Memoirs of a Dalit Communist: The Many Worlds of R.B. More 819407780X, 9788194077800

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MEMOIRS OF A DALIT COMMUNIST

l i \ m s L u 〇 J l»\ W a iu la n a S o i u i k j r I tü ic J and I n i r o i l i K t u I In \ n i f p j i n . i l \ j 〇

Memoirs of a Dalit Communist THE MANY WORLDS O F

R

3 .

M O R E

Edited, with an introduction, by ANUPAMA RAO Translated by WANDANA SONALKAR

First published in January 2020 Digital print edition July 2020 LeftWord Books 2254/2A Shadi Khampur New Ranjit Nagar New Delhi 110008 INDIA LeftWord Books is the publishing division of Naya Rasta Publishers Pvt. Ltd. Marathi original © The Estate of R.B. More English translation © Wanclana Sonalkar, 2019 Introduction, and this volume, © Anupama Rao, 2019 First published in Marathi in 2003 as Dalit va Communist Chalvallcha Sashakt Duva: Comrade R.B. More ('Comrade R.B. More: A Powerful Link Between the Dalit and the Communist Movement5) by Paryay Prakashan, 5/6 Rajgir Sadan, opp. Sion station, Mumbai 400022 leftword.com ISBN 978-81-940778-0-0

CONTENTS

Note to Readers Acknowledgements Translator's Note

11

Ram chandra Babaji M ore and the Itineraries o f D a lit M o d e rn ity

21

13 15

by Anupama Rao H ie Avitobiography o f Ram chandra Babaji M ore

49

Tlie Biography o f Ram chandra Babaji M ore

109

by Satyendra More Ancestors

109

The H istoric First Tile-Roofed Two-Storey House B uilt by an Untouchable in In d ia

111

Tliose W h o Laid the Foundations o f the D a lit M ovem ent

112

Background o f the H istoric M ahad Satyagraha

122

M ores First M eeting w ith Babasaheb

127

The First O p position to U ntouchability

128

The Caste Q uestion

129

D r. Babasaheb A m b edkar Absent at both Conferences on U ntouchability in 1917-18

131

M ontagu-C helm sford Reform s and the Southborough Com m ittee

132

Shahu M aharaj Initiates D r. Babasaheb into the M ovem ent

136

F ounding o f the B ahishkrit H ita ka rin i Sabha and the Colaba D istrict B ahishkrit ParivShad at M ahad Establishm ent o f the M ahar Samaj Seva Sangh

137 141

6

CONTENTS

Im plem entation o f the Bole Resolution in Dasgaon Before the M ahad Satyagraha

142

The Newspaper cB ahishkrit Bharat' and M ore^ P articipation in Starting It

146

The A m aravati Tem ple Satyagraha and the Death o f Balaram A m bedkar

148

Second Satyagraha Conference at M ahad— the B u rn ing o f the Manusmriti

149

Establishm ent o f the Samaj Samata Sangh, o r Association for E qu ality in Society

154

M ores W ork in the Farm ers' M ovem ent

157

The Sim on C om m ission

161

M ore Joins the C om m unist Party

163

The First D a lit C om m unist

167

H aving Left Babasahebs Fold, M ore Rem ains Loyal to the D alit M ovem ent

168

R ound Table Conference

172

Poona Pact

179

Com rade M ores W o rk in the Trade U n ion M ovem ent

184

The Kalaram M a n d ir Satyagraha at N ashik

191

M ore Becomes A ctive A gain in the Peasant Association

195

Dedicated D alit Com rades in the C om m unist Party

196

Independent Labour Party

202

M ore Turns D ow n the O ffer o f an Election Ticket

The Second W o rld W ar— Congress and the C om m unists

207 209

The Stafford C ripps M ission and the Establishm ent o f the Scheduled Castes Federation

213

M ores Selection for the International W orker^ Conference

216

D alits Elect C om . Dange to the Legislative Assem bly

220

M ores U n dergrou nd Life

221

H ardships o f Life in the M ovem ent

223

Defeat o f Babasaheb in the Elections o f 1952

230

Conversion to Buddhism

234

Babasahebs Colleagues A lso Join the C om m unist Party

235

CONTENTS

7

Tlie A m bedkar College at M ahad and Morels W o rk in Education

239

M ore^ Journalism

242

M ore and the C ultural W orld

246

The C om m unist Evaluation o f the Caste Question

248

M ores A ctivities in the Last Stage

255

The E nd and Last Respects

257

Glossary of People and Terms

261

Appendices

271

A pp end ix A

271

A p p en d ix B

272

Index

281

The poet Tulsi Parab (1941-2016) introduced me to the public and p olitical culture o f a Bom bay that once was. He brought that past to life through walks and conversations, and introduced me to people w ho continue to inspire, Ï am heartbroken that this b ook d id not see the lig h t o f day through his extended illness, even though it bears so m any traces o f what he taught me to see. ANUPAMA RAO

N O TE T O READERS

For fid e lity to the o rig in a l, we give here some points o f style that have been follow ed in the com pilation o f this volum e. A p a rt from emphasis, italics have been used for M arathi and H in d i words. Latin w ords are italicized, and so are non-English w ords used in lite ra ry criticism like 'BüdungsromarC. The names o f books, newspapers and m agazines also appear in italics. W h ile names o f ancient texts such as the Manusmriti are italicized, corpuses such as the Vedas, Puranas, Dharm ashastras, etc., appear in Rom an. The first m ention o f an organization w ith a non-English name has been italicized in the translations. W e have used the spellings given by the translator/editor for all M arathi names. Exceptions to this rule are w ell-know n, especially non~Marc\thi names, e.g. D iw an Bahadur Ramasam y M udaliar, Asoka Mehta, A jo y G hosh, etc.; in such cases, the m ost com m only used spelling o f th eir names has been used. In form al honorifics like 'buva o r 'dada1 have been suffixed to the names, e.g. G opalbuva, M adkebuva, Balaram dada, etc. There are no footnotes in the M arathi o rig in a l. Notes b y the Translator are indicated w ith — Tr,\ w hile all other notes and captions for images have been inserted b y the Editor. Some M arathi term s have been explained in the text itself. The ones w hich havent been have v e ry specific contexts. A b rie f G lossary is provided. Publisher

ACKNO W LEDGEM ENTS

Anupama Rao: I am grateful to Subodh M ore, w ithou t w hom

this b ook w ould have

been im possible. N o words can thank h im adequately for his passion, enthusiasm, and com m itm ent to this project over the last decade. Thanks are due to the M ore fam ily, especially M rs. D evayani Satyendra M ore, for g ivin g us perm ission to translate this unique w ork. M y grateful thanks to: M ahesh Bharathi, the late Sudhakar Borkar, A rju n D angle, the late N am deo Dhasal, R o h in i Pandey, J.V. Pawar, A n il Sawadkar, Ramesh Shinde, the late N arayan Surve, V ija y Surwade, Prakash Vishwasrao and the stafF at Bhupesh Gupta Bhavan, M um bai, and to the M aharashtra State Archives at Elphinstone College. S. A nan d (o f Navayana) played a vital, supportive role in discussing the project w ith me, and offering advice when the idea for the project first arose. Peter C onnor, at the Center for Translation Studies (Barnard) provided the grant, w hich kick-started the project. P o orvi Bellur, Josue D a vid Chavez, Sohini Chattopadhyay, and A n ish Gawande helped me to im agine this b ook as a spatial map, and taught me in the process about collaborative w ork. Surabhi Sharma and A ja y N oronha film ed interview s and helped to archive places associated w ith R.B. M ore^ Bombay. I am p a rticu la rly grateful to Surabhi Sharma, a fellow traveller and am ong m y oldest friends. She has taught me m uch about the city as visual artefact over the past three decades. I d id some o f m y in itia l th in k in g about how to present R.B. M ores w ork d u rin g a fellow ship in B erlin at R E :W O R K , also know n as the IG K W o rk and H um an Life Cycle in G lobal H istory. I am pleased to be able to p u b licly thank that special com m unity, especially Andreas Eckert, Jurgen Kocha, and the indefatigable Félicitas Hentschke. A v e ry big thanks to N azeef M ollah at Left W ord Books for his keen eye, and ve ry fine editing. Sudhanva Deshpande and V ija y Prashad have supported this project from its inception. To them , a big thanks. W andana Sonalkar is m ore than a friend. She is fam ily. I'm thankful for her com panionship on this journey.

Wandana Sonalkar: I

w ould like to thank A n u Rao and Subodh M ore for their

patience and dedication, for staying w ith me as m y translation dragged on. Tliis

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

14

has been a long-draw n-out, but intense project. We came to M um bai in 2013 when Tulsi was still w ell enough to delight in his return to the city. The w ork became another layer in life itself, som ething I shared w ith Tulsi, Ojas, D aryan, M adhura, and lately, little Riaan. W o rk in g on the m anuscript in M um bai d u rin g the editing stage, I re-entered the w orld o f R.B. M ore w ith the help o f Subodh M ore, A m i bawadkar, and others. This also opened up m any layers o f the legacy o f Am beclkar and his co-workers in the anti-caste m ovem ent, as w ell as aspects o f the present-day realities o f caste and o f resistance to it. W o rkin g w ith the editorial team at LeftW ord Books was a joy. I m ust especially m ention N azeef M ollah, whose charm came through even as he was being th orou gh ly m eticulous and professional. I, too, value Anupam a Raos com panionship on this journey.

TR AN SLATO R S NO TE W A N D A N A SONALKAF^

M y approach to this translation was to deliver a readable text in English that retained some o f the flow and flavour o f the o rig in a l.1 However, in engaging w ith this text, m any other concerns came up w hich had to be confronted. This had a lot to do w ith the p ecu liarity o f the book, w hich has the M arathi title: Comrade2 R.B.

More: A Powerful Link Between the Dalit and the Communist Movement, llie book is in two parts: the autobiography o f R.B. M ore (RB), and a biography o f M ore w ritten b y his son Satyendra R. M ore (SR). The autobiography o f is short, since R.B. M ore died in 1972, w ithou t having com pleted the m anuscript, and his son took up the story from where he left off. M y first reaction when I turned to translating the S.R. M ore text was that it had been easier to translate the father's m em oir told in his ow n words. There was in the autobiographical first part a sense o f im m ediacy, o f the author being close to his own experience, w hich I read as innocence: there was a naturalness w hich brought lite ra ry pleasure in the act o f translation. The son’s biography o ï his father is weighed dow n b y a sense o f hagiographic and ideological purpose. There is m uch m ore jargon. A t several junctures there are long lists o f names o f those w ho participated in a specific event» be it a p olitica l m eeting or some other activity. But when I returned to the text m uch later, to edit it, I realized that the difference between the two texts is m ore com plex. There are continuities as w ell as differences between the tw o sections. In the in te rim some conversations made me aware o f how the text (not ve ry w idely read m the o rig in a l M arathi) was regarded b y the D a lit com m unity and by C om m unist Party m em bers, even those who had n ot read it, because o f R.B. M ores id en tity as one w ho had both w orked in A m bedkar s m ovem ent and join e d the C om m unist Party: a certain und erlyin g anxiety on both the sides' Both the D alits and the Com m unists w anted to claim M ore as.their ow n, and yet were uncom fortable w ith his association w ith 'the other side! A lso, M ores fa m ily felt that his con tribu tion had not been fu lly appreciated by either siae. A

My main teacher in the niceties of the language was my late husband Tulsi Parab, who was a poet and had a deep and nuanced knowledge of Marathi. The word £Comrade> or the abbreviated 'Com.* is used here, as elsewhere in the text, avs a title, a respectful form of address for those who have declared their allegiance to communism.

TR A N S LA T O R 'S

16

NOTE

colleague from W om ens Studies3 made another useful and insightful suggestion when I spoke about this translation at a faculty sem inar at the Tata Institute o f Social Sciences: that I pay attention to the psychological layers in the w ritin g o f a father’s biography by his scm. First o f all, we are struck b y R.B. M ores beginning: he tells us o f his b irth in 1903, and o f the religious ja fra , o r procession, that to ok place in his native village o f Ladawali that night. Though he was not a conscious presence on that occasion, he gives us a rich depiction o f how D alits and caste H indus w alk side b y side, and how the untouchable M ahars have pride o f place, because the gods that are celebrated in this festival are firstly the M ahars gods, and then gods o f the w hole village. U ntouchability is not m uch o f a b arrier am ong the farm ers and agricultural labourers in the villages, at least in the K onkan region. There are num erous occasions when all castes come together to com plete seasonal agricultural tasks. Even religious occasions do not separate them . It is p olitica l leaders w ho pulled out the four-vam a system from the religious texts and made it into law; and the Peshwa regim e in nineteenth-century M aharashtra that brought in rig id and h um iliating practices u n d erlin in g that people o f certain castes were 'utatouchable. RBs first encounters w ith the practice o f untouchability come when he is made to sit separately from 'touchable1classmates at school. H is w ritin g style is to s k ilfu lly weave a fa irly intricate account o f the spread o f education and a m odern way o f life am ong untouchables in the coastal K onkan region in the early tw entieth century, w ith the personal story o f a young untouchable boy5s progress through school, w hile re m in d in g us from tim e to tim e o f the systematic social degradation im posed on his com m u nity as a w hole. W ith rem arkable lite ra ry econom y, M ore has entw ined m any layers o f personal experience w ith social analysis. This is what I encountered as ease o f translation, a feeling o f contact w ith authenticity. The daily occurrences o f the practice o f untouchability in the big school at M ahad are set out w ithou t dram a, w ith a gentle m ockery at the absurdity o f it. As RB grows older, he is bufFeted along b y circum stance. A young m an from the villages o f K onkan is m akin g his way in the cities o f Bom bay and Poona, arm ed o n ly w ith his intelligence and his readiness to do any k in d o f w ork. He is determ ined to com plete his education, though this is interrupted repeatedly.1 1 1 is is a rem arkable account o f w orking-class Bom bay in the early tw entieth century: the com radeship o f hard lab our and the uncertainty o f fin d in g w ork, and what is most fascinating, the rich cultural life o f the w orkers. RB sings, and watches plays, eventually acting in them . We have a glim pse into the earlier cultural roots o f the m uch m ore id e ologica lly C om m unist In d ia n Peoples "flieatre Association, w hich was form ed in 1943. D alits, especially M ahars, were singers, dancei's, and actors in m any traditional form s o f stage perform ance, and this carried over into city life in various form s. Thanks to my former colleague, Asha Achuthan, for this point.

T R A N S L A T O R 'S

NOTE

17

R.B. M ores narrative ends w ith an account o f his role in an im portant p olitica l event for the untouchables: the 1927 satyagraha where D alits from the su rrou n ding districts gathered to assert their righ t to use the water o f the C havdar lake, or public reservoir. He thought o f his role in the M ahad satyagraha as an im portant con tribu tion to the A m bedkarite m ovem ent, and also wrote a separate booklet on this subject. Tlie younger M ore also jum ps to this event early in his narrative. SR inserts m ore names, and reiterates the claim that his father was the first to put forw ard the idea o f in v itin g D r. A m bedkar to M ahad, and to suggest a collective sam pling o f the reservoir water b y untouchables as a satyagraha. In repetition, the claim becomes m ore audacious and contestable. RB, on the other hand, gives a simplei* account o f events and his ow n part in them w ithout any exaggeration. New suggestions come forw ard in meetings; there is no claim that they originate w ith him self. RBs m ain concern here is to emphasize the im portance and the m echanics o f mass m o b ilization for progressive struggles. Perhaps this was the m ain m otivation behind his jo in in g the C om m unist Party, as in several places (as he, as w ell as SR, tell us) he expresses the o p in io n that it was the organizational

weakness o f the Com m unists that led A m bedkar to b u ild a separate m ovem ent fo r the em ancipation o f the untouchables. It seems R.B. M ore felt that, w ith the organizational success o f the M ahad satyagraha behind h im , he could contribute to the capacity o f the C om m unist Party to organize D alits and to take up their struggle against untouchability as part o f th e ir agenda. W hereas RB saw his role as one o f b u ild in g bridges between the C om m unist m ovem ent and the D a lit m ovem ent, his son sees h im as undervalued b y both. This feeling o f resentm ent is entirely absent from RB's autobiographical fragm ent and from his M ahad satyagraha booklet. A hagiographic style thus emerges out o f fa m ily dynam ics. Earlier, we have a brave declaration b y the son or ms fathers p osition in the C om m unist Party: 'These were C om m unist activists w ho d id not recognize a d ivision between leader and activist, w ho had live relations w ith the people. This was the first generation o f Com m unists, fired by the ideal o f b u ild in g a society based on peoples power, selfless and soaked in the affection showered on them by the people. A n d M ore was one am ong them .J But in the later part o f the text there are indications o f some cracks. The story o f separate water pitchers in the trade u n io n office for D alits and ctouchables, is an instance where M ore could influence everyday practice am ong the Com m unists. Re-reading the text I had translated after a long interval m ade me m ore sym pathetic to S.R. M ore. He is w ritin g w ith several different concerns at once: to ta lk about C om m u n ist Party w ork in the face o f state repression, o f the dedication o f Party w orkers; to underline especially the role o f D a lit Party w orkers m o b ilized by RB (we thus have long lists o f names in the text4); to b rin g out the politics 4 This meticulous naming of co-workers and comrades is something I noted earlier while

T R A N 5 しA T 〇 R' S N O T E

18

behind the rift between the D alits and the Com m unists w hich persists even today; to underline his father^ extrem e honesty and com m itm ent. SR explains earnestly and in detail RB s actions attem pting to lin k the D a lit and C om m unist m ovem ents. D ifficu lt to translate and to read, yes, but the w ritin g reflects the earnestness and tortuousness o f RB5s ow n life .5 R.B. M ore refused to take more than the bare m in im u m from the Party for his personal needs; ms long periods o f underground w ork and his total absorption in p arty w ork exacted a heavy toll on his fam ily. There are m om ents in the text that reveal tensions between father and son. In m ost o f his narrative, SR refers to him self as 'the present author5w itnessing (and suffering) his father^ life trajectory, but when he is attributing agency to him self, in his often frustrating efforts to get a schooling, or in his participation in the Partys cultural troupe, he uses the pronoun T. O ne m ight speculate on the fathers reasons for in flictin g such extrem e deprivation on him self and his fam ily. He was determ ined to be different from those opportunist D a lit activists who left Am bedkar's fold. M any o f the C om m unist leaders w ho paid lip service to the D a lit cause but failed to make this a central part o f the Partys agenda also bore casteist attitudes in their everyday com portm ent. RBs refusal o f a n ^ h in g m ore than a below-subsistence level o f financial support became an assertion o f self-respect. There were, o f course, exceptions, and the son scrupulously m entions the names o f those w ho went out o f their w ay to help the fam ily, treated his m other w ith respect, and h im self w ith affection. RB bore all these privations lig h tly; the clue to this can be found in his ow n autobiographical account, where ne describes him self as a fortunate and m uch­ loved child, enjoying a carefree life fille d w ith to il but not exploitation, where he rejoices in the p ro x im ity to nature and observes that all castes become equal w hen they are lab ourin g side b y side. He became aware o f the evils o f untouchability o n ly when he started going to school, and was soon able to take part in the struggle against it. That is w hy he could bear p overty and homelessness for the sake o f the cause he believed m and could im pose such a life on his wife and children. H is son, however, had to suffer extrem e p overty at an age w hen he was too young to understand the reasons behind it. He saw the advantages his father had w ith a sound p rim a ry education even though he had to struggle fo r the righ t to schooling; and yet saw the same father allow ing h im to be rem oved from a school register because he couldn’t pay the fees.

translating another text by members of the ^mbecikar movementj We Also Made History ： Women in the Ambedkar Movementy by Urmila Pawar and Meenakshi Moon. R.B. More^ family also brought out another booklet documenting his correspondence with leaders of the Communist Party where he tried to make the leaders aware of the importance of caste in Indian society, and of the movement of Dalits as a part of the revolutionary struggle. We have reproduced this text in Appendix B.

T R A N S L A T O R 'S

NOTE

19

11ie sons narrative is thus m ore than a hagiography w ritten w ith sprinklings o f C om m unist jargon. There is a com plex dynam ic between father and son. Because o f S.R. M ore we see another side o f R.B. M ore, D a lit activist and C om m unist organizer as he certainly was, but also a fa m ily m an. In his own narrative, RB fails to protect his m other from the rapacious greed o f relatives. In his sons story, he imposes extrem e deprivations and tribulations on his fam ily, w ho, after his death, are left searching for m eaning and justification. The interw eaving o f all these strands makes for a com plicated structure, som etimes dense, sometimes p ro lix, som etim es hagiographic, sometimes straining for a blunt honesty. The text as a w hole offers unique m aterial and m any clues for historical research. I hope that readers o f this translation w ill find th e ir own insights in w hat is a rem arkable account o f ru ra l and urban w orkers1 lives, o f the real dynam ics o f a peopled m ovem ent and the contradictions between contem porary movem ents inspired by different ideologies and politics. A t the same tim e, we have the hum an story o f a com plex p olitical actor, w ritten b y tw o hands. In first translating the text, and then com ing back m uch later to prepare the final version, I have engaged w ith both the authors twice over and that is what Ï have attempted to convey in this note.

