Poona Pact and Its Adverse Effects
S.R. Darapuri, National President, All India People's Front
(Special on Poona Pact Day on September 24)
Caste is considered to be the cornerstone of Indian Hindu society. In this structure of hierarchical inequality, the untouchables are at the lowest level, who were officially called 'Depressed Classes' till 1935. Gandhiji had awarded them the name 'Harijans' which most of the untouchables did not accept. Now they have themselves chosen the name 'Dalits' for themselves, which is indicative of their downtrodden status. At present, they constitute about one-sixth (16.20%) of the total population of India and one-fifth (20.13%) of the total Hindu population. The untouchables have been deprived of all kinds of social, religious, economic, and educational rights in Hindu society for centuries and to a large extent still are.
Dalits have been suffering from many types of deprivations and disabilities. They have a long history of struggle for attaining equal status in Hindu society and politics. When Shri E.S. Montagu, Secretary of State for India, made this important announcement in Parliament in 1917 that '"The ultimate aim of the British Government is to give Dominion Status to India. So, the Dalits held two meetings in Bombay and presented their demands to the Viceroy and the Secretary of State for India who had come to India on a tour. As a result, the lower castes got an opportunity to present their problems in different provinces to the Commission which was touring before the Indian Constitutional Reforms of 1919.
Thereafter, a long and complex series of different commissions, conferences and councils took place. After the Montagu-Chelmsford Report in 1918, the Maddiman Committee Report came in 1924 in which the very low representation of the Depressed Classes in the councils and the measures to increase it were talked about. The Simon Commission (1928) accepted that the Depressed Classes should be given adequate representation. From 1930 to 1932, three Round Table Conferences were held in London in which the right of Dalits, along with other minorities, to vote in the making of the future constitution of India was recognised. This was a historic and decisive event. Due to the effective representation and strong presentation of Dalits by Dr. B. R. Ambedkar and Rao Bahadur R. Srinivasan in these Round Table Conferences, Dalits got the independent political right of separate electorates in the 'Prime Minister Award' announced by the British Government on 17 August 1932. With this award, Dalits got the right to elect their own representatives through separate elections on reserved seats and got the right of two votes to elect upper castes in general caste constituencies. Thus, for the first time in the history of India, Untouchables got the right to political freedom which could pave the way for their liberation. Through the said award, Dalits, based on their recognition as minorities in the Government of India Act, 1919, got the right to elect their own representatives to the provincial legislatures and the Central Assembly through separate elections along with other minorities - Muslims, Sikhs, Anglo-Indians and some others, and the number of seats for all of them was fixed. In this, 78 seats were reserved for untouchables as special constituencies.
On the announcement of the said award, Gandhiji announced on 18 August 1932 in Yerawada (Pune) jail that he would go on a fast unto death from 20 September 1932 in protest against the right to separate electorates given to Dalits. Gandhiji was of the opinion that this would separate the Untouchables from Hindu society, due to which Hindu society and Hindu religion would disintegrate. It is worth noting that he did not oppose the same right given to Muslims, Sikhs and Anglo-Indians. Gandhiji, regarding this apprehension, sent a letter to the then British Prime Minister, Mr. Ramsay MacDonald, on August 18, 1932, and appealed to end the right of separate electorates given to Dalits and make arrangements for joint franchise and save the Hindu society from disintegration. In reply to this, the British Prime Minister wrote in his letter dated 8 September 1932, "Under the British Government's plan, the Depressed Classes will remain a part of the Hindu society and they will vote equally for Hindu electorates, but such an arrangement will remain for the first 20 years and while being a part of the Hindu society, there will be a limited number of special constituencies for them so that their rights and interests can be protected. In the present situation, it has become necessary to do so. Wherever there will be special constituencies, the Depressed Classes will not be deprived of voting in the constituencies of general Hindus. In this way, Dalits will have the right to two votes - one for their member in a special constituency and the other for a general member of Hindu society. We have deliberately given a decision contrary to what you have called communal elections for the Untouchables. Dalit voters will be able to vote for the upper caste candidate in general or Hindu constituencies and upper caste Hindu voters will be able to vote for the Dalit candidate in his constituency. In this way the unity of Hindu society has been safeguarded." After giving some other arguments, he urged Gandhiji to give up the fast unto death.
But Gandhiji, in response, considered fast unto death as his sacred duty and said that merely giving the right of double voting to the Depressed Classes will not prevent them and the Hindu society from being divided. He further said, "In my opinion, making arrangements for separate electorates for the Depressed Classes is like injecting destruction into the Hindu religion. Depressed Classes will not benefit from this." Gandhiji gave similar arguments in the second and third Round Table Conferences as well, in response to which Dr. Ambedkar, rejecting Gandhiji's claim of being the sole representative of the Dalits and their well-wisher, requested him not to oppose the political rights of the Dalits. He also said that at present the Dalits are only demanding independent political rights and not to separate from the Hindus and form a separate country. But Gandhiji had a selfish motive to protect the interests of the upper caste Hindus and keep the Untouchables as slaves of the Hindu society. This was the reason that he started a fast unto death on 20 September 1932 against the right of separate electorates for the Untouchables, ignoring all the facts and arguments. It was a difficult situation. On one side was a huge powerful Hindu community in favour of Gandhiji, on the other side was Dr. Ambedkar and the Untouchable society. Ultimately, due to heavy pressure and fear of possible massacre of Untouchables and to save Gandhiji's life, Dr. Ambedkar and his colleagues had to sacrifice the right of separate electorates for the Dalits and had to enter into the so-called Poona Pact with the upper caste Hindus on 24 September 1932. Thus, the Untouchables had to lose their right to political freedom due to Gandhiji's stubbornness.
