This Article First Appeared In The Scroll On 21 June 2023
The year 1932, however, proved to be a watershed in the Gandhi-Poddar relationship. On 2 August 1932 Gandhi wrote from Yerwada jail to [Hanuman Prasad] Poddar amidst growing fear that the British government would accept the demand for separate electorates for untouchables, passionately advocated by Bhim Rao Ambedkar at the Round Table Conference. Gandhi was still in Yerwada when British prime minister Ramsay McDonald announced acceptance of separate electorate for untouchables. Determined to “resist the decision with my life”, Gandhi decided to go on a “fast without food save water with or without salt and soda”.