Denunciation of Poona Pact By Dr. B. R. Ambedkar

The untouchables were forced to sign the Poona Pact under the impact of the coercive fast of Mr. Gandhi. Dr. Ambedkar denounced it the very next day expressing his views, “The untouchables were sad. They had every reason to be sad.” He kept denouncing it till the end of his life in 1956—through private discussions, public meetings, and relevant writings.

Quotations from Dr. B.R. Ambedkar's Books

Some illustrations of Dr. Ambedkar's denunciation can be found in his books:

• What Congress and Gandhi have done to the untouchables, published in 1945
• States and Minorities, published in 1947

“There was nothing noble in the fast. It was a foul and filthy act. The fast was not for the benefit of the Untouchables. It was against them and was the worst form of coercion against helpless people to give up the constitutional safeguards of which they had been possessed under the Prime Minister’s Award and agree to live on the mercy of the Hindus. It was a vile and wicked act. How can the untouchables regard such a man as honest and sincere?”

Dr. Ambedkar explained the implications of the Poona Pact:

“Now, if the Poona Pact increased the quota of seats for the untouchables it took away the right to the double vote given to them by the communal award. This increase in seats can never be deemed to be a compensation for the loss of the double vote. The second vote given by the Communal award was a priceless privilege.”

He further warned:

“Today the untouchables have a few more seats than were given to them by the communal award. But this is all that they have. Every other member is indifferent, if not hostile. The increase in the number of seats for the untouchables is no increase at all and no recompense for the loss of separate electorate and the double vote.”

In short, Mr. Gandhi was still on the war path as far as the untouchables were concerned. Ambedkar advised, “Beware of Mr. Gandhi.”

“The second misdeed of the Congress was to subject the Untouchable Congressmen to the rigours of party discipline... They were there as dumb driven cattle. One of the objects of obtaining representation in the Legislature for the Untouchables is to enable them to ventilate their grievances and to obtain redress for their wrongs. The Congress successfully and effectively prevented this from happening.”

“The Poona Pact has completely disfranchised the Scheduled Castes in as much as candidates whom they rejected in the Primary election— which is a true index of their will—have been returned in the Final election by the votes of the Castes Hindus. The Joint Electorate is, from the point of view of the Hindus, a ‘Rotten Borough’ in which the Hindus get the right to nominate an untouchable to set nominally as a representative of the untouchables but really as a tool of the Hindus.”

- Dr. B.R. Ambedkar