Although according to the Poona Pact, the number of reserved seats for Dalits in the 'Prime Minister Award' was increased from 78 to 151, but due to joint electorates, they lost the right to choose their own representatives, the ill effects of which the Dalit society is facing till date. The provisions of the Poona Pact were included in the Government of India Act, 1935 and the first election was held in 1937 in which despite Gandhiji's assurance to the Dalit representatives that Congress would not interfere, Congress won 78 out of 151 seats because in the joint election system, Dalits had again become dependent on the votes of the upper castes. Dismayed by this deceit of Gandhiji and Congress, Dr. Ambedkar had said, "Dalits have been cheated in the Poona Pact."
The independent political existence of Dalits could have been secured by allowing the untouchables to choose their own representatives through separate electorates through the Prime Minister's Award and by the dependence of upper caste Hindus on Dalits due to the right of double vote, but the compulsion to enter into the Poona Pact again made the Dalits slaves of the upper caste Hindus. Due to this system, the MPs or MLAs elected on reserved seats are not actually elected by Dalits but are elected by various political parties and upper castes who must live as their slaves. All political parties keep a tight control on such representatives with slave mentality and do not allow them to raise or speak on any Dalit issue by deviating from the party line. This is the reason that the situation of Dalit representatives in Lok Sabha and Legislative Assemblies is like that of Bhishma Pitamah of Mahabharata, who, when asked, "Why did you not speak when Draupadi was being disrobed in the court of Kauravas?", replied, "I have eaten the salt of the Kauravas." (Bhagwan Das)
In fact, the Prime Minister's Award gave Dalits independent political rights, which enabled them to choose their own representatives and they could become their voice. Along with this, due to the right to double vote, in general constituencies, upper caste Hindus also depend on them and do not dare to anger Dalits. This could have created a new equation in Hindu society which would have paved the way for Dalit liberation. But Gandhiji violated the political freedom of Dalits by falsely claiming that Hindu society and Hindu religion are disintegrating and by adopting the unethical tactic of fast unto death, due to which Dalits again became political slaves of the upper castes. In fact, Gandhiji's move was also political to a large extent, which is also clear from what he said to Sardar Patel on one occasion later:
"I am afraid of the consequences of separate voting rights for Untouchables. Despite separate voting rights for other classes, I will still have the scope to deal with them, but I will have no means to deal with Untouchables. They do not know that separate elections will divide Hindus so much that the result will be bloodshed. Untouchable goons will join Muslim goons and kill Hindus. Does the British government have no idea about this? I do not think so." (Mahadev Desai, Diary, page 301, first part).
From this true statement of Gandhiji, you can guess the real purpose of Gandhiji in forcing the untouchables to sign the Poona Pact.
Due to the joint franchise system of Dalits, as a result of their dependence on upper caste Hindus, no political party of Dalits is able to flourish, even if it is the Republican Party founded by Dr. Ambedkar. Due to this reason, Dr. Ambedkar also had to face defeat in elections twice because the upper caste vote is decisive in reserved seats. This is why upper caste parties win most of the reserved seats. Due to these ill effects of the Poona Pact, Dr. Ambedkar had said in the Constitution that political reservation should be continued only for 10 years. But various political parties have been continuously increasing it for 10 years each, not in the interest of Dalits but for their own selfish interests, because this allows them to elect their favourite and slave Dalit MPs and MLAs. Upper caste Hindu political parties buy Dalit leaders and Dalit parties become weak and break up. This is the reason why the Bahujan Samaj Party of the so-called Dalits in North India is also following Brahmins and Baniyas and is forced to accept slogans like "Haathi Nahi Ganesh Hai, Brahma, Vishnu, Mahesh Hai". Now it has been transformed from Bahujan to Sarvajan. Due to these circumstances, Dalits have suffered a lot and they have become political slaves of the upper castes. Therefore, in this context, it would be appropriate to review the relevance of the Poona Pact. Should Dalits think about raising the demand for separate elections again?
Although the conditions of the Poona Pact included abolition of untouchability, reservation in government services and provision of budget for the education of Dalits, but even after 77 years of independence, the state of their implementation is pathetic. Dr. Ambedkar expressed these apprehensions in a large meeting of upper caste Hindus in Bombay on 25 September 1932, called for the approval of the Poona Pact, and said, "We have only one concern. Will the future generations of Hindus abide by this agreement?" To this all the upper caste Hindus said in one voice, "Yes, we will." Dr. Ambedkar also said, "We see that unfortunately the Hindu community is not a united group but a federation of various communities. I hope and believe that you will consider this accord sacred from your side and will work with a respectful spirit." Shouldn't the upper caste Hindus today do some introspection about the honest implementation of this agreement made by their ancestors with the Dalits? If they see their own harm in honestly implementing this agreement, then shouldn't they return the political right of separate electorates to the Dalits?
Now since there is no possibility of restoration of separate franchise in the present circumstances, Dalits should take their politics out of caste politics and adopt the politics of issues. Along with this, instead of voting for someone only on the basis of caste, the vote should be given keeping in mind the work done by that person in the interest of the Dalit class. Dalits will also have to get rid of hero worship, about which Babasaheb had completely warned. Instead of political isolation, Dalits should join hands with democratic, secular and progressive forces. They should remember that the liberation of Dalits is the liberation of all.