R A M C H A N D R A B ABAJI M O R E A N D T H E ITSNERARSES O F D A L IT M O D E R N I T Y A N U RAMA RAO

The divide between struggles organized around caste as opposed to class, and between anti-caste activism and Left politics has occasioned intense debate and discussion. Both organize around a critique o f inequality, and each struggles for social justice. Yet they have emerged as two ve ry different radicalism s,, to borrow from the fem inist anthropologist M a rilyn Strathern, w ritin g in another context.1 Caste has been view ed as a 'traditionaF, ascriptive category, w hile class is view ed as a p olitica l id en tity produced by the onset o f m odern, capitalist transform ation, and the prevalence o f cu ltu ra lly unm arked, free labour. Since developm entalism was an ideology shared by m odernizers across the nineteenth and tw entieth centuries m ore generally, in clu d in g by Eastern and W estern C om m unist parties alike, the relationship between caste and class was assumed to be one-way, w ith capitalist m o d e rn ity enabling the rem aking o f caste into class. This rare text, the M arathi-language autobiography o f the im portant, if under-acknow ledged,

D a lit

labour

organizer

Ram chandra

Babaji M ore

(1903-1972) suggests a m ore com plex confrontation between caste and class in tw entieth-century Bombay. More's life reflects the pow erful ways in w hich the social experience o f caste, class, and Bom bay city com bined to produce the hist­ orical conditions o f possibility for a specifically urban D alit m o d e rn ity to take shape in early tw entieth-century Bombay. It is this w hich allow ed R.B. M ore to im agine social justice through a jo in t com m itm ent to caste a nn ihilation and the em ancipation o f labour. The account we have before us is thus as m uch a subaltern h istory o f Bombay, as it is the autobiography o f a D a lit M arxist: More's account tracks the story o f a heterodox, utopian M arxism w hich was neither fu lly com f­ ortable w ith the A m bedkar m ovem ent n o r w ith the C om m unist Party, but w hich was quintessentially urban and enabled b y D alits' com plex encounters w ith colonial urbanity.

Marilyn Strathern, Än Awkward RelatioiivShip：The Case of Feminism and Anthropology^ Signs, v o l.12, no. 2, W inter 1987, p. 289.

22

M E M O IR S

〇F A D A U T C O M M U N I S T

Directions for the Samadhi of Gopal Baba Waiangkar, Raodhal. Photo courtesy of Anupama Rao, R.B. M ore was b o rn in Ladaw ali in 1903, and grew up in the village o f Dasgaon in Raigad district, in the K onkan. Dasgaon was close to D apoli, w hich was famous for its long h istory o f anti-caste activism . M ilita ry pensioners from the M ahar and Cham bhar castes had purchased land in D apoli to create a unique com m u nity o f w ell-to-do, educated D alits in the region.2 G opal Baba W alangkar, a radical D a lit th in ke r o f the late nineteenth century resided there, and played an im portant role in organizin g against caste injustice.3 W alangkar was related to M ores fam ily b y m arriage, and he had educated m em bers o f M ores extended fa m ily includ in g M or^s m aternal grand-uncle, V itth a l Joshi, w ho 'was literate in both the m odern M arathi script and the M odi script', and w ho earned m oney b y w ritin g out m ortgage papers and purchase papers (for land transactions) in the M odi script' Walangkat^s legacy was therefore palpable in the long tra d itio n o f D a lit education and anti-caste activism for w hich the region was know n. M ore describes his fam ily as part o f an educated, w ell-to-do elite: 'M y father lived the life o f a rich farm er for a short tim e; his m aternal cousin b u ilt a twostorey house. M y elder brother [he had died before M ore was born] got a job in the Education D epartm ent. He w ould ride his own horse from the m arket in M ahad 2 Mahars and Chambhars in western India had a long history of colonial and pre-colonial military employment. Their experience of social mobility, through employment in the British Army (and access to schooling), was followed by subsequent exclusion from militaryservice (1891) due to their status as 'untouchable5castes in the wake of the reorganization of the British Army, which privileged ^nartial races^ 3 Walangkar was a direct associate of the famous anti-caste thinker, Jotirao Phule (18271890), who was influenced by Christian Nonconformism and radical republican thought. An ex-military man> Walangkar famously petitioned the colonial state for government jobs for untouchables, and wrote against caste oppression. He was a nominated member of the Mahad Municipality, and widely known as a teacher and Dalit astrologer in Dapoli.

IN T R O D U C T IO N

23

Samadhi of Gopa! Baba Walangkar, first erected in 1904. Photo courtesy of Anupama Rao. and elsewhere. There were eight to ten schoolteachers living in the untouchable

colony in Mahad fifty years ago [m y italics] J How ever, M ores father was cheated o f his p rop erty and died early, leaving his w ife to care for young Ram chandra and a sister. Tlie fam ily was hum iliated by having to give up their own house and take up residence in a paternal uncles outhouse for w hich they paid rent. To add insult

24

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to the in ju ry, m em bers o f the cbig house also pocket the m oney that M ore sends home from Bom bay and Pune once he starts w orking. M ores early life was structured around the tension between his desire to com plete his education, on the one hand, and the necessity o f supporting his im poverished fam ily on the other. A b rillia n t student, he received a coveted scholarship to attend Mahad's English high school, but he was unable to take advantage o f this op p o rtu n ity due to his caste identity. He writes o f having exam papers flung at h im w hile taking the high school entrance exam in A lib a g Tor under-elevens3 so that caste H indus could avoid physical contact.4 Though he stood first in the exams, and received a m o n th ly scholarship o f Rs. 5 to attend high school. M ore was prevented from jo in in g the local English h ig h school in M ahad. It to ok the intervention o f upper-caste social reform ers, w ho helped get an essay about his experience o f school segregation published in the Satya Prakash ('Light o f T ru th '), for M ore to be allowed adm ission into the high school at M ahad.5 He eventually passed the sixth class in M arathi, and the second class in E n glish .6 However, the experience o f caste exclusion persisted: M ore later refused a chance to continue his education in the tow n o f Tale because this w ould have meant sitting outside his high school classroom on a scaffold. M ore turned to activism at a young age, w hen his daily experience o f caste segregation was coupled w ith the pow erful effect o f ideas o f social em ancipation on his m in d. Barred from sitting together w ith upper-caste students for d rill and draw ing at his high school, M ore began to w ander the tow n and make contact w ith the com m unity. He organized local D alits w ho come together to create a tea shop w hich became a central m eeting place and a rest stop for D alits, w ho were otherw ise prevented from using the tow ns public am enities, especially d rin k in g water. From there M ore went on to play a key role as a local organizer in the m ovem ent for public access to water tanks and governm ent property, w hich was the inspiration behind the fam ous M ahad water satyagraha o f 1927 led b y B.R. A m bedkar. In fact, M ore was the m ain lin k between local struggles in the K onkan and D a lit politics in Bombay. M ore also played a central role in the emergence o f civic 4 Elsewhere I have argued that the verandah was a colonial technology of segregation that responded to new juridical demands for equal access, even as these were redefined to accommodate caste prejudice. Atiupama Rao, 'The Caste Question: Dalits and the Politics of Modern India, Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 2009? Chapter 1. 5 It is possible that this public letter wavS read by reformers and by government officials, and that it was interpreted as a petition to the government about the misuse of government funds for education, since these were supposed to be available to students from all castes. More reminds us that the same Brahmin landlord who objected to his presence in the high school, V.V. Dharap, later filed a case against Ambedkar (and other Dalit activists) during the Mahad satyagraha, claiming that untouchables were excluded from the Chavclar tank by custom. For an account of the Mahad satyagraha which focuses on the legal case and B.R. Ambedkar^ skilled reading of customary exclusion, see Rao, The Caste Question, Chapter 1.

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associations (e.g. the B ahishkrit H ita k a rin i Sabha, o r 'Association fo r the W elfare o f Outcastes', and the M ahar Samaj Seva Sangh, o r Association for Service to the M ahar C o m m u n ity'), the publication o f A m bedkars first newspaper, Bahishkrit

Bharat ('O stracized In d ia ), and the circulation o f p opular cultural form s such as tamashas and (Am beclkari) jalsas, w hich were crucial to the rise o f a D a lit public sphere. How ever, by 1930, M ore had ostensibly parted ways w ith the A m bedkar m ovem ent to becom e a trade u nionist, labour organizer, and card-carrying m em ber o f the C om m unist Party. Though he was a lifelong m em ber o f the Party, M ore was a consistent critic of the Party s avoidance o f the caste question: o f castes role in structuring hierarchical relations w ith in the Party, and between the w orkers w ho were the target o f its outreach. M ores decision to embrace C om m unism at the very m om ent w hen the A m b edkar m ovem ent succeeded in b rin g in g national attention to the question o f untouchability and organize around the dem and for civic and p olitica l rights, rem ains enigm atic. It recalls the debate between rights and re distribu tio n, and between the politics o f identity (caste) versus p olitica l econom y, w hich defines the conflict between Am bedkarites and Com m unists through a forgotten figure who tried to bridge that divide.

Text a nd C o n tex t It is hard to see M ores life on its own term s, as the story o f an extraordin ary in d ivid u a ls public, p olitical life: his life is inextricable from the collective h istory o f D a lit life, labour, and p olitica l activism in Bombay. M ore was a bridge between com m unities w ith different p olitica l ideologies, and he played a generative role in im a gin in g a p olitical utopia that transcended the divide between caste and class. This d ivision , played out as a confrontation between A m b edkar and In d ia n Com m unists, is a h istory that is specific to Bom bay (and to D a lit politics in M aharashtra). How ever, it also has deep and end urin g relevance for how we understand India's p olitical and intellectual h isto ry across the tw entieth century, spanning B ritish colonialism into decolonization and beyond. The account o f R.B. M ores tw o lives— A m bedkarite and C om m u n ist— is narrated twice: first in his words, and then b y his son, Satyendra. Together^ their com posite narrative illum inates the conflict between the prom ise o f M arxist em ancipation on the one hand, and C om m unists, reluctance to apprehend the com plex roots o f caste inequality, on the other. M ore^ awkward p osition as a D alit C om m unist com m itted to a radical critique o f caste hierarchy and class em an­ cipation became evident in the late interw ar period, w hen Left and A m bedkarite politics parted ways, and episodic efforts at jo in t p olitica l action gave w ay to often vio le n t conflict between the supporters o f A m b edkar and M a rx.7 B y lo o kin g 7 Debates about Dalit Marxism would reappear in the 1970s and resuscitate earlier cleavages

M E M O IR S

26

OF A D ALIT C O M M U N IS T

behind and before that p olitica l collision , M ores account asks w hether the conflict between M arx and A m bedkar was necessary, and rem inds the reader o f a tim e when cultural nationalism , C om m unism , and D a lit politics had not yet developed as agonistic ideologies, each claim ing the exclusive loya lty o f its adherents. In fact, M ores life serves a rem inder that M arxism was indigenized th rough the encounter w ith caste radicalism , w hile M arxist accounts o f (labour) exploitation played a crucial role in helping urban D alits organize against the vicissitudes o f w orking-class life. M uch D a lit w ritin g today takes the form o f Bildungsromany w ith p olitica l awakening to caste h u m ilia tio n fu n ctio n in g as a key m om ent in the form ation o f the adult D a lit self. M ores narrative can be seen as an early precursor o f the form . However, this w ould be both narrow and lim ited. Instead, this narrative o f M ore^ life illum inates the difficulty o f reducing the com plexly ram ified life o f a D a lit activist through available m odels o f activist m em oir, D alit autobiography, or C om m unist history/hagiography and in the process underscores the inherent instab ility o f self-narration, and its tru th claims. The text before us is com plex and interesting. R.B. M ore stands at the head o f a 'red fam ily' that stretches across three generations, and each generation has had a hand in shaping his lifes narrative. This social fact is rem arkable w hen one recalls that someone like N ehru argued that C om m unism could not take h old in In dia; on the other hand, George F. Kennan could argue that the authoritarianism o f C om m unism and o f eastern cultures were com patible.8 M ore dispels both m yths b y show ing us how Bom bay city enabled heterodox, everyday practices o f D a lit critique, in clu d in g that o f M arxism , M ore had to be persuaded to w rite his autobiography, and began w ritin g it just before he died in 1972. H is autobiography therefore ends in 1924, at the cusp o f preparations for the historic M ahad satyagraha. It is his son> Satyendra, in fact, w ho provides a com plete accounting or his fathers p olitical life. Besides his editorial w ork fo r the Bahishkrit Bharat, and w ritin g for D a lit and C om m unist newspapers, M ore w rote little d u rin g his long activist years except for correspondence w ith the C om m unist Partys C entral Com m ittee on the centrality o f caste to p olitical organizing, and an extended note on D a lit politics for a sem inar at the G okhale around the caste-class debate, though these debates were now largely oriented towards questions of language, representation, and aesthetic practice. For an account- of Dalit politics in the period, and the role of the Dalit Panthers in challenging the status quo, see Rao, The Caste Question, Chapter 5. 8 Nehru may have been thinking about the difficulty of converting the majority of Indians to communism, but the decisive steps are taken by a small num ber of people» often from a minority community. Yuri Slezlcine has argued that the Jews, as an ostracized minority community in Europe, embraced communism because they had no historical past they could turn to for redemption; their hope was entirely in the future. Yuri Slezkine, 'The Jewish Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2011.

IN T R O D U C T IO N

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Institute o f Politics and Econom ics. He d id n t offer an explicit accounting o f w hy he was draw n to C om m unism , and he certain ly d id n t theorize the relationship between caste and class.9 Satyendra M ore writes in the recognizable genre o f C om m unist hagiography, albeit w ith a tw ist. R.B. M ores narrative does not carry the impress o f p rop erly political^ categories o f id en tity and identification: H is account describes the peregrinations o f an urban dandy, albeit an im poverished one, through the city o f m oney and machines, However, the son claim s the father for C om m unism , and addresses the in-between p osition o f a D a lit C om num ist w ho was an A m bedkarite at heart, yet made a lifelong com m itm ent to a p arty and p olitica l ideology that did not give h im his due, and failed to recognize the significance o f the caste question. Satyendra does this by underscoring M ores personal sacrifices and selfless dedication, and by w orking w ith in a recognizable narrative tra d itio n that conflates activists1lives and Party history. He also does so through translation: local events are globally ram ified through the m echanical use o f M arxist term inology, and a resort to tu rg id description. W hat we lose in the process is the sense o f p olitical experim ent that inflects R.B. M ores text. Thus, Satyendra M ores b iography also reveals the perils o f an In d ia n M arxism wedded to words and ideas that were— and are— yet to be made their own. Despite this, R.B. M ores p olitica l life resists easy assim ilation. Satyendra M ore claim ed his father for C om m unism , but he d id so by em phasizing tw o things: R.B. M ores decision to jo in the Party in 1930 w hile m aintaining extensive contact w ith the A m bedkarite m ovem ent throughout his life; and M ores persistent criticism o f the C om m unist Party's evasion o f caste. W hen read against itself, Satyendra M ores act o f m em orialization is thus also a severe indictm ent o f the exclusions that structure the divide between heterodox histories o f p olitica l em ancipation, on the one hand, and its subsequent 'flattening and hom ogenization on the other. M ores grandson, Subodh, a C om m unist Party o f In d ia (M arxist) cultural activist and a tireless researcher in his ow n righ t, com bined the M arathi autobiography, S.R. M ores biography, and p rim a ry m aterial (rare photographs, the covers o f out-of-print journals) in ord er to better situate R.B. M ore in his m any w orlds. R.B. M ore emerges as a figure w ho bridges the w orlds o f D a lit protest and activism that predated him> and a key actor in shaping a m odern, urban discourse o f D a lit rights. Taken together, the autobiography and biography o f R.B. M ore present us w ith Dalit Bombay: this narrative is about Bom bay as m uch as it is about M ore, it is about the city D alits produced, and w hich, in tu rn , produced

y More was one of the editors o f Bahishkrit Bharat; ran a newspaper called Avhan ( w hich represented about five per cent o f the fifteen thousand em ployees o f the m u n icip a lity. E fforts were also m ade to organize dockyard and railw ay w orkers in 1948.) H ow ever, the p o litic a l scientist Raosaheb Kasbe argues in his text, Ambedkar

Ani Marx (1985), that there was an effective ban on re visitin g this relationship between A m bedkar and M arx u n til the 1970s, w hen the D a lit Panthers re-opened the issue by challenging the status quoism o f D a lit p o litics, and its coop tion by C ongress.27 H ow ever, it should be recalled that the R epublican P arty o f In d ia (R P I), w hich was form ed soon after A m bedkar s death in 1956, had b u ilt an alliance w ith the Praja Socialists, the Shetkari K am gar Paksha (Peasants and W orkers P arty), and the Sam yukta M aharashtra Sam iti at its in ce p tio n . R P I used the language o f class and lab o u r exp loita tio n in an early m anifesto, p o sitio n in g D alits as the vanguard o f the exp loited classes in th e ir struggle fo r to ta l em ancipation. The R P I was also influenced by Dadasaheb G aikw ad, w ho was p rom in ent in the A m bedkar m ovem ent since the N ashik satyagraha (1930-34), and w orked closely w ith the C om m unists to organize bhumiheen (landless) satyagrahas in 1956, and 1964. H ow ever, G aikw ad was increasingly sidelined by urban, upw ardly m obile D alits led by B .C . K am ble, w ho to o k co n tro l o f the R epublican P arty o f In d ia after A m bedkar s death. Indeed, M ores ow n life confirm s th is h is to ry o f co n flict and convergence: we see it v iv id ly in M ores efforts to m aintain his id e n tity as an A m bedkarite w hile fu n ctio n in g as a C om m unist P arty organizer, ana m his life lo n g struggle to lin k the caste question w ith the lab our question. H is b im od a l existence should com e as no surprise. Bom bay exerted a m agnetic p u ll on D alits and low er castes, but it was also a c ritic a l node fo r intellectuals and activists interested in global com m unism , and a key site fo r the C om m unist P arty o f In d ia .28 Yet, A m bedkar s engagem ent

26 Jayashree Gokhale, From Concessions to Confrontation: The Politics of an Indian Untouchable Communityy Bombay: Popular Prakashan, 1993; Gail Omvedt, Dalits and the Democratic Revolution: Dr. Ambedkar and the Dalit Movement in Colonial India^New Delhi: Sage, 1994. 27 For an analysis of Dalit political culture and the Dalit Panthers, see Rao, The Caste Question, Chapter 3 (pp. 182-216), 28 In 1921, M.N. Roy was sent to Tashkent by Lenin to head the Asiatic Bureau of the Comintern to train an army of Indian revolutionaries. The Indian Military School was closed in 1921, to be replaced by the University of the Toilers of the East. A number of muhajireen (lit., migrants, or, in this case, volunteers) who participated in the Khilafat movement were trained there. Some were among the thirteen members of the émigré Indian Communist Party—-established in Tashkent in 1920—who came to the subcontinent in 1922 duly to be arrested shortly after in the Peshawar Conspiracy Case, Meanwhile, M.N. Roy started publication of the Vanguard o f Indian Independence by May 1922. He also began to communicate with the Maharashtrian Marxist, Shripad Amrit Dange, after reading Danges

M E M O if^S

OF A D A LIT C O M M U N IS T

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Ambedkar's presidential address (front page),12 and 13 February 1938 G.I.P. Railway Depressed Class Workmen's Conference, Manmacl. ! Courtesy of Prakash Vishwasrao, Dr. Babasahob Ambedkor.

