468 DR. BABASAHEB AMBEDKAR : WRITINGS AND SPEECHES
Mr. Gandhi. One was to accept the division of the Minorities with whatever grace he could. The other was to rally the great Hindu majority to his side to speak not as the sole representative of Congress but as the spokesman of all the Hindus, the orthodox Hindu Mahasabha included. Mr. Gandhi’s eyes trenched swiftly down the clauses of the Pact. He saw at once that the Pact indicated the truculent attitude which Dr. Ambedkar had adopted. for separate electorates were generously bestowed upon the Untouchables. Obvious courses were not for Mr. Gandhi. If hitherto he had been uncertain of his mission in London he knew now that it was his duty to do. He would save the Untouchables from their leader. He called Sir Samuel Hoare. He even called Mr. Ramsay MacDonald by whom he was impressed, with the vehemence of his views.
Mr. Gandhi would speak of nothing else. “Separate Electorates to the Untouchables” he declared in a speech, “will ensure them bondage in perpetuity. The Musalmans will never cease to be Musalmans by having Separate Electorates. Do you want the ‘Untouchables’ to remain ‘Untouchables’ for ever ? And however lightly the Indian Liberal may regard Mr. Gandhi’s views on Federation, he has a healthy respect for his views on minorities. A Minorities Pact falls short of a general agreement and because it provided the hostility of the orthodox Hindus and the Sikhs more particularly because it roused the anger of Mr. Gandhi. The Pact died the day it was born. Its demise was promptly acknowledged by the British and Indian delegates alike. The Communal settlement, as everyone now admitted, would have to be impressed by the British Government.
(The Tragedy of Gandhi, Pp. 277—278) ” [1]
7
Dhananjay Keer, biographer said,
“The Poona Pact thus vibrated the whole country and had repercussions throughout the world. It proved once more that Dr. Ambedkar whom in pre-Poona pact days the Congress leaders and the press refused to recognise as the leader of the Depressed
1 : Khairmode, Vol. 4, Pp. 170—172.