78 DR. BABASAHEB AMBEDKAR : WRITINGS AND SPEECHES
“ Dr. B. R. Ambedkar returned from Simla to Bombay on
4th May 1932. Immediately, on 6th May 1932, he left Bombay by Calcutta Mail to attend the All-India Depressed Classes Congress at Kamptee near Nagpur. The Congress had been postponed to this date to suit Dr. Ambedkar’s convenience. On his way he was greeted throughout that night by enthusiastic crowds of Untouchables at all the railway stations from Kasara to Nagpur.
The train steamed in at nine in the morning, on 7th May 1932, and Nagpur station echoed with cries of ‘Long Live Dr. Ambedkar’. A rousing reception was accorded to Dr. Ambedkar on the platform by a vast crowd of 5,000 people. Tularam Sakhare M. L. C. received Dr. Ambedkar and other leaders on the platform. The City Magistrate and the Police Superintendent were present at the station for the maintenance of peace and order.
The Congress pandal was decorated and was huge enough to accommodate 15,000 persons. The dais was a very big rostrum. As most of the Depressed Class leaders from the four corners of India had gathered to take a vital decision, the atmosphere was charged with tense feeling and excitement. It was very surprising that such a vast gathering of the Depressed Class delegates should assemble despite their poverty. Another significant fact about the Depressed Classes Congress was that it was held at a place which was supposed to be the stronghold of Dr. Moonje, and the supporters of the Rajah-Moonje Pact. In order to have a complete picture of the situation, it may be recalled here that immediately after the announcement of the Rajah-Moonje Pact in one of his letters to Gavai who was the General Secretary of the All-India Depressed Classes Association, Dr. Ambedkar had, under great provocation given him a threat of “breach between us and war amongst ourselves” if his organization advocated the system of joint electorates and reserved seats. It was reported then that Gavai had made a protest to Lord Lothian against this intimidation !
On the evening of 7th May the proceedings of the Congress commenced. About two hundred messages, supporting the demand for separate electorates as adumbrated in the Minorities Pact, repudiating the Rajah-Moonje Pact and wishing this