IN T R O D U C T IO N

43

w ith the C om m unists was contentious. He struggled, d u rin g the 1930s and 1940s, to define D a lit p o litics in the region as he m anoeuvred between the M aratha-led Congress, and the C om m unist Party. (A fte r his death, the presence o f the S hiv Sena ra d ica lly altered the states p o litic a l landscape, and D alits became p rim e targets o f Sena violence.) O n the national level, A m b edkars representation to the Sim on C om m ission (1928), follow ed b y the h isto ric Poona Pact (1932) w ou ld see h im branded as an im p e ria list stooge, and castigated as anti-n ation al. This was at a tim e w hen the Congress was increasingly m o vin g leftw ards starting w ith M .K . G andhi and Jaw aharlal N eh ru s support fo r the accused in the M eerut C onspiracy Case> follow ed by the creation o f the Congress S ocialist P arty (1934) as a caucus w ith in the In d ia n N ation al Congress. A n an d Teltum bde fu rth e r argues that even w hen they sym pathized w ith the struggles o f D alits, the C P I never m issed an o p p o rtu n ity to attack A m b edkars leadership', and notes that the C P I often echoed the same criticism o f A m b edkar that em anated from the Congress (i.e. that he was a B ritish stooge), and denigrated A m bedkar fo r destroying the p o ssib ility o f w orker u n ity b y in tro d u cin g the caste question in to the m ix .29 lliu s , the discom fort su rrou n d in g

text, Gandhi versus Lenin. The two maintained a steady communication aided by the arrival of Charles Asnieigh of the British Communist Party in Bombay on 19 September 1922. Dange had started publication of 7he Socialist in the meantime. (The paper was started on 5 August 1922.) Charles Ashleigh was joined in Bombay by Philip Spratt, who was asked in 1926 to journey to India (together with Ben Bradley and Lester Hutchinson) as a Comintern agent at the behest of Clemens Dutt, elder brother of R.P. Dutt, the well-known theorist of the British Communist Party, and author of//id/a Today (1949). Spratt had been encouraged to launch regional Workers and Peasants Parties as a cover for building the nascent Communist Party of India. In Bombay, key members of the Workers and Peasants Parties managed to infiltrate the Girni Kamgar Union (te x tile Workers5 U nion) in 1928, just before the citys historic general strike of that year. By 1929, key M aharashtrian Marxists—G. Adhikari, S.A. Dange, S.V. Ghate, and S.ö. Mirajkar—had been arrested in the Meerut Conspiracy Case on the charge of treason, together with Muzaffar Ahmed, P.C. Joshi, Philip Spratt, Shaukat Usmani, and others. 29 Anand I'eltumbde, introduction to India and Communism, by B.R. Ambedkar (New Delhi: LeftWord Books, 2017). Teltumbde's point about the similarity between Congress and (Indian) Communists, criticism of Ambedkar poses the broader question of how it is that Marxism came to function as a variant of nationalism. We might recall the debate between V.I. Lenin and M.N. Roy over "llie National and the Colonial Questions5, with the latter asserting that eastern Marxism was compatible with anti-colonial struggles for self-determination. Sanjay Seth describes those debates and the ones which followed thus, ([A]nticolonialism in this perspective was more than merely bourgeois-democratic struggle, and socialism could be achieved through that political form. Thus did Marxism itself become a form of nationalism, not in practice and due to constraint, but as theory... ' Sanjay Seth, Marxist Theory and Nationalist Politics: The Case o f Colonial India, New Delhi: Sage, 1995, p. 229.

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OF A D ALIT C O M M U N IS T

Am bedkarls relationship to M arx is a broader reflection o f the d iffic u lty that caste (and u ntou chab ility) posed fo r In d ia n M arxists. A m bedkar s com m itm ent to social dem ocracy and the state notw ithstanding, it is clear he had a rather com plex relationship w ith the p olitics o f labour, and therefore, w ith M a rxist analyses o f In d ia n social life . It is w ell know n that he threatened to break the h isto ric strike o f 1928, w hich was organized by the G ira i Kam gar U n io n , because the G K U refused to take heed o f the d ivisio n between textile m ill w orkers, o r to support the e n try o f D a lit w orkers in the w eaving departm ent.30 H ow ever, it is also w ell know n that A m bedkar played a c ritic a l role in the anti-khot agitation in the K onkan together w ith C om m unist leader S.V. Parulekar, and that he jo in e d hands again w ith the C om m unists to lead the m assive strike against the In d u stria l D isputes A ct in 1938. C o n flic t between A m bedkarites and C om m unists was at an a ll-tim e h ig h b y 1942, w hen A m bedkar form ed the Scheduled Castes Federation.31 W ritin g about the co n flict between C om m unists and activists o f the Scheduled Castes Federation in 1945-46, Satyendra M ore w rites: 30 Interestingly, Satyendra More associates this period with R.B. More^ growing awareness of, and interest in> Marxism, He writes, I t was from 1928-29 that More was drawn towards understanding Marxism. In a way, one could say that Babasaheb himself urged More to understand Communist thinking. From the year 1928/29 onward, More began to attend the meetings on the Kamgar Maidan regularly.5 31 Maratha Communist leaders in Bombay were receptive to issuevS of rural exploitation, e.g. the anti-Zc/zof (anti-landlord) agitation in the Konkan, which had a direct impact on kunbiMarathas who constituted the bulk of Bombay's industrial workforce. As well, leaders in the Konkan such as the Anantrao Chitre, one of the leaders of the Mahad satyagraha, and Shamrao Parulekar, who later joined the Communist Party at R.B, More's urging, played an important role in organizing the peasantry against the khoti system. The examples should be balanced against an accounting of how a majoritarian, political Non-Brahminism interrupted and enlarged the field of M aharashtrian Marxism. In the aftermath of the Meerut Conspiracy Case (1928-32), Non-Brahmin leaders challenged Brahmin domination of the Communist Party and argued that they were the true representatives of the working classes. These contradictions within the movement broadly reflected the dual base of the movement, split as it was between industrial and agrarian labour. As well, broader shiftvS were afoot at the level or high politics, which might help to explain the growing antagonism between Ambedkarites and CommunivSts by the 1940s, not to mention Ambedkarites* resistance to Congress. Congress had won major victories across the Provinces after the historic elections of 1937, and planned to negotiate with the British on the terms of self-government as the party which represented the nation in waiting. However, im portant minority communities, e.g. Scheduled Castes, Sikhs, and Muslims challenged Congress^ claim. For instance, Ambedkar shifted away from the casteclass model of his Independent Labour Party in the late 1930s to establish the All-India Scheduled Castes Federation in 1942 in order to negotiate with the British government about the rights of the Scheduled Castes. However, as is well known, the Cripps Mission and, later, the Cabinet Mission Plan neither factored the Scheduled Castes as a separate constituency nor recognized the Scheduled Castes l-ederation as their chosen representative in shaping the political landscape of independent India.

IN T R O D U C T IO N

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O n one occasion, in M aharashtra, som e anti-C om m unists w ho considered them selves fa ith fu l follow ers o f Babasaheb launched attacks on C om m unists from the D a lit com m unity. In Bom bay these to ok place m a in ly in D elisle Road, M atunga Labour Cam p and, to a lesser extent, in the B D D chawls at N aigaon___ Heads were broken and b lood was sp ilt. . . . In the Cem ent C haw l in D elisle Road m any P arty m em bers had th e ir heads sm ashed. A t the M atunga Labour Cam p, C om m unists were dragged out o f th e ir hom es and beaten. A staunch C om m unist lik e H a ri Jadhav was tied to an electric pole and beaten up. Indeed there are m any exam ples o f the fraught and unhappy relationship between A m bedkarites and C om m unists. H ow ever, the precise

nature o f

A m bedkars engagem ent w ith Marxs thought rem ains understudied. A fte r a ll, the connection between A m bedkar and M arx has been represented as a m atter o f p a rty a ffin ity rather than o f p o litic a l philosophy, as a struggle between A m bedkarites and C om m unists. The m ore sign ifican t question, how ever, is w hat M arxism m eant, and how it fu nctioned as a structure o f feeling fo r m aking sense o f everyday exp loita tio n and the possibilities o f social tran sform ation . In b rie f, one should insist on the difference between party politics, on the one hand, and Marxism as a

form of thought keyed to human equality and emancipation, on the other. A n d it is here, in the difference between them , that the insurgent potential and the fu gitive life o f D a lit M arxism are clarified. T lius, if one were to ask w hat M arxism m eant and how its poten tial fo r social and p o litica l em ancipation was understood, we w ou ld do w ell to m ove to the dom ain o f everyday life . H ere we see that M arxism was understood, quite sim ply, as a w ay to m ake sense o f m odern contexts o f e xp lo ita tio n in ord er to transform them . F u rth erm ore, as regards the relationship betw een M arxism and anti-caste thought, we m ig h t argue that the latter already existed as a set o f c ritic a l practices organized around im ages o f destitution and dispossession, and the figures w ho perpetuated it, e.g. the cu n n in g B rahm in priest, the m oneylender, o r the uppercaste bureaucrat in co lo n ia l in stitu tion s. I am suggesting that M arxism to o k up and redefined extant practices o f anti-caste c ritiq u e — e.g. the concern w ith h isto ric dispossession, the focus on d ig n ity and respect, and the dem and to value w ork and labour. In the process, M arxist thought was rendered both m ore capacious and m ore specific.32 Again> M ores text provides a salutary rem in der o f this p ossib ility, and o f the lost w orlds o f D a lit M arxism . 32 The primacy of labour—and the proletariat as the figure of a collective universality—is historically specific, even as it is interpretively over-determined. That is, the equation of the proletariat as the paradigmatic revolutionary subject is specific to the history of capitalism in the north Atlantic. Caste radicalism, which is a tradition that R.B. More had imbibed before he was introduced to Marxism, posed a challenge to Indian Communists: anti-caste thought asked what analysis might emerge when we prioritize the social experience of the Dalit in the place of the proletariat.

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MEMO丨 RS 〇 F A D A L I T C O M M U N I S T

The question o f w hat caste radicalism enabled and w hat M arxism precluded (and vice versa) recurs across R.B. M ores autobiography, and the b iograp hy by his son, Satyendra M ore: its recurrence alerts us to the fraught, unresolved status o f the question, and its affective significance. E a rly in his biography Satyendra M ore w rites, 'E ve ry person born in an untouchable caste has an in b o rn awareness that he m ust first struggle against u n tou ch a b ility; and so it was w ith M ore. He was lo o k in g fo r a leader w ho w ould not h u rt the self-esteem and sense o f self o f the untouchables, w ho d id n ot lo o k at them w ith p ity ' W h ile R.B. M ore^ b rie f autobiographical excerpt leaves us to im agine a m ore creative synergy between A m bedkar and M a rx, Satyendra M ore organizes his account o f the p o litic a l h isto ry o f the late co lo n ia l and early p ost-colonial periods around three m ain actors— the autonom ous D a lit m ovem ent led b y A m bedkar, Congress, and the C om m unist Party. H ie p o litic a l p a rty is the m ain actor in Satyendra M ores account. The reader is in itia lly presented w ith an account o f the D a lit m ovem ent w hich challenges standard Congress representations o f caste p o litics as d ivisive , and A m bedkar as a n ti­ national. The C om m unists are also c ritic ize d because th ey 'considered the D alits to be p art o f the H in d u com m unity, and were not aware o f th e ir separate existence. They considered the Congress to be th e ir representatives. This was a lacuna in th e ir th in k in g ,. Later, Satyendra M ore m entions co n flict w ith in the C om m unist P arty over the caste question. R .B . M ore subm itted a special m em oranaum in 1953, w hich challenged the representation o f A m bedkar as 'reform ist', and separatist1, and c ritic ize d the C om m unists for b e lie vin g that caste cou ld be annihilated solely th rough econom ic reform . The m em orandum had an extended life undergoing revision in 1957, and again in 1964, and the V isib le im pact o f these three m em oranda can be seen after M ores death, after a gap o f som e 15 years, in C om . B.T. Ranadives article on ''Caste, Class and P ro p erty Relations^, and in [E.M .S.] N am boodiripads a rticle aThe G row ing U n ity o f D em ocratic Forces against Caste C o n flic t” 5. H ow ever, w hat is m ost notew orthy about Satyendra M ore’s discussion o f this special m em orandum is his d escrip tion o f P arty p rotoco l govern ing dissent: 'Because there is great dem ocratic freedom w ith in the p arty, w hat has to be said should not be said outside the party.5 Satyendra M or^s account often reproduces an uncom fortable isom orphism between 'the P arty' and p o litics5,w ith accounts o f in te rn a l debates in the C om m unist P arty substituting fo r broader context, o r rich e r analysis. "Iherefore, the m in o r narrative, w hich in te rru p ts and undercuts his standard p o litic a l h istory, is cru cial. This is w here Satyendra M ore stages a narrative o f p o litic a l redem ption to challenge the charge o f betrayal. H e underscores the e n o rm ity o f R .B . M ore's decision to jo in the C om m unist Party, rem arking on the deep and continued fondness between A m bedkar and his father. H e notes, 'Babasaheb was not a n gry w ith h im , n o r d id he feel that M ore had betrayed h im ; on the con trary, he applauded h im ' W ho betrayed

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w hom ? H ow , indeed, does one m anifest lo ya lty to an idea? W hat d id it m ean to be an A m bedkarite, a C om m unist, o r a D a lit C om m unist? Satyendra M ore argues that although D a lit w orkers join e d C om m unist trade unions, 'M ore was the o n ly one to have been in the forefront o f the D a lit m ovem ent and w ho left Babasaheb to jo in the Party. This was surely som ething fo r the P arty to be proud o f5.H e attributes this to R.B . M ores p o litica l education, w hich convinced him 'that the lib e ra tio n not o n ly o f the D alits but o f all h um anity could be achieved on the basis o f M arxs p h ilosop h y o f peoples pow er. Iro n ic a lly, w hen M ore inform ed h im about his decision to jo in the C om m unist Party, Am bedlcar is reported to have asked, 'I w onder w hether the C om m unist P arty in In d ia , w hich belongs to B rahm ins, w ill appreciate yo u r dedication and honesty ?，

In her Translator's Note, W andana Sonalkar makes the im p ortan t p o in t that R .B . M ores act o f self-im poverishm ent, his refusal to take anything m ore than subsistence-level support from the P a rt^ was an act o f self-respect. The ch ild , Satyendra, experiences his fathers vo lu n ta ry im poverishm ent as a series o f dispossessions, as so m any evictions and exclusions. (W e w ill recall that the fa m ily is often hom eless, o r at the m ercy o f com passionate karyakartas [activists], m any associated w ith the A m bedkar m ovem ent, w ho fin d tem porary lodgings fo r them in one o r the other w orkm g-class c/mwZ.) O ne could extend Sonalkar’s p o in t to ask w hether R .B . M ore tu rn ed the D a lits co n d itio n o f a general (and generalizable) destitution in to the occasion fo r p o litic a l practice and social so lid a rity; we can ask w hether he deciaed to m ake the d iffic u lt jo u rn e y away fro m an affective, o r id e n tita ria n relationship w ith A m bedkar in ord er to return to A m bedkar as a p o litica l p h ilosop h er w ho, like M arx, posed questions that re tu rn , repeat, and require creative resolu tion on the grou nd . That is, we m ight w ant to th in k o f M ores practice o f cu ltiva tin g a p o litic a l self as an act o f disidentification w ith the term 'D a lif as an ascriptive id e n tity, in ord er to em brace its radical, em ancipatory potential. The text that follow s is about the life o f a little -kn o w n D a lit C om m unist but it is also about B om bays subaltern inhabitants, and the w orlds they created th rou gh th e ir w ork and th e ir w ords. That w orld is also populated by m en. It is as if w om en— w ho create fam ilies th rou gh m arriage, support th e ir activist husbands, ru n fem ale­ headed households, and engage in p u b lic, p o litic a l action~™are m erely a backdrop to the n arrative. N o tin g the overw h elm in gly m asculinist construction o f the text sh o u ld n t detract from reading it against the grain . N eith er should it undercut the ra rity o f the text, and its im portance as a sustained, if localized challenge to the categorial im p eria lism o f M arxist thought and practice. In this In tro d u c tio n , I

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have taken the in sp ira tio n o f R.B. M ore to suggest som e ways o f approaching the everyday life o f M aharashtrian M arxism and w hat th is m igh t te ll us about the global itin e ra ry o f (universal) theories and concepts as these were im agined, engaged w ith , and put in to practice b y unknow n, o r under-acknow ledged subaltern intellectuals.

T H E A U T O B IO G R A P H Y O F R A M C H A N D R A BAB AJI M O R E

C om rade R .B . M ore had started w ritin g his autobiography, but he died before he could com plete it. So o n ly the p e rio d up to 1927 is covered in his ow n w ritin g . T iie detailed observations about the circum stances o f his tim e that we fin d in th is autobiography m ake it possible to b rin g M ore closer to his readers. A lso , since he had spent so m uch effort in w ritin g th is account, it w ou ld be an injustice to h im ir his m anuscript were not to be published just as it was. I am therefore p u b lish in g R.B . M ores m anuscript w ith o u t any alteration. — Satyendra M ore み

The first capital o f the M arathi state in m odern tim es was R aigad. It was in the villag e o f Ladaw ali in the precinct o f this same R aigad that I was b o rn , at daw n on a Sunday on the second day o f the lu n a r m onth, in the year 1903 ce. llie n ig h t o f the C hhabina o f V iro b a at M ahad was draw ing to an e n d .1 The C hhabina o f V iro b a at M ahad is w ell know n to a ll w om en and m en in the region. It is ajatra, o rd in a ry people call it 'djatra. The first ja ^ a takes place in the villag e o f N ate w hich is in the fo o th ills o f R aigad d istric t. It is called the jatra o f the K halnath o f N ate. This jatra takes place before the jatra o f V iro b a . D u rin g the m onth o f C h aitra, jatras in the nam e o f a ll the gods are held one after the other, and at the end comes the jatra o f the aged god o f G oregaon. H is p alanquin is earned in fro n t o f a ll the others in the C hhabina o f V iro b a . A n d b eh ind h im com e the palanquins o f a ll the other gods: the god o f V in h e r, the gods o f P oladpur, the K nainath o f N ate, the o ia Bham buva o f D asgaon. A lo n g w ith them , b ran dishin g th e ir lon g poles o f bam boo w ith red, green, ye llo w and w hite stream ers tie d to them , w alk thousands o f sturdy people o f a ll castes, shouting out chants o f Harahar

Mahadev, forge ttin g a ll caste distin ctions and untouchability. H ie people w ho have com e from th e ir villages c a rryin g poles o r a palanquin are the elect o f the villag e god, and the people w ith them are the fo lk o f th e ir villa g e . 1 'The translator has utilized her discretion to make the text more readable, notably by breaking up running paragraphs that go into many pages. However, no changes have been made to the original text in translation.

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M ost o f the elect are untouchables and m ost o f the villagers accom panying them are caste H indus. Som e m igh t fin d it strange to hear th is. But> except fo r o n ly a few villages, in the m ain the elect o f the gods o f the tem ples in the m ain area o f a ll the villages are from am ong the M ahar people. Those w ho know o f this custom w ill be convinced o f the tru th o f w hat I ara saying. W hen the ノ

begins and the

Chhabinas set out, then by w hom , from whose m ou th , according to whose w ill are the buffaloes and goats declared acceptable to them ? W hose voice determ ines w hich w ay th e y tu rn , w hich om ens they portend? In whose hom es, on whose altars, do they fin d th e ir place? O n ly in the hom es ofM ahars, not those o f people o f any other caste. Because these gods, especially B h a iri and K alkai, are o rig in a lly the M ahars gods, and after that they are the gods o f a ll the villagers. Before the M ahars converted to B uddhism , there was a practice am ong them or in v itin g ' these gods fo r th e ir m arriages and other im p ortan t fu nctions. A m o n g th e ir m arriage songs we have this one fo r exam ple: 'Let us in vite h im / W e wanted to in vite the aged god o f G oregaon. The reason I have talked about the C hhabina o f V iro b a and the different gods takin g p art in the jatra when I told o f the tim e o f m y b irth , is to m ake it clear that people do not distin gu ish between 'touchabie and untouchaDle on these occasions. The gods and goddesses o f the non-A ryans and th e ir annual festivals in the form o f palanquin processions majaU'as have existed from ancient tim es and they s till go on today. This shows us one aspect o f the feudal society, and shows that the com m on people do n ot w ish to practise u ntou chab ility, even for religiou s reasons. In m y view th is is a fact o f h istorica l im portance: o n ly a few persons fro m the upper castes are responsible for u ntou chab ility. It is th ey w ho used false claim s o f ancient culture to weave fou r sutras based on fo u r varnas and fou r ashramas or stages o i life , to keep m illio n s or In dians g ro p in g in ignorance and darkness fo r centuries on end. A n d it is the social reform ers, p o litic a l leaders and so-called thinkers w ho, even though they understood the im portance o f the problem o f untou chab ility, follow ed those persons from the upper castes, and beat the drum o f the national independence struggle fo r years on end, w ith the result that u n tou ch a b ility d id not end and the oppressed, exploited m a jo rity o f the In d ia n people never attained real national independence. W hen we say today that o u r nation is independent, it means that it is no longer under the ru le o f foreign B ritish ru lers, but now it is dom inated by o u r ow n landlords and capitalists. The real independence o f In d ia and the a b o litio n o f u n tou ch a b ility are not tw o separate tasks but tw o elem ents o f the same endeavour. Because we nave not held to th is p o in t or view , today we blow o u r trum pet about In d ia being an independent cou ntry, w hile we see every village sp lit apart b y u n to u ch a b ility and tw o ïn d ia s in o u r one In a ia : this is the re a lity o f o u r nation. To hide this state o f affairs from the w o rld is like b lin d ly im ita tin g the cat w ho shuts her eyes w hen she d rin k s m ilk , th in k in g that no one can see her.

