The Epic Fast (3/4)

September 24, 2024

(Previous posts can be found here: background, prologue, part 1, part 2)

By the fourth day of his fast, Gandhi was physically struggling. Never a heavy man, his weight had fallen below 100 pounds. Doctors warned that if he continued without food, his health would rapidly deteriorate. The Bombay Chronicle screamed “SUDDEN TURN IN MAHATMA’S HEALTH CAUSES ANXIETY.”

AI did this.

But there was work to be done. Dr. Ambedkar had come to Yerwada Prison willing to negotiate with representatives of caste Hindus. The issue at hand was the British decision to reserve 71 seats for Dalits in legislative bodies, to be elected by them alone, while also allowing them to vote with the rest of the Hindus for the open seats. Observers generally agreed this was fair, but for Gandhi, statutory division within the Hindu community was abhorrent.

Just before his fast began, Gandhi had conceded an important point. He could accept the reservation of seats for Dalits. But how would those members be elected?

Essentially, the solution involved creating a primary election for those reserved seats, where only Dalits could vote. They would select four candidates for each seat, guaranteeing them electoral success, but all Hindus would vote together in a general election.

This was not enough for Dr. Ambedkar, who had warned Gandhi “I want my compensation.” He asked that a total of 197 seats be reserved for Dalits in the legislature. After negotiation and utilization of census figures, it was agreed that 148 seats in total would be reserved, or about 18% of the total, which was a rough approximation of their population.

(As a tangent, I think it’s worth pointing out the impact of the British census. Data is beautiful, but it imposed binary options to people who had lived on a spectrum for generations. It was common for families to observe aspects of both Hindu and Muslim traditions, but when the census came along, people were compelled to identify as one or the other. This hardened community lines, which eventually led to widespread slaughter after Partition.)

There was also a question about how long separate elections would last. The British would abolish them after 20 years—perhaps an indication of how long they planned to stay in India. All parties were willing to submit the matter to a future referendum, but when? Gandhi strongly believed five years would be enough time for equality to take root. Ambedkar would not settle for less than ten. “Five years or my life,” Gandhi responded.

Finally, a compromise was reached. By default, they would be abolished in ten years, but could be ended by mutual agreement at any time. “Excellent,” whispered Gandhi weakly. In addition, the pact required that money be earmarked for “providing educational facilities” to Dalits.

At 5pm, September 24, 1932, the Yerwada Pact was signed. But Gandhi refused to break his fast until the British agreed to accept it.

What’s something you’ve had to compromise on?