the Separate Electorates

the Separate Electorates Dr. Ambedkar came to the centre stage of the struggles of the oppressed world in the ’s. Born in the then so-called “untouchable” caste called Mahar in Central India as the son of an army man, he was a brilliant student and was the first to matriculate from his community. Ambedkar’s Academic Accomplishments Ambedkar joined the Elphinston College, with the help of a scholarship and graduated in . With the help of a scholarship from the Maharaja of Barona he went to United States and secured a post-graduate degree, and doctorate, from the Columbia University. Then he went to London to study law and economics. Ambedkar’s brilliance caught the attention of many. Already in , he had participated in an international conference of Anthropology and presented a research paper on ‘Castes in India’, which was published later in the Indian Antiquary . The British government which was searching for talents among the downtrodden of India invited him to interact with the Southborough or the Franchise Committee which was collecting evidence on the quantum and qualifications to be fixed for the Indian voters. It was in these interactions that Ambedkar first spoke about separate electorates. He argued the untouchables be given separate electorates and reserved seats. Under this scheme only untouchables could vote in the constituencies reserved for them. Ambedkar felt that if any untouchable candidate contesting elections were to depend on non- untouchable voters he or she would be more obliged to the latter and would not therefore Advent of Gandhi and Mass Mobilisation E W N S Not to Scale Jallianwala Bagh (Punjab) Jallianwala Bagh Massacre Chauri - Chaura (UP) Movement Dandi (Gujarat) Civil Disobedience Movement Champaran (Bihar) Movement of Indigo CulƟvators Kheda (Gujarat) Peasant Satyagraha Ahmedabad (Gujarat) ill Workers’ Satyagraha Mahad (Maharastra) Mahad Satyagraha