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A t the tim e o f m y b irth m y father was at Ladaw ali. He had com e to M ahad the n ig h t before w ith the procession o f the god B h a iri o f Dasgaon, and from there to Ladaw ali after seeing to the com pletion o f the C hhabina procession. M y elder b rother and sister were already m a rrie d and they had died. A n d all the land, estate, and w ealth that he had accum ulated th ro u gh his ow n efforts had been lost in the cou rt cases file d against h im by the M uslim khot m oneylenders from around Dasgaon. From a ll points o f view that was a bad p e rio d fo r h im . In those days he was always sad and trou bled. Seeing the face o f his son w ould have given h im little jo y in these circum stances. A t Ladaw ali m y grandm other and tw o m aternal uncles live d in th e ir ow n hut. There was always enough to eat in th e ir house, th ey d id n t have to w o rry about food. They grew several grains, pulses and oilseeds, lik e nachanU vciri, urad, hulga,

til and enough rice to last them a year. They w ou ld sell some o f the grain to buy other things they needed. There was a khot in the villa g e , but they never had to set foo t on the doorstep o f the khofs wada to ask fo r anyth in g. Instead, the khot w ould com e to them to ask fo r m angoes and ja c k fru it. T lie y used to call m y grandm other

wadewalU because her house was a wada fo r cattle, and she was the wadewali, the one w ho live d in a wada. H er father was a joshi; he had know ledge o f the h o ly books and Puranas. She was able to recite stories fro m the Puranas. If there is an art o f sto ryte llin g , then she was w ell-versed in that art. In m y ch ild h o o d , she to ld me m any kinds o f stories and kept me happy. She taught m e good behaviour and good thoughts. Besides te llin g stories, she had m astered the art o f singing songs too. She used to sing w edding songs, songs o f the goddess G a u ri, and songs to be sung at the tim e o f d o in g collective w ork, and she w ou ld be in vite d to other villages by people w anting to hear her. She was also an excellent m idw ife. So people from a ll castes and faiths used to treat her w ith respect. Bad tim es had com e upon m y parents even before I was b o rn . But till I was eleven years o ld , that is, till m y father s d yin g breath, he never allow ed this hardship to touch me. I m ust have been about a year o ld w hen he started b u yin g m ilk for me every day, and, u n til he died, he d id not m iss even one day. So anyone can im agine how m uch care he lavished on me in m atters o f food and d rin k , etcetera. Even though I live d at Dasgaon in m y ch ild h o o d because o f m y schooling, I m ade frequent trip s to Ladaw ali. There m y grandm other and m aternal uncles p rovid ed abundant m ilk and m ilk products, eggs and chicken fo r m e. M y eldest uncle used to say, ‘O u r Ram chandra is b om o f the m ongoose ja 如/ぐ ，so he likes eggs and chicken ve ry m uch.' W hen I say that m y father fe ll on hard tim es, I m ean o n ly that he lost the w ealth that he had fo rm e rly enjoyed. A t th is tim e he became a p o o r farm er w ho had enough lan d to p rovid e fo r him self. B y w orkin g his ow n land, he could m eet the needs o f his fam ily. ThivS went on till I was eight o r nine years old> and then, becom ing the v ic tim o f a m oneylenders treachery, he lost all his ow n lan d. This

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is how it happened: the m oneylender sw eet-talked h im in to signing a b lank piece o f paper, and then he w rote on it that m y father had sold his land. O f course the m oneylender becam e ow ner o f that lan d, and m y father, the form er ow ner, becam e a m ere tenant. In e vita b ly then, it was up to the landow ner s w him w hether he w ould allow m y father to go on w orkin g the land as a tenant, and in the end the expected happened. O ne day the m oneylender evicted m y father from that land fo r good, and he was obliged to live the p a in fu l life o f a landless labourer. This happened w hen m y fathers death was two o r three years away. O ne cannot im agine w hat a devastating jo lt th is was fo r him . W hen I was five o r six years o ld I began to attend the M arathi school in D asgaon.2 A t the tim e, in the entire K onkan re gion , there was no villag e M arathi school fo r D alits other than the school in D asgaon. W ith B ritish ru le came the telegraph m achine, the railw ays and the factories o f the capitalist w o rld , a new w orkin g class em erged and new cities lik e B om bay came up. It was announced that education had been throw n open to a ll, but in M aharashtra, or at least in the K onkan, there were no facilities fo r the people o f the untouchable com m u n ity to get an education, The last u n it o f the B ritish governm ent m ach in ery was the w hite-skinned D is tric t C o lle cto r and Police Superintendent. The actual state m achin ery o f the d is tric t was in his hands. W orkin g under the D is tric t C olle ctor were the tehsillevel M am ledar, M u n sif and m any other officers besides. But they were a ll o f the B rah m in ical upper castes and classes. They carrie d ou t th eir personal and fa m ily duties fo llo w in g the rules o f the Manusmriti fa ith fu lly, and w ith the treatm ent given to untouchables under the Peshwa regim e always before th e ir eyes. In those days the untouchables were not allow ed to b u ild stone houses o r place tiles on th e ir roofs, and th ey were n ot able to enjoy m any o f the righ ts o f citizenship. W hat this m eant was that real pow er in the d is tric t belonged to the casteists, w hile the e xp loitative w hite foreigners them selves perpetuated untou chab ility. rIh e y used to blow th e ir trum pet about the schools in villages being open to a ll But in fact untouchable children were n ot allow ed to sit in the class; they were unable to get an education. The few untouchable fo lk in the K onkan w ho m anaged to get an education in those days d id it th ro u gh being in the m ilita ry. The ch ild re n o f m ilita ry pensioners w ent to schools in cities lik e Pune, Bom bay and Satara. The o n ly villag e school g ivin g an education to untouchable children was and is in Dasgaon: now here else. It was in th is school in D asgaon that m y elder b roth e r got educated and becam e a teacher and then died before I was b o rn . F our o f m y fathers m aternal cousins studied in that school and becam e teachers. They were s till w o rkin g as teachers w hen I started going to school. T h eir m o n th ly salary was seven rupees, and, later, eleven rupees. 2 ITiis school no longer exists, but another school named after R.B. More has been started in Dasgaon. See photographs of school,p. .241.—Th

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The reason fo r D asgaon and the D asgaon school gain in g such im portance is that it was a p o rt fo r sm all boats, surrounded by m ountains w ith crags and cliffs, covered w ith te rrify in g dense forests inhabited by a ll kin ds o f w ild anim als in clu d in g tigers. Together w ith Veer D asgaon, the tw o villages had a large com m u n ity o f M ahar residents. Thus, there was b roth e rh ood and a so lid u n ity am ong them . O n any occasion o f a challenge, a hundred to tw o hundred m en arm ed w ith sickles and axes w ould assemble in response to a single call. In this villag e o f united strength, the m ost im p o rta n t in d ivid u a l was m y father s m aternal uncle, o f the same age as h im , V itth a l Joshi. A stro lo g y and in te rp re tin g the astronom ical calendar was his ancestral occupation. Furtherm ore he wavS literate in both the m odern M arathi scrip t and the M o d i scrip t. He earned m oney by w ritin g out m ortgage papers and purchase papers (fo r land transactions) in the M odi scrip t. Later on he also became a b ig forest contractor. H is nam e was fam ous am ong the M ahar olficers in the m ilita ry. I f re tire d officers and soldiers fro m the D a p o li m ilita ry cam p w ished to travel to Pune, B om bay o r any other m ilita ry cam p, they had to com e th rou gh Dasgaon. W hen one had to go anywhere b y boat o r b y a footpath, one had to com e to Dasgaon. For them , and fo r M ahars tra ve llin g b y foot, Joshis house in Dasgaon was the place to stop over. In this house, visito rs from outside were w ell taken care of. D asgaon had becom e a p o in t o f tra n sit jo in in g the D a p o li m ilita ry cam p w ith Bom bay. D asgaon also becam e a place o f retirem ent for m ilita ry pensioners staying at D a p o li. W ith D asgaon already having the strength o f local u n ity, and w ith the support o f h igh-ran ked m ilita ry officers w ho were also th e ir b rethren , n ob ody w ould dare to cross them , o r have the nerve to take away the righ ts that they had attained. The (M ahar) people o f Dasgaon broke the restriction s o f re lig io n and tra d itio n to b u ild large houses and w ear fine clothes and ornam ents. They obtained school education and acquired h igh governm ent posts. The secret o f all th is lies in the account given above. The reason w hy o u r school and o u r house gained such im portance was m erely that they had som ehow lasted out, am ong the thousands o f hom es and hundreds o f schools that were crushed m the abyss o f untouchability. So in this native lan d o f ours (the coastal K onkan region o f M aharashtra), know n as the residence o f C hitpavan B rahm ins o r K obras,3 we suffered such to rtu re because o f u ntou chab ility, we were reduced to such a m iserable con d ition , we were m ade to suffer such inhum an treatm ent, forced to lead such a degraded life , we were defeated and b rou gh t dow n to such a degree as can have no p arallel in hum an h istory. The slavery that u n tou ch a b ility entails cannot be described by saying that the state m ade slaves o f hum an beings. The practice o f u n tou ch a b ility o rigin a te d from a feeling o f hatred and revenge. A n em otion o f class hatred lies b eh ind it. It arises out o f a class arrogance based on racist hatred. The follow ers o f the A rya n 3 Derogatory term for the caste of Konkanastha Brahmins, or Brahmins resident in the Konkan.—Tr.

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re lig io n n u rtu re d it and m ade it flo u rish . The varna system is at its core. Jh e ja ti system and the varna system have been a d ro itly com bined to give u n tou ch a b ility a perm anence, a pow er o f sustaining itself. B rah m in is a varna and B rahm in is a

jati. H ow can these tw o be separated from each other? As lon g as 'B rah m in is in cu rren cy as the appellation o f an in d ivid u a l o r a group o f in d ivid u a ls, so lon g w ill it be im possible fo r varnasjatis and u n to u ch a b ility to disappear. The practice and sentim ent o f d iscrim in a tio n and h ierarch y am ong the castes o f the H in d u faith w ill never be eroded. M any years before m e, the elders o f o u r fa m ily had gone to the villa g e school, before other untouchables from the K onkan. Som e readers m ay th in k th is an exaggeration. Som e m ay accuse me o f self-praise. But it is the reality, and n ob ody can deny it o r prove m y statem ent w rong. M y father live d the life o f a rich farm er for a sh ort tim e ；his m aternal cousin b u ilt a tw o-storey house. M y elder b roth er got a job in the E ducation D epartm ent. He w ould rid e his ow n horse fro m the m arket in M ahad and elsewhere. There were eight to ten schoolteachers liv in g in the untouchable colon y in M ahad fifty years ago. The cred it fo r this and fo r the o p p o rtu n ity fo r im provem ent that som e o f us in D asgaon obtained, lies w ith a great social reform er from the M ahar caste w ho rose to fame d u rin g the second h a lf o f the nineteenth century. The nam e o f th is social reform er is G opalbuva W alangkar.4 He was a resident o f the villag e R aodhal and a retired officer o f the arm y. In those days, w hen persons w ho had passed the teachers exam ination in the m ilita ry school retired from service, they w ou ld be given prestigious governm ent jobs. But once G opalbuva returned after re tirin g from m ilita ry service, he d id not tie h im self dow n to a governm ent job again. The B ritish governm ent, to stabilize its ru le , had established m ilita ry cam ps at variou s places in M aharashtra; so d id it start such a cam p at D a p o li in the K onkan. Later on, the camp's usefulness from a m ilita ry p o in t o f view was finished. So persons re tire d fro m m ilita ry service w ho had no oth e r house, came to live here w ith th e ir fam ilies. Since the K onkan was dom inated b y the C hitpavan B rahm ins, the practice o f u n tou ch a b ility was ram pant there. Even a m ans shadow was considered to be p o llu tin g there. In such circum stances, the (untouchable) people from villages a ll over the K onkan w ho had jo in e d the m ilita ry left th e ir villages fo r good and to o k up residence in variou s cam ps. N atu rally, they were present in large num bers in the D a p o li camp as it was in the K onkan. Babasaheb Am bedkai^s 4 Gopal Baba Walangkar ( c .1840-1900), retired from military service and settled at Dapoli in the Konkan area of Maharashtra, Around 1890 he founded the Anarya Dosh Pariharak Mandal ('Society for the Eradication of the Wrongs of the Non-Aryans") and wrote a petition opposing the decision of Lord Kitchener to discontinue the recruitment of Mahars into the army. Walangkar was a frequent contributor to the newspapers Sudharak ('Reformer') and Dinabandhu ('Friend of the Poor1). For more on Walangkar, see the Introduction to this translation.

55

THE A U T O B IO G R A P H Y

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father Subhedar R am ji Am beclkar, as w ell as G opal Baba W alangkar, live d there in the b egin n in g. H ie pain o f u n to u ch a b ility was always p iercin g th e ir m inds. In this cou ntry, even w hen the rule o f the M ughals cam e, u n tou ch a b ility d id not disappear. Then came the Peshwas. They carried the practice o f u n to u ch a b ility to an extrem e. A n d these tw o (A m bedkar Senior and W alangkar) were enraged that even the foreign w hite m en d id not use th e ir pow er to abolish untouchability. Dasgaon was a villa g e on the road to D a p o li. Since it was dom inated b y M ahars, m any persons re tire d from m ilita ry service in other parts had com e to live in D asgaon. Since W alangkar knew th is, he w ould often vis it Dasgaon. H e became frie n d ly w ith the elders o f o u r household and since his w ife was related to o u r fam ily, they le ft D a p o li and came to live in R aodhal. Later he becam e acquainted w ith the great leader o f the Satyashodhak m ovem ent, M ahatm a Jotirao Phule, and he became a leader and cam paigner o f the m ovem ent. The then G overn o r o f the Bom bay Presidency, n o ticin g W alangkar^ w ork as a social activist, appointed h im a m em ber o f the M ahad M unicipal C o u n cil, w hich had been recently started b y his w hite officers, G opal Baba W alangkar was the first m an am ong the untouchables in a ll o f In d ia to be given such a prestigious post in the first days o f the in stitu tion s o f swarajya, or self-governm ent. He was a teacher in the m ilita ry school w ho was learned in English-language scholarship and w hose e ru d itio n in M arathi-language know ledge was also vast. Since he was close to o u r fam ily, fo r tw o years he taught m y elder brother, fo u r sons o f m y father^ m aternal uncle and one son fro m the Saw adkar fa m ily o f Veer. H e taught these six as a hom e tutor. A m ong those w hom he taught was m y father-in-law Tukaram V itth a l Hate Joshi, a schoolm aster in the pensioner school o f the o ld days, and another was Subhedar V ishram Sawadkar, These tw o came in to Babasaheb A m bedkar s m ovem ent after m e. They recounted to me m any o f th e ir m em ories o f G opal Baba. O u r school in Dasgaon is quite an old school. W hen I started going to school, it had o n ly tw o teachers. The children attending the school were from those castes counted as shudras. T h eir surnam es were not w ritte n dow n in the m uster ro ll；th e ir names appeared as so-and-so bhoi (fisherm an), so-and-so burud (basket m aker), so-and-so salt (w eaver), so-and-so patharat (stone-w orker), so-and-so mahary soand-so parit (w asherm an), kumbhar (p otter), gosavi (nom adic com m u n ity that tra d itio n a lly lives b y begging), sonar (gold sm ith ), nhavi (barber), teli (o il presser), etc. Since a ll the people o f Dasgaon, other than the M ahars, belonged to the backw ard H in d u castes, having B rahm ins as th e ir re lig io u s gurus, they practised u n to u ch a b ility as a tra d itio n . The p up ils from 'touchable and untouchable castes were m ade to sit separately. Ï w ould in actu ality be touched every day> b ut the grow n-ups d id not quarrel over this. The school was at a distance o f a fu rlo n g from o u r colony. The w ay to the school d u rin g the m onsoon was along the em bankm ent b ord e rin g a field. I f som e grow n-ups fro m another caste came face to face w ith the M ahar schoolchildren

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57

(w ho were a m a jo rity in the village) as they were com ing and going along the em bankm ent, the ch ild re n w ould not get dow n from the em bankm ent; rather they w ould com pel the adults to clim b dow n in to the m ud. A n d those p o o r caste H in d u people w ould get dow n in to the m ud and water, to avoid o u r p o llu tin g touch and also to avoid the p o ssib ility o f disputes and quarrels. There was u n to u ch a b ility in D asgaon, but it was not im posed on the untouchables b y the caste H indu s. The M ahars had the h on ou r o f defending the non~ cultivable land o f the villa g e ; the M ahar people had the rig h t over som e villa g e gods; econom ically they were not dependent on any other villagers, they were num erous enough to be able to h o ld th e ir ow n against them — then w ho could treat them w ith contem pt? In D asgaon a w eekly m arket fo r sukati o r d rie d fish was held every Saturday. U ntouchables and caste H indu s m ingle freely in that m arket. Since there was a big forest in D asgaon, untouchables and caste H indus w ou ld set out together w ith spears and sticks to hunt boar and rabbits. In the K onkan there is a practice o f w o rkin g cooperatively on fields o f nachani (red m ille t) and wari (coix barbata). It is called prasthan o r kamgat. F or this w o rk able-bodied m en from tw o or three, o r som etim es m ore villages w ould gather together. This was a useful way to fin d out w hich stalw art m en live d in w hich villa g e . T ill the end o f m y ch ild h o o d kamgat w ould take place every year and on that occasion untouchables and caste H indus w ou ld sit next to each other, th ig h to th ig h . To sum up, the oppression experienced elsewhere because o f u n to u ch a b ility d id not com e the w ay o f us villagers o f Dasgaon. O f the tw o teachers o f ou r school that I have m entioned above, one was a relative o f o u r fam ily. H is nam e was Jayaram V itth a l Hate and the other was a B rahm in called Ram chandra Keshav K hare, H e d id not accept B rahm inism and the dubious a u th o rity o f the Vedas. He was a stra igh t-th in kin g m an and lik e his nam e Khare (ttru e ,)) a true teacher. In the school he d id not practise u n to u ch a b ility at a ll. He was a favou rite o f all his p upils. W hen I was ill he visite d o u r house once o r tw ice, and sat dow n on the cot w here I was sleeping to in q u ire after me affectionately. In 1914 he sent m e to A lib a g to appear fo r the h igh school scholarship exam ination fo r under-elevens that was held at the d is tric t centre. I passed in the first ra n k am ong m ore than tw o hundred students w ho appeared fo r the exam , and was aw arded a governm ent scholarship o f five rupees a m onth. This was the great achievem ent o f his teaching. In those days a schoolteacher's m o n th ly salary was o n ly eleven rupees, so one can see how m uch a m o n th ly scholarship o f five rupees m eant. The h igh school scholarship exam in A lib a g d is tric t was going to be held in Septem ber 1914. A m aternal cousin o f m y father, Tukaram V itth a l Joshi, to o k me to Tale just before th is tim e. Tale is a large villag e in M angaon tehsil, located at the foot o f the fo rt there. E a rlie r, the governm ent used to ru n M ahar schools in variou s places. In these schools students from the M ahar, C ham bhar, and M ang

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castes w ould get an education. Towards the end the governm ent started a M ahar school in D asgaon, and that too in m y hom e. But that was after I started attending the E n glish school (from the fifth standard on) and after a dozen persons from o u r village had becom e schoolteachers. Tale and D asgaon are quite a distance apart. That was the first occasion fo r me to m ake such a lon g jou rn ey. W hen we reached Tale m y uncle bought me a new ou tfit fo r going to A lib a g and sent me back to D asgaon. W hen I came to Dasgaon m y father had fallen ill and was confined to his bed. W hen he saw me dressed for the first tim e in a w hite dhoti w ith a b ord e r and w ith a sh irt, coat and cap, his eyes fille d w ith tears and he was choked w ith em otion. M y m other hugged me and, lo o k in g at m y father on his deathbed and at m e, started to w ail w ith g rie f. I too began to cry. Several elders w atching that pathetic scene were also fille d w ith sorrow . A t that m om ent, a ll m y parents could do was to show er tears, w hich were tears both o f jo y and sadness, on me. llia t was a c ritic a l m om ent in m y life , one that I w ill never forget. Just a week later, death sw ooped dow n on m y father and ended his life . M y younger sister and b roth er had already fallen v ic tim to the epidem ic o f sm allpox. A t the tim e o f m y fathers death, we were a fa m ily o f o n ly fo u r persons: m y father, m y m other, m yself, and a fou r-m onth-old sister. A t a tim e w hen m y father was at deaths d o o r and m y m other had just risen from childbed, there was n ot a m orsel o f food in o u r house. W h y was a m an w ho had a field w ith six ploughs, w ho had arranged the m arriages o f about tw enty people from the K u n bi, B h oi, and M uslim com m unities w ith his ow n m oney, reduced to such a co n d itio n at the m om ent o f death? The real cause o f this tragic situation was m y fathers extrem e unselfishness and the usurious noose o f the B ritish im p erialists. E a rlie r m y father had live d in a jo in t fa m ily w ith his m aternal cousins. Later, to avoid quarrels a risin g fro m the d ivis io n o f the b ig house, m y father entrusted the ta ll b u ild in g to the fo u r brothers and set up a separate household in a squat house next door. Even after he separated his household, he treated his cousins as if they were his ow n you nger brothers. H e helped them to set up house p rop erly. They too never disobeyed Baba and treated h im w ith respect like th e ir ow n father. Now , w hen m y fathers death was a few days away, the fa m ily again became a jo in t household. W hen I returned from Tale, I to o k m y food in the b ig house and m eals for m y parents also came from the b ig house. Even though I was so you ng, m y m in d was disturbed to see that the cooking fire in o u r house was not lit. W hat then m ust m y parents have been feeling! M y father barely ate som ething every day till Friday. Saturday was the day o f his regu lar fast and he spent that day w ith o u t food. O n Sunday he d id n 't touch any food and then came M onday. This was the last M onday in the m onth o f Shravan, and was a fast day fo r everyone in the house. Three-quarters o f the day passed, and the tim e to break the fast arrived . I had barely broken m y fast and com e to the upper flo o r w hen som eone called

