“Dalit participation was limited in the Civil Disobedience Movement”. Examine the statement.

Dalit participation was limited in the Civil Disobedience movement. The reasons for this were:

(i) Dr B.R. Ambedkar, who organised the Dalits into the Depressed Classes Association in 1930, clashed with Mahatma Gandhi at the second Round Table Conference by demanding separate electorates for Dalits.

(ii) When the British government conceded Ambedkar’s demand, Gandhiji began a fast unto death.

(iii) Gandhiji believed that separate electorates for Dalits would slow down the process of their integration into the society.

(iv) Dr. Ambedkar ultimately accepted Gandhiji’s position and the result was the Poona Pact of September 1932.

(v) It gave the Depressed Classes (later to be known as the Schedule Castes) reserved seats in provincial and central legislative councils, but they were to be voted in by the general electorate.