Poona Pact: The beginning of "caste reservation politics". It was part of British govt's "divide and rule" policy. Ambedkar was used as a means to divide Hindus on basis of castes, just like Jinnah was to divide Indians on basis of religion.
As part of the British policy to "divide and rule" India by dividing Hindus on the lines of castes and hence make them weaker, the British Prime Minister Ramsay MacDonald had taken a decision to give separate electorates to 'depressed castes' for the Election of members of provincial Legislative Assemblies in British India. Mahatma Gandhi was doing a fast until death to stop this law. The British used Ambedkar as a means to end Gandhi's fast. BR Ambedkar was a known critic and hater of Gandhiji, as it is clear from his writings and speeches. Gandhi finally agreed to Ambedkar and ended his fast. A pact was signed at Yerwada Central Jail in Poona (where Gandhi ji was doing his fast). It was signed by Ambedkar on behalf of the 'depressed castes' and by Madan Mohan Malviya on behalf of the 'other caste Hindus' and Gandhi ji.
The terms of the Poona Pact were as follows.
- There shall be electoral seats reserved for the Depressed Classes out of general electorate. Seats in the provincial Legislatures were total 147. These figures were based on the total strength of the Provincial Councils announced in Ramsay MacDonald's decision.
- Election to these seats shall be by joint electorates subject (irrespective of castes
- In the Central Legislature, 18% of the seats allotted to the general electorate for British India in the said legislature shall be reserved for the Depressed Classes.
- The system of primary election to a panel of candidates for election to the Central and Provincial Legislatures as hereinbefore mentioned shall come to an end after the first ten years unless terminated sooner by mutual agreement under the provision of clause below.
- The system of representation of Depressed Classes by reserved seats in the Provincial and Central Legislatures as provided for in clauses (1) and (4) shall continue until determined otherwise by mutual agreement between the communities concerned in this settlement.
- In every province out of the educational grant, an adequate sum shall be earmarked for providing educational facilities to the members of Depressed Classes.
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From an article by Source: The Hindu:
In late September 1932, B.R. Ambedkar negotiated the Poona Pact with Mahatma Gandhi. The background to the Poona Pact was the Communal Award of August 1932, which, among other things, reserved 71 seats in the central legislature for the 'depressed castes'. Gandhi, who was opposed to the Communal Award, saw it as a British attempt to split Hindus, and began a fast unto death to have it repealed.
In a settlement negotiated with Gandhi, Ambedkar agreed for 'depressed castes' candidates to be elected by a joint electorate. However, on his insistence, slightly over twice as many seats (147) were reserved for the 'depressed castes' in the legislature than what had been allotted under the Communal Award. In addition, the Poona Pact assured a bigger representation of the 'depressed castes' in the public services while earmarking a portion of the educational grant for their uplift.
It is also highly unlikely that a clever politician like Ambedkar would not have weighed the consequences of not signing the Poona Pact. It would also not have been lost on him that Muhammad Ali Jinnah, with the Muslims of India strongly backing him, was watching and waiting to take advantage of the evolving situation.
The Poona Pact had several positive outcomes for Ambedkar. It emphatically sealed his leadership of the 'depressed castes' across India. Most of all he succeeded in making the 'depressed castes' a formidable political force for the first time in history.
As Ambedkar remarked in a 1943 address to mark the 101st birthday celebrations of Mahadev Govind Ranade, all he wanted was “a settlement of some sort”; that he was not “prepared to wait for an ideal settlement”. It is very much in this spirit that he affixed his signature to the Poona Pact.
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Reading about it, we can notice that the Poona Pact was 'win-win' for the British Govt and Ambedkar and a 'loss-loss' for Congress and Mahatma Gandhi. Through the Poona Pact, the British Govt got away with their original 'caste-divide plan' and successfully ended Gandhi's fast. BR Ambedkar on the other hand established himself as the prime leader of 'Dalits' and consolidated them into a political force.
The success of Poona Pact showed that the British could get away dividing Hindus in the lines of castes and they would succeed if they pitted a Hindu against another Hindu, like they did by pitting Ambedkar, a Hindu, against Gandhi or Malaviya, also Hindus.
On the other hand, Congress and Gandhi ji had to concede from their earlier position of protesting against the Ramsay MacDonald's decision of caste reservation in legislative assemblies. But we can understand that Gandhi ji and Congress did not have much choice than to concede. If they did not agree, India's independence movement would have degenerated into an internal mess with Hindu castes fighting against each other. In order to focus on our freedom movement, they would have given away their position, from which Ambedkar, a Gandhi-hater and who also made his followers quit Hinduism later on, gained prominence.
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