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out to m e. I ran hom e as fast as I cou ld and saw that a w hole crow d o f people had gathered around m y father. One o f them held me by the hand, sat m e dow n by father s p illo w and asked me to spoon m ilk from a bow l in to his m outh. O thers also touched his m outh w ith m ilk . But b y now he was in the throes o f death. H is eyes were not b lin k in g and his chest was heaving. M other was sobbing quietly. O thers were just m anaging to h o ld in th e ir tears. Som e wise elders were consoling people and asking them to stay calm . The sun was setting, and tw ilig h t had set in . In ou r house o u r usual hanging lam p had been lit. Two standing lam ps were b u rn in g on each side o f m y father. It was at such a m om ent that m y father departed fo r his lon g sleep. The house was devastated. O n the next day handfuls o f so il were th row n on his body. I was taken to the crem ation grou n d w ith the corpse. Ï was then just eleven years o ld . Tl^is was the first tim e in m y life that I had been to the crem ation grou nd . O n the tw elfth day after m y fathers death, m y m other, m y fou r-m onth-old sister and I left the house together in the m o rn in g . M y uncle to ok m y m oth er and sister to Ladaw ali and N am deodada set out fo r A lib a g w ith m e. W e to ok w ith us enough bhakari and chatni to last us fo r three days. N am deodada was another m aternal cousin o f m y fathers and he too was a schoolm aster. He knew e ve ryth in g we needed to know about the jo u rn e y: how lon g it w ould take to reach A lib a g and b y w hich route, and also w hen the exam ination was due to start and to end. In those days we had to com plete the w hole jo u rn e y on foo t. W e started out fro m D asgaon in the m o rn in g and m ade a n ig h t stop at In dapu r. There were dharamshalas at several places. Travellers and persons o f the gosavi caste and fakirs w ould m ake use o f them . There was d iscrim in a tio n betw een £touchables5and untouchables5in these dharamshalas. Except fo r M ahars, C ham bhars and M angs, everyb od y w ould stay together in these dharamsnaias. These people w ould not allow M ahars and Cham bhars to enter the dharamshalas. R arely, if it was ra in in g , they w ould be given som e place in one corner. We learned o f this and experienced it w hen we m ade a stop at In dapu r. Before this I had never felt the anguish o f untouchability. O n the next day we set out onw ard from In dapu r. B eyond K olhad we came to the Sukeli K h in d , o r m ountain pass. This KHind was know n to be frequented b y robbers, and fo r fear o f them , people passing th rough w ould travel m large groups. We passed th rough the K h in d and m ade a second n ig h t stop at N agothane. In the past there was a sm all m otorboat fo r the crossing from N agothane to D haram tar. W e w ent to D haram tar and then travelled on foo t t ill we a rrive d at A lib a g . D u rin g this jo u rn e y o f three days, I had the b itte r experience that because we belonged to the M ahar caste people scorned us, treated us w ith contem pt, insulted us and oppressed us, and m y heart was distressed. A lib a g was know n th rough ou t the C olaba d is tric t as a ve ry o rth o d o x and first-class m isanthropic tow n. There even shadows were thought to be p o llu tin g . W hen we reached there we went to the hom e o f a gentlem an in the M ahar colon y

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outside the tow n. N am deodada gave h im som e m oney and asked h im to m ake arrangem ents fo r o u r b oard and lo d g in g , w hich he accord in gly did. We had already found out the location o f the b u ild in g w here the exam ination was to be held, and the date and tim e o f the exam ination. W e reached the exam ination h a ll one h ou r in advance on the scheduled day w ith the m aterials required for the exam ination. There I was asked w hich school I was from , m y nam e and so on. It was n ot clear w hether the person m akin g these in q u irie s was a teacher o r an official. W e were s till standing outside the exam ination h a ll. H e was standing at the entrance and ta lkin g to us from a aistance. Later he asked m e to com e in and gave me a seat near the d o o r in a corner. The other boys w ho had com e fo r the exam ination were seated inside; I aione was seated on the outside, llie question paper was tossed to me from a distance and w hen I had finished w ritin g m y paper, I pushed it forw ard. It was picked up from there and taken away. A ll this was carried out w ith the utm ost care to avoid tou ch ing me at any p oint. W hen a ll the papers were done, we left A lib a g and came to Bom bay by boat. That year was the first tim e that I w itnessed the D iw a li festival in Bom bay. In Bom bay, a squat set o f chawls had been b u ilt along the road leading to C arnac B ridge, between M usafirkhana and C raw ford M arket. This area o f chawls was know n as F am ily Lines. A large num ber o f m ilita ry pensioners and other M ahar people live d in these F a m ily Lines. W e w ent to stay w ith o u r relatives w ho live d there. Some other relatives were w o rkin g in Cam a H o s p ita l.i w ould v is it them from tim e to tim e. F or the first tim e in m y lire 丄saw railw ay train s, m otorboats，b rig h tly sh in in g electric ligh ts in b u ild in g s and on the roads, cars, horse carriages, the ra ttlin g o f tram s, the sirens o f ships and the textile factories, people w earing a ll kinds o f different costum es, enorm ous hotels and restaurants servin g d rin ks and food, bars fo r alcoh olic d rin ks and toady, m arkets selling m eat, fish, vegetables and flow ers, shops and m arkets selling clothes, shops selling silve r and gold. I had th is chance to see Bom bay because I came for the exam ination at A lib a g . O n this v is it I stayed about fifteen days in B om bay and then returned to Dasgaon. The w hole re tu rn jo u rn e y was b y m otorboats on the sea and along creeks. So we were not touched by the fire o f u n to u ch a b ility th is tim e. From Bom bay we to o k a b ig boat to H areshw ar and then we w ent to D asgaon in sm all boats along the B ankot creek. 丄had returned to D asgaon but m y house there was not open. There was a lo c k

on the d o o r.l Degan to be aware that I was fatherless, and I was eager to m eet m y m other as soon as I cou ld . I spent one o r two days in th is con d ition w lien m y uncle came to know that I had com e back fro m Bom bay and he came to Dasgaon to fetch m e. I w ent w ith h im to Ladaw ali. M y m other em braced me and began to cry. M y uncle and m y grandm other com forted her. From then on m y m other, m y sister and I began to live at m y uncles place. W hen I reached Ladaw ali I no lon ger needed any clothes. The clothes bought

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in Tale and those I had bought in B om bay were put away in a tru n k . In Ladaw ali a lo in c lo th and a shoulder-cloth sufficed fo r me. There were several boys o f m y age w ho looked after m y uncles cattle. I too began to go w ith them to tend his cows. M y uncle had n ot com pelled me to do th is w ork, I d id it w illin g ly . I found it was great fun to ru n after the cattle, sing songs, p lay different gam es, and go to the riv e r to bathe and sw im , F rom Ladaw ali I often visite d several villages near R aodhal. There I had the chance to hear m any stories from the old e r people. O ne such sto ry was about R ainak o f R aigad. H ere is a sum m ary o f it: Before B ritish ru le , desi people ru le d over R aigad fo rt. Tlie com m ander o f the arm y at R aigad fo rt was a M ahar nam ed R ainak. A ll the adm in istrative w ork o f the fo rt was looked after by a clerk in the h ere d itary post o f karkhanis. T lie E nglish first captured M ahad w hich was the m arket tow n fo r R aigad, then to o k over the C hainbhar colony, and then attacked the R aigad fo rt. Then R ainak ordered his arm y to figh t against the foreign enem y and led the fig h t him self. The karkhanis d id not lik e this. He surrendered to the B ritish force and sent a message to R ainak saying that he should stop fig h tin g against the B i'itish , surrender and hand over the keys o f the fo rt to them . To w hich R ainak replied — £You m ay have betrayed the R aigad fo rt but R ainak w ill never betray the fo rt,' Saying th is, he defended the fo rt fo r fifteen days. In the end, b y using tric k e ry the B ritish forces set fire to the arm am ents store. They broke dow n R ainaks resistance and to o k h im captive. Then according to the custom o f the tim e, the B ritish officers asked h im to accept the post o f officer in th e ir arm y. But R ainak spurned the offer and behaved in a m anner fittin g to his courage and in te grity. U pon w hich the B rahm ins and other uppercaste desi officers w ho had been com prom ised b y the B ritish , and w ho were fired b y caste hatred, dem anded that R ainak be subjected to the kadelot punishm ent prevalent in the Peshwa regim e. A cco rd in gly, R ainak was given kadelot from the ram parts o f the R aigad fo rt and the B ritish flag was planted there, in the capital o f k in g S hivaji the C hhatrapati. The large co lo n y o f the descendants o f R ainak, the true defender o f R aigad fo rt, in the area su rro u n d in g Q ueen Jijabais palace, and the tem ple h o n o u rin g the brave com m ander R ainak at the foo t o f the fo rt, stand today as evidence o f th is h isto ric in cid en t. In o u r house at D asgaon there were s till pots and pans and other baggage b elongin g to us, and m y m other kept her eye on them . E ve ry m onth o r tw o she w ould take me on a trip to Dasgaon and check w hat s till rem ained and w hat had gone from o u r belongings. W henever she discovered that rafters from the ro o f o r m aterials fo r con stru ction and carp entry w ork had disappeared, she w ould blam e the people from the b ig house. They w ould treat me w ith affection and quarrel w ith m y m other. N ob od y paid heed to her protests and exhortations. W h ile we were liv in g in Ladaw ali, I once got a sum m ons fro m D asgaon. Ï went there and found that the school had in fo rm ed us that I had passed w ith firs t rank in the exam ination at A lib a g . fIh e governm ent had awarded me a scholarship o f five rupees a m onth to

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attend the E nglish school. H earing th is, the people fro m the big house m ade m uch o f m e. They seemed even fonder o f m e than before. I was also extrem ely happy to learn that from June I w ould be going to the E nglish school in M ahad. I became im patient fo r the tw o m onths in between to pass so that I could go to the E nglish school. The E nglish school at M ahad had been established before I was b o rn and was in a one-story b u ild in g opposite the post and telegraph office. This b u ild in g belonged to a w ell-know n B rahm in fa m ily w ith the nam e o f D harap and had been leased out to the school. W hen the school opened in June I went and m et the schoolm aster and asked h im to put m y nam e on the ro lls. He took dow n m y details and asked me to re tu rn after a week. W hen I w ent back after a week I was to ld that they were w illin g to take me in to the school, but D harap, w ho was the ow ner o f the school b u ild in g , had to ld them , 'If you adm it a M ahar b o y in to the school I w ill not rent m y b u ild in g to y o u ' [The schoolm aster said]— I f I adm it you in th is situ ation , it w ill be lik e closing dow n the school. So we have to tell you that you should go to a c ity lik e Poona o r Bom bay to take yo u r education. In M ahad it is not possible.5 N am deodada was there w ith m e. H e trie d on his p art to persuade the headm aster, Thei*e were other teachers present w ith the headm aster, but they o n ly nodded th e ir heads to w hatever the headm aster said, looked at me w ith contem pt and asked me to leave. We came ou t o f the school and took the road back to D asgaon. The school had refused us. N ow the question was, w hat to do next? But we could not fin d an answer just then. The next day N am deodada went back to his school and I returned to Ladaw ali. T lie ra in y season had started. In the ra in y season irlas, or basketw ork capes, were w oven fo r the w om en and topas o r hats fo r the boys.5 M y uncle m ade a hat fo r me. I put it on m y head and began to go to the fields to graze cattle. W hen the ra in starts a ll the puddles fill up and stream s o f w ater start flow in g dow n. W hen they m eet the riv e r the creeks fill up and begin to flow too. W hen the riv e r overflow s the fish from the creeks and puddles sw im upstream to lay th e ir eggs and spread all over the fields. These fish are called fish o f the walgan. The young people o f the villag e go to a ll ends to catch the fish o f the walgam This is because the fish is ve ry rare and tasty. W hen people notice that the walgan has begun, they go out at a ll hours o f the n ig h t using rods, nets and sticks to catch the fish o f the walgan. This happens o n ly once a year. So not everyone gets the chance to eat fish o f the walgan. They are available e ve ry year in Ladaw ali. M y uncle used to b rin g cooked fish o f the walgan and m ille t bhakari to D asgaon fo r us. That year we were in Ladaw ali ourselves so we had the chance to eat o u r fill o f fish o f the walgan. In that m onsoon I w ent along w ith m y uncles ch ild re n to catch crabs, mussels and fish from the fields. I also d id sm all chores around the farm . Before the N agpancham i festival the transfer o f rice seedlings and the sow ing More has been refused admission to the Mahad school; his future is uncertain, but in the interim he takes pleasure in the monsoon and the experiences it brings.—Tr.

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Ó3

o f nagli and wari w ould be com plete. A fte r that every n ig h t there w ould be singin g and dancing in h on ou r o f the Gauri. I w ould lose m yself com pletely in th is singin g and dancing. I was able to te ll stories and also to read from the h o ly books. So the people o f Ladaw ali w ould make m uch o f m e. A ll the people from m y mamas (m aternal uncles) colon y w ould in vite m e to eat in th e ir hom es. I had uncles, grandm others, aunts in every house. I d id not know how the ra in y season passed in that atm osphere o f love and affection. A fte r that came the hot season. In the hot season we w ould go to the riv e r to bathe. N ext to the riv e r there was B hikobas w ell and his fields.6 1 and the other children w ould som etim es go there to b rin g dow n m angoes from the trees and p ick flow ers w hen no one was lo o kin g . E ve ryb o d y was afraid o f B hikoba. He was strict by nature but affectionate by tem peram ent. O ne day, as I had put m y clothes to d ry on the sand and was sittin g in the sun, he called me and asked me w hy I was not at school. So I in fo rm e d h im about the E n glish school at M ahad and w hat the headm aster had said to m e. H e listened to m e calm ly and asked me to go. A fte r this I spent some m ore m onths in the same activities. Later one day he called m e again and asked me to com e to his wada on the next Sunday. A cco rd in gly, I went there w ith m y mama at the tim e he had specified and presented m yself. In the seating area outside the wada there were tw o guests from Bom bay seated on a ru g . M y mama had taken me to the wada and left me there. I was standing in fro n t o f the wada. T lie gentlem en asked m e to com e forw ard and sit on the ru g. I w ent up and sat dow n, keeping som e distance between me and them . They asked me several questions to get in fo rm a tio n about me. I answered th eir questions. They said that since I had w on a governm ent scholarship, the school at M ahad w ould have to adm it m e. A fte r that they dictated some things fo r m e to w rite dow n on a piece o f paper. Ï w rote it dow n and w hen I w ent hom e I copied it on to a postcard and sent the card to an address that th ey had given m e. W ith in a m onth I received a message from the s c h o o l.I was called to the school; the m atter I had w ritten on the postcard had been published in a new spaper under m y nam e. This was show n to m e and I was asked, 'D id you w rite this?' I said yes. H ie re was a great com m otion am ong the teachers and pupils o f the school. O ne said, cSuch a sm all b oy and w hat nerve he has. H e asks fo r the schooFs grant to be stopped!5 From another came the rem ark, 'T his is w hy we have to keep these people at a distance' Some teachers and boys were g la rin g at me. A fte r a ll th is, the headm aster told me to com e to school from M onday — £W e have decided to put yo u r nam e on the ro lls o f this school’. I returned to D asgaon and recounted w hat had happened. The teachers in

6 Ramchandra 'Bhikoba Dhodapkar, was the grandfather of the writer and anti-caste social reformer Keshav Sitaram, also known as Prabodhankar Thackeray, and great-grandfather of political cartoonist Ballhackeray, who founded the Shiv Sena in 1966, based on a model of regional chauvinism that was virulently opposed to Dalits, Muslims, and South Indians.—Tr.

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Dasgaon, and others, were ve ry happy to hear it and congratulated me. I came to Ladaw ali, thanked B hikoba and asked w ho his tw o guests were. H e said, 'T hey are m y brothers.5 Then it was learned that one o f them was a fam ous p la yw righ t o f M aharashtra, Yashwant Narayata T ip n is, I could not fin d out exactly about the other. He was prob ab ly G o vin d G opai T ip n is o r A n an t V in a ya k C h itre . The B hikoba that I was used to seeing in the garden at G on dal, and B hikoba the a g ricu ltu ra l expert and artist w ho organized the first h isto ric a g ricu ltu ra l conference at M ahad, were one and the same. W hen I came to know this I realized his true greatness. In m y know ledge, he was the first social reform er in M aharashtra w ho had h im self m arried outside his caste. W hen he m a rrie d outside his caste in 1905 his relatives o f the C handraseniya Kayastha Prabhu caste excom m unicated h im . This person, w ho played a m ajor p art in securing adm ission fo r m e in the school at M ahad was such a p io n eerin g social reform er and activist o f the previous generation. M y adm ission in that school was the first-ever challenge to the orth od o x and bigoted m indset o f M ahad society. I m ust note here that the bigoted D harap fa m ily that trie d to b rin g obstacles in the w ay o f m y being adm itted to the school was the same D harap fa m ily that filed a suit in cou rt to prevent untouchables from using the w ater o f the C havdar lake (where D r. A m bedkar organized a satyagraha in 1927). A lo t o f tim e had elapsed between m y appearing fo r the exam in A lib a g and m y getting adm itted to school. O n the first day, as soon as I set foot in the school, a peon came and stood in fro n t o f .me and asked me to fo llo w h im . W e clim bed the fro n t steps and came to a platform , the peon went up the stairw ay to one side o f the p latfo rm to reach the classroom . There I w ent and sat on a stool placed in one corn er o f the room . The boys in m y class were sittin g on a bench a ll together, w ith th e ir backs to m e. In fro n t o f them were the teachers table and chair and a sm all cupboard. M y stool was placed at such a spot that the p upils and teacher enterin g the classroom w ould n ot have to touch m e. The danger o f touching me presented itse lf o n ly w hen I was entering or leavin g the classroom . They had taken good care that th e ir p u rity was not violated. N ot a single student o f any caste other than the B rah m in , G ujar o r Kayastha castes was attending that school w hen I started going. A m ong the H indus there was no student fro m the M aratha o r any such caste. A n d there was no M uslim either. A fte r me tw o M uslim students were adm itted, and after them one M aratha boy. F rom th is one can see how education was at that tim e a m onopoly o f the B rah m in , G u jar and Kayastha castes. U n to u ch a b ility was practised in the school. The teachers w ould not touch me and the students follow ed th e ir exam ple. There was a teacher nam ed D harap w ho used to say, A s lon g as Ï live I w ill never touch you.' I f one looked to clothes, m y clothes were as good as, if not better, than those o f other students. To te ll the tru th there was n oth in g in fe rio r about me that m igh t lead them to keep me at a distance o r treat me w ith disrespect. Even so, I was treated w ith a searing contem pt, and because o f this I began to feel hatred fo r people o f the

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upper classes and castes. W hen som eone yelled cG et away from

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at me as I was

com ing o r going, I w ould reply, 'G et away you rself1, Before I was adm itted to the M ahad school I had been liv in g in Ladaw ali, and after th is too I stayed on at Ladaw ali and w ent d a ily to the school w hich was a m ile o r tw o away. In the M ahar com m u nity w idespread tales were to ld about the p erfidiou s m achinations o f B rahm ins and other upper castes, and so the w hole com m u n ity had becom e suspicious. W hen I started going to school in M ahad m y m other gave me strict w arnings. She w ould say, 'D o n 't eat anyth in g that anyone gives yo u , d o rft d rin k th e ir water,} and even, 'D on 't eat so m uch as a paan, they m ight put anyth in g inside it and take yo u r life/ O u r classes started at tea o r eleven in the m o rn in g and w ent on up to five in the evening. From the tim e I had a m eal at hom e and left fo r school in the m o rn in g till I returned hom e, I w ould not touch a m orsel o f food. The people o f o u r com m u n ity w ho came to the m arket in M ahad c a rryin g loads o f firew ood were ve ry curious to learn that I w ent to school w ith the ch ild re n o f B rahm ins. Some o f o u r relatives w ho came to the m arket w ould stop me on the road and ask about m y w ell-being, and som etim es th ey w ould kiss m e. The other m iddle-class people passing by w ould fin d this peculiar. fIh e y w ould m ake fu n o f these good people fo r this k in d o f behaviour o r fo r th e ir roughness. W hen I saw m y innocent brethren being treated w ith such rudeness and contem pt m y heart w ould break and I w ould feel angry too. M ahad is a sm all tow n in the Raigacl va lle y next to the C ham bhar fo rt. Two rivers flow past the tow n: one is the S a vitri and the other the G andhari rive r. B oth these rive rs are fille d w ith salt w ater at h ig h tide. So, neither o f them had w ater that was good fo r d rin k in g . In the tow n there are several w ells belonging to ric h people o f different castes. They use the w ater fro m these w ells. A n d those persons from the tow n o r outside w ho do not get w ater from the w ells use the w ater o f the C havdar lake, green w ith scum and bad-sm elling as it is, after stra in in g it fo r d rin k in g . The m u n icip a lity sold w ater from the C havdar re se rvo ir at one paisa a handa to the shopkeepers o f the tow n. So the shopkeepers in the m arketplace had th e ir d rin k in g w ater problem s solved. The real problem arose fo r the p o o r people w ho came to the m arketplace fro m far off. A m ong them a ll except the M ahars cou ld quench th e ir th irs t b y asking the shopkeepers fo r w ater o r goin g to the M ahad lake. But the M ahar people were reduced to a p itiab le state in th is regard. M y heart becam e h ea vily burdened w hen I vsaw the cruel d erisio n I have described above, to w hich they were subjected b y w ell-to-do passers-by, and th e ir problem s in getting w ater to d rin k . The people from the Raigad va lle y w ho came to M ahad, parched w ith th irs t, w ould get w ater o n ly when they came to the riv e r at Ladaw ali o r K in jo li. Besides these people c a rryin g loads o f firew ood, m ilita ry pensioners also visite d M ahad. They w ou ld have to stand in. the sun outside the office to lin e up fo r th e ir pensions. A m ong them were persons o f the hawaldar and jamadar rank. These

