466 DR. BABASAHEB AMBEDKAR : WRITINGS AND SPEECHES
the Hindu fold. Dr. Ambedkar was led by this unyielding attitude into a definite demand for separate electorates for the Depressed Classes.”—P. 55) [1]
4
Dr. M. R. Jaikar stated in his Autobiography that :
“ ... his (Mahatma) attitude at the Indian Round Table Conference in England drove the minorities to adopt the notorious Minorities Pact. He denied to the Depressed Classes even a single seat by reservation except through the medium of the Congress. Later he fasted in India against Prime Minister MacDonald’s award comparatively a more blanced arrangement than the later, “Poona Pact” which had to be accepted at the point of the bayonet as it were. The effect of this pact was deeply deplored in Bengal by leaders who had been Gandhiji’s loyal followers before.” (The Story of My Life, Vol. One, Pp. 361-62) ” [2]
5
On the occasion of the Birth day of Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, the book entitled “A Bunch of Old Letters” was published. The book includes a letter by Mr. Edward Thompson who wrote it on 6th December 1936, wherein he stated,
“I never thought Gandhi wrong until the Round Table Conference, when he was both arrogant and irrelevent. Perhaps he should not have come at all. But having come, he was unjustified in refusing to regard the other Indians, many of the men who had paid a price for their opinions, as men entitled to be consulted by him and regarded as friends engaged in a common endeavour and hope.” (P. 208)” [3]
6
Mr. Glorne Bolten stated in his book ‘The Tragedy of Gandhi’ :
“The truth is that Mr. Gandhi was lost in London, and the old assurance and reliance was deserting him. Day after day-in the Conference which he had come to detest-he faced the
1 : Khairmode, Vol. 4 P. 173.
2 : ibid, P . 173.
3 : ibid, Pp. 173-174.