchability but not caste itself. He wanted Dalits accepted as Hindus, not empowered as an independent political force. Ambedkar saw this as keeping the cage but opening the door slightly.
- Ambedkar's revenge was the Constitution. He lost the battle in 1932 but won the war in 1950. Article 17 abolished untouchability. Reservations became constitutional rights. The man they once forced to sit on the floor wrote the document that governs 1.4 billion people.
- The debate is not over. Reservations, caste identity, political representation — these are still India's most contentious issues. Every argument about quotas, caste certificates, and OBC lists traces back to a jail in Pune in September 1932.
Two men. Two visions. One wanted to reform the house. The other wanted to burn it down and build a new one. India chose reform — and the architect of the new house turned out to be the man who wanted to burn the old one.
The Poona Pact of September 1932 was a negotiated settlement between Mahatma Gandhi and B. R. Ambedkar that increased the political representation of the depressed classes, now known as Scheduled Castes (SC). The Poona Pact was an agreement between nominal Hindus and the Depressed Classes and was signed by 23 people including Madan Mohan Malaviya, on behalf of Hindus and Gandhi, and Dr Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar on behalf of The Depressed Classes.Explore: The Poona Pact on Wikipedia
Poona Pact
Watch & Learn
"Dr. B.R. Ambedkar" — the life, struggles, and constitutional legacy of the man who gave India its supreme law.
Part of the Modern History series. This article covers the nineteenth event in the Complete Timeline Overview timeline.
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