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were educated people, and w ell-dressed, but they cou ld not get w ater to d rin k anyw here in the m arketplace. In o u r school I could learn all m y lessons, sittin g at a distance from others, easily enough. But in the draw ing and d rill lessons all had to sit together. So, to avoid th is, the teachers w ould not allow me in fo r these lessons. A n d o f course, d u rin g those periods o r in the m idday recess I w ould w ander out in the tow n and spend tim e ta lkin g to people seeing if there was anyone I laiew . A n d from this came the idea o f sta rtin g a tea shop in the place w here carts were parked, to solve the problem o f d rin k in g water. It was to explain th is idea to a few im p ortan t people that I called a m eeting in the M ahar wada in M ahad one day. M ahar people from various villages in the M ahad precinct were present at the m eeting. A fte r discussion it was decided that a tea shop w ould be set up in a field near the w agon yard. A co n d itio n was to be im posed that the person ru n n in g the tea shop w ould have to p rovide d rin k in g w ater free o f charge to o u r people. A ccord in gly, a pensioner gentlem an nam ed M ohoprekar set up the first tea shop. Two large clay urns o f w ater were placed in the shop. The shop supplied tea at one paisa a cup and w ater was also m ade available. So people could d rin k w ater there and the person ru n n in g the shop also earned a little m oney. I, how ever, was allow ed to d rin k tea fo r free as m any tim es as I w anted. A s if I m yself was the ow ner o f that shop! The shop ow ner had to buy the water. B ut since he attracted m ore custom ers the expense was not too m uch fo r h im . Since people came to know that I had taken the lead in getting a hotel started so that people's d rin k in g w ater problem w ou ld be solved, they felt great respect for m e. I used to sit in that hotel and do variou s jobs fo r others, like w ritin g th e ir letters, w ritin g out b a il applications and other o fficia l letters, and so on. W hen I came to the school there was no place in the m arketplace fo r us even to stand, and now the hotel becam e an office w here we could discuss o u r problem s and form new associations. W hen the rains approached, a ll the shops and stalls in the w agon yard were closed dow n. So o u r little tea shop also dosed dow n. A fte r the rains were over, M ohoprekar Joshi leased a sm all p lo t next to the bridge near the m u n icip a l m arket in the o ld m arket, and started a tea shop there. Since th is site was in the m iddle o f the m arketplace, some o f the caste H in d u shopkeepers trie d to raise quarrels and fights. But now, because o f the hotel in the w agon yard below , ou r people had becom e organized. The shopkeepers1 efforts to stir up trouble had no chance against them . N ow o u r opponents w ould just m utter about how the K a liyu g had com e and M ahars had got above th e ir station, and then fa ll quiet. It was a m atter o f no sm all im portance that, just a year after I started going to school, o u r people succeeded in startin g a hotel rig h t in the m iddle o f the m arketplace. The issue o f m y getting adm ission to the school in M ahad, and the perm anent solu tion in a lim ite d sense o f the d rin k in g w ater problem th rou gh the setting up o f a hotel in M ahad, were both issues related to the core o f the question

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o f untou chab ility. In both these cases an assault had been m ade on the arrogance o f the tra d itio n -Io vin g u ltra -o rth o d o x o f M ahad, and they also challenged the prejudices o f o rd in a ry caste H indu s. M y going to the M ahad school was, at least in M ahad, a v ic to ry fo r the m ovem ent against untouchability. Some o f m y schoolm ates in M ahad and one o r tw o teachers d id not m in d even if I touched them . In the m arketplace there were m any w ho d id not consider me to be p o llu tin g . A t one tim e, the Satyashodhak m ovem ent had been quite in flu e n tia l in M ahad. O ne o f the leaders o f the Satyashodhak m ovem ent, Bhaskarrao V ith o ji Jadhav was a resident o f M ahad. The T ip n is and Potnis fam ilies (o f the Kayastha caste) were supporters o f the Satyashodhak m ovem ent. A ll these people were in favour o f m y going to school and o f a hotel being started b y a M ahar in the m arketplace. They felt sym pathy fo r me and fo r other M ahars. W hen there were no letter-w riters in the m arketplace other than B rah m in clerks, I w ould w rite letters fo r M ahar and M aratha people. So the tenants cu ltiva tin g the fields b elongin g to the m oneylenders o f M ahad became close to m e. W hen the w ater on the riv e r banks rose too h igh the M aratha farm ers o f K aranjlchol w ould c a rry me on th e ir shoulders up to Ladaw ali. O u r first hotel in the w agon yard ran o n ly d u rin g the sum m er. N ow this second hotel in the m arketplace w ould ru n in a ll seasons. W hen the riv e r w ater entered the m arketplace the w hole o f the o ld m arket w ould be flooded. Then all the shops there w ould be closed fo r some days. O u r hotel also closed dow n fo r a few days then. The site o f the hotel was a p lo t ow ned b y the m u n icip a lity. But since we w ould get a lease on it each year the hotel becam e perm anent. This was an adda, a gatheringplace, fo r us in the m arketplace. In the b egin n in g n ob ody w ould stay there at n igh t. But after some tim e some persons w ould stay there even at n igh t. A bou t the tim e when I started going to the school in M ahad, hanging o il lam ps— lamandivas— were goin g out o f use and being replaced b y kerosene tin lanterns. Standing o il lam ps o r samais were h a rd ly seen any m ore. It was d iffic u lt to read and w rite at n igh t b y the lig h t o f the kerosene tin lam ps o r sm all glass lam ps b u rn in g kerosene hung at a height. So at m y uncles house in Ladaw ali a ta ll kerosene lam p had been bought fo r me to study by. I w ould do m y studies at n ight b y the lig h t o f th is lam p. H a lf the space in m y uncles house was fo r hum ans and h a lf was fo r cattle. In the hum ans, h a lf a w oven cane screen had been placed to d ivid e it in to tw o. O n one side there was the stove and other things, on the other side there were objects like a vessel fo r p ou nd in g rice , a grindstone, m ortar, and so on. In this area there was a w ooden b ox fo r m y books and just nearby was placed in a corn er a p ile o f fresh grass b rou gh t in fo r the m ilch cows and other anim als. I used to sit there and study b y the lig h t o f the lam p and I w ould sleep there too. A t break o f daw n, at the second cockcrow about fo u r oclock, the daughters-in-law in a ll the houses w ould get up to g rin d the flo u r and w ould sit at the grindstone sin gin g songs. This was the tim e w hen Ï w ould get up, lig h t the lam p, and start m y studies. W hen I set o ff fo r school around eight or n ine, I w ou ld not re tu rn hom e

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to Laclaw ali t ill h a lf past seven o r eight at n ig h t. This was because I had in volved m yself in lots o f other things besides school. From the tim e I started going to school» I w ould go to Dasgaon every Saturday and on M onday I w ould go to school in M ahad from there— th is was a settled rou tin e. In reality, w hat was the need fo r me to go to Dasgaon every Saturday w hen m y m other and sister were at Ladaw ali? M y m other was not happy about this. But the people fro m the b ig house in D asgaon w ould call me there w ith a show o f affection and Ï, out o f diffidence, w ould not go against th e ir w ord. Later, w hen I began to get m y five rupee per m onth scholarship, that m oney w ould go to them . rIh e y w ould say, 'T h is is o u r b roth er^ son and we have a rig h t to his m oney.' So, the cost o f m y stay and m y board was borne b y xny m aternal uncle, w hile the m oney I received w ent to m y fathers m aternal cousins. To b rin g about a change in this p ecu liar situation, m y m other and I once w ent to stay at o u r house in Dasgaon. But even then things d id not change. Instead, they quarrelled w ith m y m oth er and m ade it d iffic u lt fo r her to stay there. Then we shut up the house and w ent back to live in Ladaw ali. I was one o f the b rig h t students in m y class. So some teachers w ould praise me and b elittle m y classmates. In the annual exam ination I got h igh m arks in a ll subjects and passed, but in draw ing and d rill they w ou ld w rite on m y re p o rt card that I had passed. That was d o w n righ t false. Because the school w ould not allow me to sit in the class w hen the lessons fo r those subjects were going on, and m the results o f the annual exam ination they w ould show that I had passed. I f in the tem ple o f Saraswati th is k in d o f deceit is acceptable— to practise u n tou ch a b ility in fact and to m ake a show o f n ot p ractising it— then it is better to leave to the im agin ation w hat happens elsewhere. In the M ahad school I passed the second E nglish standard and standard six in M arathi. Then I began to study fo r the th ird standard. I was in fo rm ed by the school that I w ould n ot get the scholarship m oney from then on . W hat happened to the three years scholarship? H ie th ird year was prob ab ly counted as the tim e w hicn was wasted before I was adm itted to the school. W h ile I was goin g to school the sm all expenditure that was requ ired fo r m y u n ifo rm , books and so on, was taken from m y scholarship m oney. But if I was not getting the scholarship the question arose as to w ho w ou ld undertake that expense. O u r people in D asgaon w ho had taken a scholar^ m oney were n o t w illin g to spend now> and m y uncle was already hard-pressed to support us on his m eagre incom e. In this situ ation , m y m other said, w hatever happens we m ust go and live in o u r house in D asgaon now. So one day we said o u r farew ells to m y grandm other and m y uncle and departed w ith the in te n tio n o f liv in g perm anently in D asgaon. U ncle had given us enough grain to last fo r some days and he p rovided us w ith grain and other th ings fro m tim e to tim e. N ow m y going to school had ceased, I m eant to go back to school after the M ay h olidays, after b u yin g books, etc. M y father had never allow ed m y m other to go and w ork outside o u r hom e. She d id a ll

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the w ork in the house, but she had not w orked outside in the fields. But now after we returned to Dasgaon she started to go out to collect firew o od , chop it in to sm all pieces, then tie it up w ith plant fibres and b rin g it hom e, and fin a lly m ake sm all bundles to vsell in that villa g e o r the next villa g e , and b rin g back food o r m oney in exchange. This was the subsistence occupation o f m any p o o r persons in D asgaon, The forest o f D asgaon was the o n ly means o f live lih o o d and sustenance fo r them . I too used to go w ith other ch ild re n to collect tw igs. O nce w hen we had gone to the forest lik e th is, a forest guard trie d to catch three boys o f m y age and a you n g m an, confiscate th e ir sickles and take them to the police chowkie. So there was first an argum ent and then a lig h t w ith h im . In a ll this the guards head was in ju re d . W e picked up o u r sickles and ran hom e from there. A case was file d against us in the M am ledar s (m agistrate's) cou rt. W e were issued a sum m ons and court proceedings were in itia te d . A law yer nam ed Sathe was engaged to speak fo r us accused. A fte r three or fou r m onths the ve rd ict was declared and Accused n o .1 ,Bhagya SaKhya M ahar, the adult w ho had been w ith us, was sentenced to fifteen days rigorou s im prisonm ent and we were given the alternative o f a tw o-rupee fine o r a week in ja il. We paid two rupees each and got off. This was m y ve ry firs t co n victio n , w hen I was less than fifteen years o ld . It was said that one w ho had been convicted o f a crim e could not get a governm ent job. So m y m other and the people in the big house became anxious. They were afraid that, after being educated so far, I was going to waste it a ll. W hen I had left school and was liv in g in D asgaon collectin g firew ood and d o in g odd jobs fo r the b ig house, a guest from B om bay came to the b ig house. He asked me how far I had studied, w hat I was d o in g, and so on and after this he to ld m y fou r dadas—m y fathers m aternal cousins— that if th ey sent Ram chandra (m e) to Bom bay he w ould secure fo r me a job as ticket colle cto r w ith a m o n th ly salary o f forty-five rupees. A t the tim e a ll these brothers were teachers in the M ahar school and th ey were earning eleven rupees a m onth* They reckoned: the fo u r o f us together earn fo u r tim es eleven o r fo rty-fo u r rupees, and Ram chandra on his ow n is going to get a rupee m ore than th at!— so th ey decided that they w ould send Ram chandra to B om bay to becom e a collector. A t the same tim e, they also decided to get me m a rrie d . They said, £W e d o n t a ll fou r o f us com e together that often, and now that we are a ll here we m ust m ake som e im p ortan t decisions,’ They discussed m any th in g s— w hich o f them was to lo o k after the house and the farm , how the instalm ents o f the house loan were to be paid, w ho was to be m arried o ff that year, and so on. T h eir elder b roth e r had a daughter w ho was o f age. A m an nam ed Changdeo K hopadkar w ho w orked as a clerk in Bom bay had asked fo r her hand. This gentlem an was a b rother-in -law o f the fam ous G opal Baba W alangkar, He had com e to R aodhal to get m a rrie d . It had already been decided that the g irl was to m a rry h im . A t the same tim e, it had been decided to get me m arried that same year. But w here was the g irl? 'If we fin d

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an outside g irl we w ill lose contact w ith h im . Besides, th is is a b oy w ho is going to b rin g in a good incom e. So we m ust find a g irl from o u r fa m ily to m a rry h im > , Since the one w ho gave his daughter in m arriage w ould get his earnings, there was a b it o f a fracas am ong them , and fin a lly they fixed on Tukaram dadaJs daughter. So it was decided that three w eddings in th e ir fa m ily w ould be carrie d out on the same date and in the same mandap. This was to be the first w edding cerem ony fittin g to the big house, w ith a ll fo u r brothers present. N eith er I n o r m y m other were enthused to hear that m y m arriage had been arranged. M y m in d was distressed because I had had to leave school fo r lack o f m oney, and m y m other was always tense because o f her w idow hood and the tria ls she had to sufl^r. M y m arriage was ta kin g place in this situ ation . W hat could we say other than— 'F ine, let it happen ? I f the people fro m the b ig house taunted her on the subject o f m y m arriage, she w ould say, peeved at the taunting, 'M y b o y is not yet o ld enough to be m arried. I f you d o n t w ant to arrange his m arriage d o n t do it, b ut d o n t bother me w ith claim s o f yo u r generosity.> O f course, this business o f her son> w ith no one to lo o k after h im , getting m a rrie d , was in fact som ething that made her glad; and as fo r me, w hy should I not lik e the idea o f getting m arried? To sum up, b oth m y m other and I were in fact agreeable to the m arriage, once th ey actually brought an acceptable proposal. W e were happy that this m arriage was takin g place. The person whose daughter Ï was goin g to m a rry had great affection fo r m y father. M y father had trie d hard to rescue h im from the ill-treatm en t he was subjected to b y his stepm other. A n d so he always rem ained grateful to m y father. He was gratified that his daughter was to be m arried to the son o f a m an w hom he called elder brother, m y father. Since an o ld relationship that had w orn th in was going to be revived th rou gh th is m arriage, some tra d itio n a l custom s were set aside fo r it. A ccord in g to the o ld custom , the b rid e and groom should belong to different clans fro m both th e ir m others and fathers sides, Though the brid e and groom in o u r m arriage belonged to the same clan on o u r m others side, they were going ahead w ith the m arriage. To put it in the language o f o u r villag e fo lk , both b rid e and groom had the same kothaliy o r cham ber, though the seeds were different. W hen we got m a rrie d , the b rid e Sita was six o r seven years old and was just lo sin g her m ilk teeth, w hile I was just getting m y w isdom teeth. The elders o f o u r fa m ily sent me to d e live r in vita tio n s to o u r relatives in different villages, and I also had to c a rry out m any sm all chores in preparation fo r the w edding. Seeing this, some elders were distressed and they said, cO h , its an orphan getting m arried.5 O u r w edding to ok place w ith great cerem ony. To te ll the tru th , it was lik e a dolls w edding. In those days, even infants used to be m a rrie d in th e ir cradles. O u r m arriage was between persons o f the same fam ily. In o u r fa m ily I was the eldest am ong the ch ild re n , so a ll the others called me dada, o r elder brother. Even the g irl w ho became m y w ife called me dada till she came o f age. There was no occasion fo r the b rid e to feel shy o f the groom here. From the day we were m arried we

THE A U T O B IO G R A P H Y

Sitabai More, R.B. More's wife (L)t with her mother. Courtesy of Subodh More.

R.B. More with wife, Sitabai. Courtesy of Subodh More.

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both treated each other as equals, rig h t dow n to today. This was an ideal fo r other couples to follow . A fte r the w edding the question o f m y education came up again. In the khot m oneylenders villag e o f Tale in M angaon tehsil there was a b ig M arathi school and there one could study up to the th ird E nglish class. There was a cM ahar schooF in the same village. M y father-in-law was a teacher in that sch o o l A fte r the w edding he to o k me to Tale and began to m ake efforts to get me adm ission in the th ird E n glish class in the b ig sch o o l A t first the d ire cto r o f tlaat school fla tly refused to adm it m e. Later, w ith m ediation b y some in flu e n tia l persons, he agreed to put m y nam e dow n in the school register. To address the question o f w here to seat m e, a plan was chalked out. This plan was as follow s ；ad join in g the classroom where the th ird standard had classes was a w indow about tw o and a h a lf to three feet h igh . A p latfo rm was to be erected outside th is w indow . I was to ascend th is p latform w ith the help o f a sm all ladder, so that I could face the class and be in com m unication w ith the teacher and m y classmates, and could learn m y lessons w ithout touching other children in m y class o r in the school. D ada, m y father-in-law , agreed to this plan and fou r w orlanen were h ire d at once to b u ild the p la tfo rm . They cut dow n branches from a nanduki tree in the school com pound and under Dadas guidance b u ilt the p latform in tw o days. A fte r th is, D ada took me to see the school, m y classroom and the place w here I was to sit. W hen I saw the w hole setup I to ld D ada that I was not prepared to learn m y lessons sittin g on a stage outside the school b u ild in g — 'In the M ahad school they used to seat me separately outside the classroom , b ut at least the place was inside the school b u ild in g . Here they are m akin g me sit on a stage on the barren land b eh ind the b u ild in g ; I don t lik e it at alF. D ada and some others trie d hard to persuade m e, but it was o f no use. A fte r tw o o r three days D ada was convinced b y me> and he cancelled the plan o f sending m e to that school. In M ahad I had to give up m y education because o f a lack o f funds, and here in Tale, though there was no problem o f funds, I had to leave the school because the problem o f u n to u ch a b ility came in the way. To sum up, m y educational progress came to a tem porary h alt because o f econom ic and social d ifficu lties. W hen it had been decided n ot to send me to s c h o o l,I was taken to C harai, a villag e near Tale, as a guest. M y w ifeJs grandfather live d there. H is nam e was P utalaji and he ow ned lan d w hich had a yie ld o f alm ost a thousand rupees. A t that tim e he was the P olice patil o f the village. Even in the ra in y season there were tw enty to fo rty sheaves o f rice rem ainin g in his granary. F our o r five b ig pots o f m ilk w ould com e to the house every day. He was that ric h . H is sons and daughters had com e to D asgaon fo r the w edding but he d id not h im se lf attend. W e were taken to C harai to see h im . H e and his w ife w elcom ed us and m ade m uch o f us. From C harai we came to Tale and after some days I was sent to Dasgaon. D u rin g th is trip to Tale I had been sent on ^jatra w ith a robber. I w ish here to say a little about that occasion.

