Global Journal of Human Social Science, C: Sociology and Culture, Volume 22 Issue 6

was born a Hindu but would not die a Hindu. He viewed Hinduism as a despicable religion that oppressed the untouchables and started to consider conversion to any other religion. [ 17 V. M uslims and P akistan ] With respect to the Lahore resolution ( 1940) of the Muslim League demanding Pakistan, Babasaheb wrote a 400-page tract called “Thoughts on Pakistan”, which scrutinized the notion of “Pakistan” in all its aspects. Babasaheb argued with vehemence that the Hindus should concede Pakistan to the Muslims. Therewithal he suggested that the provincial boundaries of Punjab and Bengal should be redrawn to separate the Muslim and non-Muslim majority parts. He thought the Muslims could not object to redrawing provincial boundaries. If they did, then it meant that they did not quite “recognize the nature of their own demand”. Scholar Venkat Dhulipala states that “Thoughts on Pakistan” shook Indian politics for a decade. It dictated the course of dialogue between the Muslim League and the Indian National Congress, preparing the way for the Partition of India. [ 18] [ 19 VI. A mbedkarism V ersus G andhism ] The “Poona Pact” was an agreement between Mahatma Gandhi a n d Babasaheb on behalf of Dalits [ 20 depressed classes ] , , and upper caste H indu leaders on the reservation of electoral seats for the depressed classes in the legislature of British India in 1932. Mahatma Gandhi f iercely opposed a separate electorate for untouchables, saying he was apprehensive that such an arrangement would lead to division among the Hindu community. [ 21] [22] [23 Yerwada Central Jail ] Mahatma Gandhi protested by fasting while imprisoned in the o f Poona. Following the fast, congressional politicians and activists such as Madan Mohan Malaviya a n d Palwankar Baloo o rganised joint meetings with Babasaheb and his supporters at Yerwada . [54] O n 25 th September 1932, the agreement, known as the Poona Pact w as contracted between Babsaheb (on behalf of the depressed classes 17 Anupama P. Rao (1999). Undoing Untouchability?: Violence, Democracy, and Discourses of State in Maharashtra, 1932-1991. University of Michigan. pp. 49–74 . ISBN 9 78-0-599-39817-7 18 Sialkoti, Zulfiqar Ali (2014), "An Analytical Study of the Punjab Boundary Line Issue during the Last Two Decades of the British Raj until the Declaration of 3 June 1947" ( PDF) , Pakistan Journal of History and Culture, vol. XXXV, no. 2, pp. 73–76 19 Dhulipala, Venkat (2015), Creating a New Medina , Cambridge University Press, pp. 124, 134, 142–144, 149 , ISBN 9 78-1-107-05212-3 2 0 "Poona Pact | History, Significance, & Facts | Britannica" 21 "Poona Pact – 1932" . Britannica.com. Encyclopedia Britannica . Archived f rom the original on 18 May 2015 . Retrieved 29 April 2015. 22 "Ambekar vs Gandhi: A Part That Parted" . Outlook. 20 August 2012 . Archived f rom the original on 27 April 2015 . Retrieved 29 April 2015 . 23 "Museum to showcase Poona Pact" . The Times of India. 25 September 2007 . Archived f rom the original on 17 October 2015 . Retrieved 29 April 2015 . Read 8th Paragraph among Hindus) and Madan Mohan Malaviya ( on behalf of the other Hindus). The agreement provided reserved seats for the depressed classes in the Provisional legislatures within the general electorate. In 1936, Babasaheb created the Independent Labour Party, which contested the 1937 Bombay election to the Central Legislative Assembly f or the 13 reserved and 4 general seats, and secured 11 and 3 seats respectively. [24 Babasaheb published his book “ ] Annihilation of Caste” on 15 th May 1936. [ 25] It strongly criticised Hindu orthodox religious leaders and the caste system in general, [ 26] and included “a rebuke of Mahatma Gandhi” on the subject. [27] Later, in a 1955 BBC Radio Interview, he accused Mahatma Gandhi of writing in opposition of the caste system in English language papers while writing in support of it in Gujarati language papers. [ 28 Babasaheb: Well, I must say at the outset that I feel quite surprised you see the interest the outside western world particularly seems to be taking in Mr Gandhi. I can’t understand that so far as India is concerned, he was in my ] Furthermore in this exceptional and shocking interview which is available on YouTube today we may hear Babasaheb saying the following: Babasaheb: “I met Mr Gandhi first in 1929, through the intervention of a friend of mine, common friend, who asked Mr Gandhi to see me. So Mr Gandhi wrote to me, that he would like to see me, so I went and saw him, that was just before going to roundtable conference. Then he came to the 2nd Round Table conference, didn’t come for the first Round Table conference, he was there for five-six months. There of course I met him also and faced him also in 2nd Round Table conference you see. Then once thereafter, he also after the signing of Poona pact asked me to come and see him. So I went to see him, He was then in the jail. That’s all the time I have met Mr Gandhi, but I always say that as I met Mr Gandhi in the capacity of an opponent I have a feeling that I know him better than most other people, because he had opened his real fangs to me, I could see the inside of the man, you see while others who generally went there as devotees, saw nothing of him, except the external appearance, which he had put as Mahatma. But I saw him in his human capacity, the bare man in him, and so I say that I understand him better than most of the people who have associated themselves with him, you can say. Interviewer: How would you sum up? 24 Jaffrelot, Christophe (2005). Dr Ambedkar and Untouchability: Analysing and Fighting Caste. London: C. Hurst & Co. Publishers. pp. 76–77 . ISBN 1 850654492 . 2 5 "May 15: It was 79 years ago today that Ambedkar's 'Annihilation of Caste' was published" . Archived from the original on 29 May 2016. 26 Mungekar, Bhalchandra (16–29 July 2011). "Annihilating caste" . Frontline. 28 (11). Archived f rom the original on 1 November 2013 . Retrieved 18 July 2013. 27 Deb, Siddhartha, "Arundhati Roy, the Not-So-Reluctant Renegade" Archived 6 July 2017 at the Wayback M achine, New York Times Magazine, 5 March 2014. Retrieved 5 March 2014. 28 "A for Ambedkar: As Gujarat's freedom march nears tryst, an assertive Dalit culture spreads" . Archived f rom the original on 16 September 2016. © 2022 Global Journals Volume XXII Issue VI Version I 3 ( ) Global Journal of Human Social Science - Year 2022 C Babasaheb: The Unsung Hero of India