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In the Tale p recinct at that tim e there was a w ell-know n robber nam ed C handrya K aatkari. He was m uch talked about. R ich people and governm ent officials live d in fear o f h im . I f anyone torm ented the p o o r too m uch, he w ould teach them a lesson. H e had a k in d o f hold over the khot m oneylenders. The police could never lay th e ir hands on h im . O nce he got tipped ofl: that a certain police inspector was on his w ay to arrest h im ; he kept a w atch on that inspector, and one day, when the inspector was out alone rid in g a horse, C h an drya stopped h im and to ld h im that he w ould te ll h im news o f the n otoriou s robber C handrya if he w ould get dow n from his horse. U pon w hich he tie d the inspector to a tree and rode o if w ith the horse. This was a sto ry to ld about h im am ong the people. M any such legends were curren t am ong the fo lk o f Tale. O n rare occasions he w ould help out the p o o r by g iv in g them m oney. Putalya M ahar P atil o f C h arai, rich though he was, was one o f his adm irers and C handrya used to v is it h im . T hrough h im m y father-in-law also became acquainted w ith C handrya. He treated D ada w ith the greatest respect and even offered to give h im m oney and jew ellery. But Dada never to o k anyth in g fro m h im . O n the contrary, he w ould try and persuade h im to give up th is life o f w ayside ro b b ery and theft. To evade the reach o f the police he m oved around in sem i-underground fashion. He som etim es came to D ada at n ig h t. I once to ld D ada that I w anted to see the village

Som etim e after this, C handrya visite d D ada just w hen there

was a jatra, and he to o k me th ro u gh the dense ju ngle to the villag e w here the jatra was being held. The jatra site was next to a dense forest. W hen we were less than a m ile from the ja tra , he to ld m e that he w ould w ait in the ju n g le — 'You go and see the jatra and then com e and m eet me here. W e w ill go back to Tale together. D o n t te ll anyone w ho you are o r w ho you came w ith 5— ! follow ed his instru ctions and he to o k me back to Tale before daybreak and handed me over to D ada. It was tw o o r three days later that I learnt fro m Dada that the person w ho had carried me on his shoulders th rough the forest was a w ell-know n robber o f those parts. It was o n ly w hen I became acquainted w ith M arxism as an adult that I understood w hy brave and decent people lik e C handrya becom e robbers. I had now returned to D asgaon from Tale. A fte r m y m arriage and on com pleting m y trip s to Tale and C h arai, m y life began to ru n on the same rou tin e as it had earlier, when I left the school in M ahad and retu rn ed fro m Ladaw ali to D asgaon. In the surroundings o f D asgaon I im m ersed m yself in a va rie ty o f activities— sin gin g m arriage songs and songs in praise o f the goddess G a u ri, dancing, p layin g, going to the akhada to learn patta [a w ooden sw ord used fo r sports], bichava [a short dagger] and bondathU ju m p in g on the w restlers' p illa r o r malkhamb, w atching

tamashasy liste n in g to stories and kirtanas, v is itin g villages to w atch buffalo fights, going to jatras, d o in g puja and other rituals, keeping fasts, reading the scriptures, learn ing to recite mantras, and helping m y m other in her w o rk in the fields and byw ays. I used to do variou s sm all chores for the people o f the b ig house and others.

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I f anyone asked me to ru n some errand, if it was som ething Ï could do I w ouldn t say no. Some o f the daughters-in-law w ould take advantage o f m y o b lig in g nature, and, as they were p ou n d in g rice in the m ortar, they v/ould ask me to h old the pestle and I w ould h o ld it. The old e r w om en som etim es to o k p ity on me and scolded them for this. There was a tavern in the village and grow n-ups o f o u r fa m ily w ould send me to fetch alcohol fo r them at a ll hours o f the n ig h t. Since the ow ner o f the tavern w ho sold alcohol was a m an o f o u r villa g e , he thought n oth in g o f selling d rin ks at any h o u r o f the day o r n ig h t o r sending alcohol w ith young boys, even though all this was ille g a l. E ve ry n igh t tw o o r three persons w ould send me to fetch alcohol, and I w ou ld go o ff w ithou t any fear o f forest anim als, scorpions and thorns or ghosts and sp irits on the way. So that I shouia not refuse to do this w ork they w ould ta lk to me sw eetly and even give me a little alcohol to d rin k to keep me happy. Because o f this I too learnt to d rin k . I was to ld b y the fam ilies o f tw o young m en o f D asgaon w ho had studied up to the fou rth M arathi class w ith m e but were a little old er than m e, that they had gone to fight at the fro n t. So I began to feel that I too should go and figh t in the w ar. O ne day a re cru itin g officer came to the b ig house. H e stayed fo r two days at o u r place. H e asked m y elder cousins about me. O n hearing all about m e, he said, 'Send R am chandra w ith m e so that he can take fu rth e r education and he can becom e a b ig officer in the arm y: I was prepared to go b ut the people in that house d id not send m e. Tw o days later, about tw o to three hundred arm y recruits from arm y camps at K hed, C h ip lu n and M ahad came to stay on the maidan next to the

dharamshala at D asgaon. They set up camp and then began to m arch to Bom bay. The band w ent in fro n t and b eh ind it the soldiers dressed in th e ir uniform s were stepping to the rh yth m o f the band. W hen th ey had gone beyond the m ountain pass, I and tw o o f m y com panions slipped away unseen b y the grow n-ups and began to w alk b eh ind them . A fte r we had gone a m ile o r so, we were stopped and the soldiers w ent on ahead. W e were disappointed and returned hom e. A ll these recru its into the arm y were o f the M ahar caste. In 1891 the ban on M ahar soldiers had been lifte d and M ahar Platoon 111 had been set up fo r the first tim e.7 These recruits were from th is platoon. W ith no studies and no jo b , m y tim e was being spent in useless activities like m em orizin g w edding songs, im ita tin g the m anners o f the people o f the nom adic

fakirygosavu gondhalU ghosu bhaat and vaidu com m unities. To add to th is, a th o rn entered m y foo t and caused a grave in ju ry. Because o f this I was confined to m y bed, w him p erin g w ith p ain , fo r m onths. Just as I recovered from this in ju ry I was sent to Bom bay fo r em ploym ent, T liis was m y second trip to Bom bay. M y relative trie d to fin d a job fo r me. But because I was underage I could not fin d w ork. Som e tim e back a Bom bayw alla had assured me that he w ould fin d me

7 See footnote 2 ( p .113) in Satyendra Mores biography of R.B. More in the following section.

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a job as a ticket collector. But now he was now here to be found. I could have got a job as an office boy, but I was n ot ready to do that w ork. A fte r com ing to Bom bay I had been staying w ith a distant relative in a chawl in F am ily Lines. We used to call his m other A kka . I and three o r fou r others from Dasgaon were staying at Aldcas place. They were a ll w o rkin g som ewhere o r other and used to pay A kka for th e ir food. It was fo u r o r five m onths since I had a rrive d and I had s till not found a job. So I was not able to pay fo r m y food. N ob od y rebuked m e, rather I was show ered w ith affection. D u rin g th is v is it to B om bay I saw D r. A m bedkar fo r the first tim e. Seeing D r. A m bedkar m ade me acutely aware o f the im portance o f getting an education. I had to leave school halfw ay because there was no one to support me. If the years between had n ot been wasted, I too w ould have at least m atriculated by now. H ere I was, w ith neither education n o r a job to m y nam e. A fte r m y father died, m y m others b roth er looked after us fo r a w hile. So m y mothex* d id n ot have to to il too hard and I had a few years o f school. N ow m y m oth er is slogging hard and here am I, roam in g around Bom bay. W hat a s o rry state I am in i Such thoughts came to m y m in d fro m tim e to tim e. I had m ade the acquaintance o f several you ng m en in F am ily Lines. I d id not th in k it below me to sm oke beedis w ith them , o r to go to the to d d y bars and d rin k toddy. There was a tem ple to the goddess M a riai there. The pujari in that tem ple had becom e m y frie n d . W h ile I w ent w ith h im to the tem ple every day to sing

bhajans and read books, I w ould also som etim es take puffs o f m arijuana from the ch illu m that he offered m e. I had attained a s k ill in re n d erin g the songs in a tuneful voice w hile keeping the beat on a one-stringed instru m ent, and because m y M arathi was good I cou ld read the books w ith ou t fa lte rin g . The bhajan m aster and the persons reading the h o ly books w ould ask me to sit dow n and read the texts. M ost o f the people liv in g there earned th e ir liv in g d o in g som e w ork connected w ith the arm y. There was also a large num ber w ho w orked fo r the departm ent stores A rm y and N avy and W hitew ay & Laidlaw , the H osp ital and the M edical Stores. They earned at m ost fifteen rupees a m onth. Just then som eone to ld me about a job ; it was fo r just a m onth and a h alf, a leave vacancy, but the wages were forty-five rupees. But one needed to speak in E n glish , to be able to read and w rite, and also to have good clothes. The person w ho had to ld m e about the job had prom ised the sahio m that job that he w ould D ring a m an w ho w ould m eet these term s. O ne had to jo in service on the first. There were seven o r eight days between. The m ain question was o f the clothes; I had a dhoti and a coat. But th is w ould not do am ong the European people; here one needed to have a coat and trousers. F in a lly, I m anaged w ith the nelp o f a butler. O n the assigned day I was taken and stood before the sahib.8 The sahib to o k me to an office and showed

8 Mahars were often employed as butlers by British officers, and businessmen.

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me som e books o f p rin te d tickets that looked lik e receipts. H e explained to me w here to w rite the date and signature, and m ade me sit dow n near a table w ith a draw er for the receipt-books and m oney. O n the outer side o f the table there was a w indow . The w hite sailors w ould stand outside the w indow , pay th e ir m oney and take the tickets. A ll the persons receivin g the tickets were w hite and they d id not know H in d i o r M arathi; likew ise m y English was not good, but s till ou r w ork was not held up. W hen th ey came up to the w indow and said, one bed ticket5o r Tour bar tickets5,1 w ou ld take the m oney and give them w hat they asked fo r and the job was done. To sum up, w ith o u t m uch education and w ith ou t any guarantee fox' the m oney, I got w o rk as a seamens cashier. Alclca and m y relatives were happy to see that I had got a job . The place where I was w orkin g was a European seamen5s office under co n tro l o f the N avy. The office was located w here the M aharashtra state legislature b u ild in g stands today. From the p oin t o f view o f us people, n ot o n ly was the salary h ig h b ut I earned extra incom e daily. There were lodgings fo r the seamen and a bar selling beer and other types o f alcoholic d rin k s in that place. M y task was to give them receipts fo r bed tickets and b ar tickets and hand over the m oney collected to the officer. Bed tickets were fo r eight annas. Suppose a sailo r paid one rupee fo r that ticket. I had been briefed by the person in w hose place I was w o rkin g that, if the m an d id not accept the eight annas I returned to h im as change, I was to put the extra eight annas in m y pocket instead o f in the colle ction b ox. In this w ay I som etim es p iled up as m uch as ten rupees in a single day, o r at least five rupees per day. Some p a rticu la r frien d s o f m ine knew that I had a d a ily incom e. This extra m oney is n ot earned th ro u gh to il, it is u n h o ly m oney, it is a sin to keep it w ith you . So you m ust spend it. A ll these friends sm oked beedis, ate paan w ith tobacco, d ran k spirits and to d d y and sm oked hash and grass. They were the same ones w ho played one-string instrum ents, tam bourines and drum s and sang bhajans in the n ig h t. W hen we had finished eating som ething in the restaurant we w ould go and sit in a toddy bar in the D h ob i Talao o r C raw ford M arket area. W e w ould beat on the benches and sing qawwalis and at d in n e r tim e we w ou ld go hom e sw inging o u r arm s. For about a week n ob ody at hom e knew that I had th is d a ily incom e. Later on they came to know it, but th ey s till d id n t know how m uch it was. A ll the people in the colony w ere scared o f those frien ds o f m ine; n ob ody w ould dare to cross them . Later on , because I knew E n glish , some haw kers becam e m y friends. They were w ell-laiow n gangsters from that p recinct. Even m y frien ds o f the M ariai tem ple were afraid o f them . Since they were pheriwallas and haw kers from am ong the butchers in the m arket, th ey were fierce to lo o k at and affectionate at heart. I f there was a qawwali o r Ram leela program m e som ewhere far fro m the m arket area they w ould take me there and b rin g me hom e afterw ards. M y relatives and the other residents o f F am ily Lines often w arned me not to go w ith them . But I d id not listen to them and ca rrie d on chatting w ith m y frien ds, roam in g around the c ity

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w ith them as before. So everyb od y began to say that I had been spoilt: that I had become a mawali. I placed m y first salary o f forty-five rupees in A kka s hands and touched her feet. vShe was old but was constantly m aking trip s outside her hom e every day. I"he boy w hom we called her son was actu ally her deceased sisters son. A s she was herself childless, she called this boy her son and satisfied a ll his dem ands. She arranged three m arriages fo r h im , and she gave all the m oney she earned to her m aternal cousin in D asgaon. It was through th is cousin that I had com e to her place in Bom bay. I touched her feet. She was overcom e, hugged me tig h tly and began to cry. She thought it a great th in g that I b rou gh t m y w hole salary to her. I to ld her to take tw enty rupees o f it for m y m eals, five rupees to spend on herself, and to send the rem ainin g tw enty rupees to m y hom e in D asgaon. She sent on the tw enty rupees, b ut the people in the b ig house in D asgaon d id not give the m oney to m y m other. Before I came to Bom bay m y house at Dasgaon had been rented out to the new M ahar school that had been started there. rIh e teacher in that school was one o f o u r fa m ily from the b ig house. Instead o f g ivin g the rent m oney to m y m other, he pocketed it before it reached her. They put forw ard the same argum ent that th ey had m ade when they to o k m y scholarship m oney earlier, to ju s tify H elping them selves to the rent. Because I was th e ir b rother the m oney I earned was theirs, m y m other had no rig h t to it at a ll. They d id not give the m oney I sent from Bom bay to m y m other either. W hen I learned o f this I realized clearly that I was indeed an orphan, and that the show o f a fe ctio n put up by the people in the b ig house had indeed com e in m y way, and afflicted m y m other and sister. I th ou gh t to m yself that as lon g as we had connections w ith the b ig house, even if I earned m oney it w ould n ot be o f any use to m y m other and sister. Instead o f earning m oney that w ent to them I should go to Pune fo r fu rth e r education. I rem em bered h avin g read som ewhere that Pune was a treasure-house o f learn in g, and that cam e to m in d now. M y leave vacancy job w ith a large salary had ended and I was unem ployed again. I began to go to the docks to lo o k fo r w ork. If one d id n 't fin d w ork, one cou ld go near the ships and try and fin d som ething to eat. O ne cou ld get dates, a ll kin ds o f d ried fru its , sugar to eat on the ships. O ne could also get a fu ll m eal fo r tw o

pice. Som etim es one could get w o rk as a lab ourer on d a ily wages. I f one stood in the queue fo r w ork, even if one w asnt selected as a labourer, one got one anna fo r attending the m uster call. It was to the A lexandra D o ck that I went m ost often. The w ork o f c a rryin g sacks o r chevSts fille d w ith rice fro m the w arehouse in those docks on ones head to the crane fo r loading on the ships was called 'stam ping' This w ork w ould becom e available som etim es, usually at n ig h t. I f the parcel o r chest was sm all one was paid one pax fo r each trip , fo r a s lig h tly la rg e r one it was tw o pice, and fo r a double o r larger-sized one was paid a paisa. If th is coolie w ork was available at n igh t I w ou ld w ork in the n ig h t and earn eight to ten paisas. From this I w ou ld

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'Boy labour' unloading boxes. Source: Burnett-Hurst, Labour and Housing in Bombay. pay the mithaiwalla, eat som e m inced m utton and bread in a restaurant and take the rem aining couple o f annas to A kka . In those days the p rice o f a m onths board was o n ly five rupees, and I w ou ld pay it in this m anner. B y standing in lin e , doin g the w ork o f stam ping5 w hen I got it, o r d o in g coolie w o rk fo r d a ily wages at the railw ay station, I cou ld cover m y expenses and pay fo r m y board. Later I got w ork as a 'm arker5in the A rsenal depot at H aji B under (dock). I had obtained th is job fo r a salary o f th irty rupees a m onth after m onths o f being unem ployed. I used to go to w ork w ith other w orkers on the P ort T rust steam tra in ru n n in g from Carnac B under to H a ji Bunder. Before th is, I was not acquainted w ith Bom bay c ity beyond D h ob i Talao, C raw ford M arket, Princess D ock, A lexandra D ock, Carnac Bunder, B o ri B under, M useum and C olaba railw ay stations. But w hen I started goin g to w ork at H aji B under I becam e fa m ilia r w ith som e new areas o f Bom bay. The m ain am ong these were G rant R oad and Foras RoadLater on I began to go to these areas m ore and m ore often. This was because three o f m y new -found com panions were takin g p art in the Kam leshw ar D ram a C om pany that had just been started. W hen th ey asked m e, I agreed m ost jo y fu lly to act in th is com pany. I had been fon d o f sin gin g and dancing even before th is. O nce d u rin g a cerem ony at the school in M ahad, I had read out a prepared speech on the stage, and in the tamasha put up fo r the H o li festival at the Dasgaon s c h o o l,I had played the leading role o f Tatyabapu. So I was delighted to have a ready-m ade o p p o rtu n ity to take p art in a play. The dram a com pany had taken on rent a triangular-shaped room at the com er o f the Batatyachi C haw l in Foras Road,

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on the second flo o r. A tabla, a h arm on ium and other m usical instrum ents were kept there. E ve ry evening after fin ish in g w ork we w ou ld go to that 'theatre room ! The w ork we d id was also quite com fortable: do w ork w hen it was there, otherw ise relax. O u r job was to place a stencil on the sacks o f grain o r other essential stuff needed by the arm y, and in k it over w ith a brush. fIh is w ork w ent on about three or fou r days every week. F irst the coolie w ould b rin g the sacks to the shed and place them in a lin e . W h ile this was being done we w ould be chatting am ong ourselves. Then the w ork o f m a rkin g w ould begin. Since we m arkers were united we w ould decide am ong ourselves how m uch w ork to do and how m uch to leave fo r the next day. liie re were five o f us w orkin g as m arkers in that shed. A ll o f us, except fo r one, were ‘th eatrical’. A fte r getting o ff from w ork we w ou ld go to the theatre room , and o n ly later on go hom e: this was o u r regular d a ily rou tin e. O ne could learn to play the tabla and the h arm on ium there, but I never picked up any o f that. H ie d ire cto r o f the dram a com pany was a fellow nam ed M oreshw ar. I don't know anything m ore about h im , b ut it seemed he was m ost dedicated to the art. He staged a p lay called Manovtjay—YicXovy o f the M in d . In tn is p lay the six enem ies o f the Soul: Lust, A nger, D esire, G reed, D rin k (addiction?) and E nvy, were portrayed as characters in the play. M o ra lity was another character in the play, I had to play a part o f the m ain role o f Lust w hich was not played by the leading actor, and the role o f M o ra lity was also given to m e. U n til the play was staged we w ould go every­ day to o u r theatre room to practise. The Batatyachi C haw l w here o u r theatre room was located was in the Safed G a lli (lite ra lly, w hite lane5). This Safed G a lli was a b ig centre o f the p rostitu tion business. A ll the chawis in that area were b u zzin g w ith prostitutes. Prostitutes live d in som e o f the room s in Batatyachi C haw l and tamasha players and other people live d in the rem ainin g room s. The tamasha o f the Shivasam bha K avalapurkar com pany was v e ry fam ous in those days. I had seen th e ir show once before I came to Bom bay, i knew both the brothers and also the w ell-know n tamasha singerpoet Bapu Pattherao and the dancer Pavali. These fo lk live d in rented room s in the Batatyachi C h a w l This tw o-storey b u ild in g had room s w ith w indow s on the side facing the road and on the in n e r side there were verandas, stairs and the doors to the room s. O u r theatre room was in the farthest corn er on the second flo o r. From the m om ent we entered the b u ild in g till we reached o u r room we had to pass room s belonging to prostitutes. rIh e room occupied b y the Shivasam bha com pany was on the way, and we w ould stop to say hello before passing ahead. Som e o f the hookers w ou ld tease us and laugh and joke w ith us as we came and w ent. M y friends w ould push m e in th e ir path; because I was the youngest they w ould m ake fun o f m e lik e th is. S urrounded by such an atm osphere, I o f course was ve ry young but m y o ld e r friends also kept a distance from the hookers and from alcohol. In those days the m ain form o f entertainm ent fo r com m on people was the

tamasha. Theatrical plays had not becom e popular. O n ly v e ry few people used to

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see plays then. Before then I m yself had seen o n ly one play. O ne o f m y relatives w ho had becom e a sadhu had once taken me to see the p lay Raja Harishchandra staged b y the

KaZac/arsh o r Patankar Theatre C om pany in the B om bay Theatre.9 This

sadhu had earlier been a ru ffia n . H e had taken p art in the first H in d u -M u slim rio t in 1898 and served c\ja il sentence. Later he began to read h o ly books and live the life o f an ascetic. In D asgaon, I had read several books in his com pany —

Victory

ofHariy The Victory o f Ram, Bhagavat, ShivaleelamriU Agamanigam, and a b ook o f stories from the Mahabharata. Besides this, I perform ed pw;a fo r tw o hours every day and m editated. Ï knew the Pandurang Stotr and the Vyankatesh Stotr by heart, as w ell as 101 mantras. H e was the one w ho showed me this play. This was the first p la y I had seen in m y life . It was at this tim e that I heard m y first phonographic record: cW h y w o n t som eone give me a ticket to Bom bay?5 In those days people referred to the phonograph as bangadicha baaja, the bangle p layer；it was a novelty. O ne sat before the phonograph and put the funnel to one^ ear and listened to the song am ong variou s other sounds. T ills is how I heard m y first recorded song. As I stated earlier, m y frien ds kept a distance from bad th ings. This was because th ey were educated and cultured. T h eir attraction to the art o f theatre can be said to be a sign o f th e ir being cultured. This was th e ir w ay o f try in g to r ivse from a low er class to a h igher class. A fte r the rehearsals o f the p lay Manovijay, it was first staged in the Bom bay Theatre. I was o f course proud to have w orked as an actor on the stage o f such a fam ous theatre in Bom bay at such a you ng age. The m oney that I sent hom e w hen I was w orkin g in the Sailors H om e never reached m y m other. This was repeated w hen I w orked at H a ji Bunder, I always felt that the environm ent in Bom bay was not conducive to study, that I w ould be able to go on studying if I w ent to Pune. M y m others5 relatives found it ve ry strange that the people from the b ig house pocketed m y m oney instead o f g ivin g it to m y m other. But others w ou ld say, the people at the b ig house educated the boy, so whyshould they not take the m oney? In fact, the education that I got was not due to any expenditure fro m the b ig house. M y p rim a ry education in the M arathi school was com pleted w hile m y father was s till alive, and m y education in the English school was on the basis o f m y scholarship m oney and m y m aternal uncles arrangem ents fo r m y board and lo d g in g . But in those days the little E n glish education I had had was thought to be a great th in g — 'E n glish education is the m ilk o f the tigress'— and the undeserved cred it fo r that w ent to the fa m ily o f school teachers at the b ig house. 'Those school teacher relatives also arranged his m arriage. So how does it m atter if they take his m oney instead o f g ivin g it to his m other?' W ho could stop the m ouths o f those w ho spoke lik e this? M y co n d itio n was lik e that o f som eone w ho had been gagged and punched in the m outh. A fte r the p la y had been staged I made a firm decision in m y m in d to go to y 'Raja Harishchandra' was also the title of a Marathi film, said to be the first, produced in 1913.

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Pune, and was w aitin g fo r m y salary. I had to ld m any o f m y friends that I d id n t w ant to w ork here anym ore, that I wanted to go som ew here else and study fu rth er. But I had to ld no one w here I was going or w hen. F rom m y earlier wages I used to keep five rupees to pay the m ilkm an and the mithaiwalla, and give the rem ainin g tw enty-five to Alcka. I decided that from this m onths pay I w ould not give anyth in g to A kka . O n the day before m y pay was due I w rote a letter to A kka and kept it in m y pocket. In this I had w ritten things like : I am going som ew here far away, d o n t w o rry about m e, and so on. O n pay day w hen I came hom e and was asked about it, I lie d and said that I w ou ld be paid the next day. T lie n , w hen n ob od y was around, I put the letter and five rupees in the grain store and left the house. There were about tw enty rupees in m y pocket. It was about m id n ig h t. I w ent to B o ri Bunder station and got on the tra in to Pune w ith ou t b uyin g a ticket, and got dow n in Pune before sunrise. O utside the station I w ent and sat in the garden m eant fo r passengers tra ve llin g th ird class. rIh e re were several villa g e fo lk , m en and w om en, w aitin g to go to Bom bay. I spent quite a lon g tim e w atching th e ir m ovem ents and listen in g to th e ir ta lk and laughter. Then I had som ething to eat in a restaurant and to o k the roacl to M odi K hana. There was a w om an I knew from D asgaon in this M odi K hana. She had m arried a m an called A b itka r w ho had re tire d from m ilita ry service. Since M odi Khana was a colon y o f arm y pensioners and since the nam e A b itka r was w ell know n there, I had no d iffic u lty in fin d in g th e ir house. The w om ans nam e was K ali ("Blackie ) .10She was ot la ir com plexion, pleasant and naive. But since her nam e was K a li we used to call her K a lib a i. K alib ai expressed her jo y to see me and, according to the custom , she caressed m e, cracked fo u r fingers o f each hand against m y face, drew a han dfu l o f salt around me and threw it in the stove (to w ard off e vil sp irits). Then she to ld the people in the house about m y father and introduced me as his son. They d id not know that I had com e from B om bay and that I had been liv in g in Bom bay; they th ou gh t I had com e from D asgaon. O f course, they knew that to reach Pune from D asgaon one had to com e v ia Bom bay. If one had to go to Pune from Dasgaon there was another route. That was via the M adhya h ill route near Raigad. In the past, people from the Raigad va lle y w ould c a rry w ooden m ortars and pestles and kathavadis o r w ooden trays for kneading dough on th e ir heads and go on foo t to sell them in Pune. But now that there were m otorboats and train s, that route was m ore o r less unused, In those days there were no m o to r cars o f private or governm ent ow nership at a ll. In those days o rd in a ry fo lk liv in g in villages d id not know the w orld beyond the panchakroshi— a distance o f about five kilom etres, o r the m axim um distance from w hich sounds can be heard. Some people w ould never leave th e ir villa g e to go to any other village. Even those people w ho came to live and w ork in B om bay o r Pune fro m the 10 In Marathi, (Kala or 'Kali' means black. The T in these words is the guttural Marathi % and so tKali, does not sound like the name of the goddess. O f course the goddess Kali is also dark-skinned.—7r.

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villages d id not know anyth in g beyond th e ir villag e and th e ir place o f w ork and residence in Bom bay o r Pune. So m y com ing to Pune from Dasgaon was probably lik e m y com ing from E n gland to H industan fo r th eni. W hen they asked m e, 'H ow d id you com e so far?ï I re p lie d ,1 came to Pune to see the tabut (the m edallion paraded by M uslim s d u rin g the solem n observance o f M oharram ).1They to o k me lite ra lly at m y w ord. Because there were just a few days left till the procession o f the

o f M oharram . In those days D iw a li in Bom bay，the 加わ⑽ in Pune and

Dussehra in Baroda were m uch talked about. People w ou ld com e from far o ff to see these spectacles. The A b itka r fa m ily looked after me w ell. K alib ai show ered me w ith love lik e her ow n son. I was afraid that, if I to ld them Ï had com e to Pune to study, these people w ould in fo rm D asgaon and m y schoolteacher relatives w ould com e and take m e back to Bom bay. So I d id n ’t te ll them anything about that. I had decided in m y m in d to stay w ith them as a guest fo r a few days, and then slip away from there. So w hile I was staying w ith them I trie d to get to know m ore about Pune. But they d id n ot know anyth in g beyond arm y-related places; th e ir know ledge was lim ite d to the cantonm ent area o f Pune. They to ld me som e stories they had heard aoout the days o f Peshwa ru le. They said, £W e have n oth in g to do w ith Poona city. W e h a rd ly ever go there.5 Even the ch ild re n o f the M odi Khana area d id not go to school w ith ch ild ren from the city. There were separate schools fo r these children in the v ic in ity . Just as in Bom bay I had live d in the F am ily Lines m eant fo r arm y people, so d id I fin d m yself am ong m ilita ry people in M odi K hana. In the villages there were separate areas fo r o u r fo lk . I felt that even in Bom bay and Pune there were separate colonies fo r us, but I d id not at the tim e understand w ho had separated us in this way. H ie tabut o f M oharram came and w ent, and I decided to leave. K alib ai was about to tie up som e bundles to take to D asgaon, but i to ld her that I was going to Bom bay to w ork, not to D asgaon. O ne o f her nephews came w ith me to the station and, even as I was saying no, he bought m y ticket and seated me on the tra in . I was th in k in g how to escape h im , but he d id not budge u n til the tra in started to m ove. The tra in left the station and halted fo r some tim e at K h ad ki station. Seeing th is I got dow n q u ick ly on to the platform and came outside the station w ith the other people there. In m y pocket there was a few rupees, and in m y head thoughts going rou n d and rou n d — w here to go now, w hat to do next. W hen I came ou t o f K h a d ki station I w ent and sat under a th o rn y babhali bush. N ow I had left the boundaries o f m y ch ild h o o d and entered the stage o f you th . I was a you ng m an seventeen o r eighteen years o ld . Before this I had been d ire c tly o r in d ire c tly under som ebody’s supervision. I was near people w ho w ould praise or chastise m y good ana bad deeds. In Dasgaon and Ladaw ali there were m y m other and father. Besides them> there were near relatives lik e m y mama and m y elder cousins. In B om bay there were Alcka and others, and in Pune, if for just

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fou r or five days, there was K alib ai and the people o f her fam ily. But here, sittin g under the th o rn y babhali bush, I was just an in d iv id u a l, under nobody s con trol and com pletely independent. H ie w hole o f m y life after m y father s death passed before m y m in d s eye. As I was th in k in g about m y purpose in leaving Bom bay, and how I w ould c a rry it out, another thought entered m y m in d . This was the idea that I should firs t go to D ehu and A la n d i to take darshan o f the samadhis o f the saints Tukaram and D nyaneshw ar, and o n ly afterw ards do w hat I had to do. W hen th is n o tio n entered m y head I got up from the babnalt bush and started w alking tow ards the station again. There I asked people sittin g outside the station about the road to D ehu and A la n d i. There was a m ature and know ledgeable person am ong them , w ho asked m e w here I had com e fro m , w hy I had com e here, and m any such questions. U pon w hich I told h im that I had com e from A adm avala, that m y father had passed away, and that I was going to jo in the arm y after v is itin g D ehu and A la n d i. I had read in m y schoolbooks that K hadlci was a large m ilita ry station. T lia t was how I thought up the fib I to ld h im about m y jo in in g the arm y. I d o rft rem em ber now how m any days I spent in the p ilgrim age to D ehuA la n d i, o r w hat I saw there. But I d e fin itely rem em ber h avin g seen a tem ple o f Tukaram at D ehu. W hen I returned from there I began to stay at a tem ple in the villa g e o f D apodi near K hadld, through a tem ple pujari I had m ade friends w ith . In that tem ple there w ou ld be bhajan singing every n ig h t w ith taal and mridanga, in w hich I to o k p art. E a rlie r I knew bhajans accom panied by a one-stringed instrum ent and khanjeer, o r b y jhaanj and mridanga. But I was not fa m ilia r w ith these bhajans w hich were sung w ith a lo t o f b o d ily exercise. In the tem ple at D apodi I became acquainted w ith this style o f bhajan sin gin g and I also came in to contact w ith some things that I should not have because o f that tem ple. A tem ple is not in fact a place to stay. A fte r one o r tw o days the pujari show ed me the door. But since I had no place to go I came and slept outside the tem ple at n ig h t. Seeing th is, a m an from the settlem ent near the tem ple took me to his house. I found the atm osphere in his house to be a b it strange. But I had no alternative but to stay there. From that house I started goin g to w ork in a canteen fo r w hite soldiers. This w ork was fo r d a ily wages. So every day som e m oney w ould com e in to m y hands. From this m oney I could pay the people I was staying w ith and have som e left over fo r m y sm all expenses. But I was fed up w ith both the w ork o f ta kin g tea to the w hite soldiers and the place I was staying at. I felt that, if I cou ld get a job w ith a m o n th ly salary I could fin d a better place to stay and also do som ething about m y education. I was m aking efforts in that d ire ctio n . O ne day, a m an in the canteen introduced me to a frie n d o f his w ho w orked in the K hadki arsenal. H e pointed out to me w ho the m ain boss in the arsenal was, and inform ed me about how I could get to m eet h im . A ccord in gly, I came and stood at the gate o f the arsenal at the tim e w hen the 似 /

was due to com e there.

W hen the sahib approached I said» 'S ir, I know E n glish , I w ant w ork/ He said>

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‘Com e on.，I w alked on b eh ind h im . W hen we entered the gate he entrusted me to a sergeant and w ent off. The sergeant began to show his disapproval by raising his eyebrows at m e. Then he said som ething. But because o f m y lim ite d English and his incom prehensible accent I d id n 't understand w hat he said. Then he asked me m y nam e. That m uch E n glish I understood. I to ld h im m y nam e, w hich he w rote dow n, and then to o k me w ith h im to a depot. There in a w aterlogged place there were piles o f w ooden boxes fille d w ith glassware. A bou t tw enty convicts from the Yerawada ja il were standing there. The sergeant to ld me to in stru ct the prisoners to c a rry those boxes to a d ry place at some distance. I m ade out w hat he was saying o n ly from his expression and gestures, and explained w hat he was saying to the prisoners w arder in bazaar H in d i. W ith that the w ork o f m o vin g the chests began. The sergeant was pleased to see this and he praised m e. That sergeant was a fu n n y fellow . He was always saying som ething to me. H e had guessed that I found it hard to understand h im , and so he w ould repeat w hat he was saying and make gestures so that I could understand. He scolded me w hen I called h im Sir. He w ould say, 'I am not Sir, S ir is n ot good/ A t about three o'clock the w arder asked perm ission fo r the prisoners to go back to the ja il. The sergeant agreed, and the prisoners w ent away. O u r w ork fo r that day was done. The next day he to ld m e w hat w ork I was to do and w ent off. I m et other w orkers w orkin g in that depot. I m ade th e ir acquaintance and in the recess I came to the gate. There was a w atchm an w ho w ould fris k each person going out before he let h im go out o f the gate. So he frisked me too. I came outside and came to K h adki Bazaar by a shortcut from the arsenal to the K h adki Bazaar. A fte r spending quite a long tim e there I w ent back to D apocli to the house w here I was staying. A t n ig h t m y fellow w orkers in the canteen came and m et m e. I to ld them how I had m anaged to fin d w o rk. They were surprised to hear it from m e. They said, 'N ob od y gets a job there outside th e ir recruitm ent and w ith ou t p ayin g money> and we are am azed that you got yo u rse lf a job there.5 From the tim e I came to live in that house m y going to the tem ple to sing

bhajans had becom e less and less frequent, and after I to o k up the job in the arsenal I h a rd ly even glanced at the tem ple. So that tem ple was gone. But after a few m onths I also lost the place to stay that I had got because o f the tem ple, and I w ent to live in a chawl next to the K h a d ki Bazaar, A gentlem an from the K onkan w ho had re tire d from the ん/ïecr/w (m ule) section o f the arm y was liv in g in a rented room there w ith his w ife fro m Pune. They had no children and they knew n oth in g about th e ir native gaon, o r villa g e . I m ade th e ir acquaintance and fou n d out a ll I could learn about them . A fte r I left the M odi Khana I to o k utm ost care about one th ing: to fin d out w hatever I cou ld about others, but never to reveal the true facts about m yself. I behaved in this same m anner w ith this couple. Then, seeing that I was educated, had a job and had now here to stay, they asked me to com e and stay w ith them and I began to live in that chawl.

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A fte r I got the job in the arsenal I found a k in d o f stab ility. Since I had left Bom bay, and especially after I left the A b itkars5hom e, I was fu ll o f hot air, like a calf. I was s till in the same situation fo r some tim e after I started w o rkin g at the arsenal. For a m onth or tw o I was doin g the same k in d o f w o rk at the arsenal as I had done on m y first day. liie re w ould be different sergeants and different coolies to do the w ork o f c a rryin g loads. Som etim es there were prisoners d o in g this w ork, and som etim es coolies in m ilita ry service. M y job was to get the w ork done from them according to the sergeants in stru ctio n s, I had got a su p ervisors post, above that o f the coolies, ju st because I knew som e E n glish , But m y pay was that o f a coolie. Because o f th is job som e soldiers became m y frien d s. I w ou ld go to th e ir cam p after w o rk to meet them , w hen they asked me to do so. W henever I went to th e ir cam p I was treated to a ll kin ds o f food and d rin k and given cigarettes and other things. Later on, I w ill narrate how m y friendship w ith these soldiers benefited me. But here 1 want first to describe the other kin ds o f w o rk that I d id at the arsenal. A fte r m y w ork as a mukadam was finished I was given the jo b o f a m arker. But that w ork consisted o f w ritin g w ith a brush on parcels w rapped in sacking. In a couple o f days I learned a ll about this w ork and began to do it w ith the other m arkers. Later I was prom oted to w o rkin g as a packer in the packing departm ent. fIh e w ork o f a packer was a sort o f clerical job . Besides, the goods in the store were in the packers custody. The store in the arsenal had goods useful fo r the m ilita ry. T iiere was frisk in g at the gate to prevent these goods fro m being stolen, but even then a ll kinds o f goods and m aterial w ould be stolen. Some tim e after I started w o rkin g as a packer I was given the job o f voucher clerk and after some m onths I becam e a ledger clerk. A ll these jobs were carried out u nd er the su pervision o f w hite officers. A ledger clerk, a voucher cle rk and a dispatch cle rk, they a ll got the same salary. A ll painted w ith the same brush! T lie difference between a coolie and a cle rk was o n ly in the hardness o f th e ir labour. A clerk d id not have to put in as m uch b o d ily e xe rtio n as a coolie d id . In fact b oth the jobs needed no intellect! The type o f w o rk I d id w ent on changing q u ickly, but there was n ot m uch change in m y life beyond w ork. The k in d o f environm ent w hich I inhabited since I left K alib ais house in M o d i Khana was one oijogtins and muralis dedicated to the gods, the licentious behaviour o f the w hite soldiers and th e ir frien ds, and the p itia b le con d ition o f the p o o r w ho w orked in occupations related to the arm y. I felt suffocated liv in g in these surroundings. But one th in g wavs clear: I was aware that I was liv in g in a fo u l k in d o f environm ent. A n d so I was always m akin g efforts to get out o f it. W hen a m an liv in g on his ow n is aware o f the sin he is co m m ittin g, he feels rem orse w hen he is punished and m akes efforts to com e away fro m it. B ut if he is not aware, he feels no rem orse even after he suffers punishm ent, and m akes no efforts to tu rn away from that deed. W hen I left the unhealthy en viron m ent o f D apodi and w ent to live in K h a d ki, m y life had tu rn ed in an appropriate d ire ctio n . Soon after I cam e to K h a d ki, I had to have a sm all surgical operation on

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m y rig h t leg. M y In d ia n sold ie r frien ds arranged fo r me to get adm itted to the K h a d ki M ilita ry H osp ital to get th is done. T lie operation on m y leg was done in that hospital and m y ailm ent was rem oved. I w orked fo r tw o m onths after this op eration . Then I learned about a n ig h t school that had been opened recently. This n ig h t school had been started b y the A legaon kar brothers w ho were follow ers o f Lokm axiya T ila k .u Its nam e was 'A legaonkars' N ig h t SchooF. As soon as I heard about this n ig h t s c h o o l,I w ent there and registered m y nam e. Since I was in a jo b I had no d iffic u lty in p ayin g the fees and m eeting the expense o f b u yin g books. M y adm ission to the n ig h t school was lik e a new life fo r m e. It was a great jo y fo r me that I had becom e a student again. N ow a new rou tin e began, o f d o in g m y job d u rin g the day and going to n ig h t school to gather know ledge. Some o f the persons w orkin g w ith m e at the arsenal had becom e m y frien ds. N ow to these were added frien ds fro m am ong the students o f the A legaonkars5school. Some o f these frien ds lik e d to go and see tamashas and plays. Som e loved to sing bhajans, som e like d gam bling and p la yin g cards, w hile others had a lik in g fo r physical exercise, ru n n in g and other sports. I spent w hat tim e I cou ld w ith a ll o f them and w on th e ir affection. Because o f th e ir com pany I picked up some bad habits. B ut I d id n ot becom e addicted to them . T lie reading I had done ea rlie r and the com pany o f sa in tly persons had given me a m editative nature. Because o f m y yo u th I som etim es stepped ou t o f lin e , but since I was in the habit o f th in k in g about w hat I d id , I w ou ld try hard to recover m yself. From the tim e I began to go to n ig h t s c h o o l,I avoided spending too m uch tim e w ith m y friends w ho were fond o f tamashas, plays, cards, and gam bling. G radually, I became detached from a ll these things. But m y frien d s were never angry w ith me fo r this. It never happened that I cut o ff an acquaintance, o r w hen I had made frien ds w ith som eone that I broke o ff w ith them . D u rin g m y w hole life I never had a personal qu arrel w ith anybody. From c h ild h o o d I had a lik in g for sports, fo r d o in g som ersaults lik e an acrobat o r a bahurupU fo r ru n n in g . The story that follow s w ill illustrate how th is came o f use to me at tim es. O il one occasion w ord a rrive d at ou r school that there was going to be a 27m ile race. Those w ho to o k p art in it successfully w ou ld gain fame and w in prizes. O n this som e o f us students talked it over am ong ourselves and it was decided that we w ould take p art. So we decided to chalk out a circle w ith lim e in an open grou n d w ith babhali bushes to practise ru n n in g . W e got ourselves inform ed about w hat clothes to w ear w hile ru n n in g , how to ru n and how to breathe, and then we1

11 The Alegaonkar brothers were working in the ammunitions factory at Khadki in Pune. Pandharinath Alegaonkar (Treasurer), Vishnupant Alegaonkar (Headmaster), Eknath Alegaonkar (Manager) and Mahadeo Alegaonkar (Superintendent) founded the Khadki Education Society in Pune in 1913, as they saw illiteracy of the workers as a cause of their exploitation. The Alegaonkar School that is mentioned here was the first school started by this Society.—Tr.

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got up at fo u r every m o rn in g to practise ru n n in g in the place we had decided on. We set the clock before we started ru n n in g . U sually it takes about six m inutes to ru n a m ile. O n the first day we practised ru n n in g fo r ten m inutes, on the second fo r tw elve m inutes, then fifteen and tw enty, on an increasing scale. S ix m inutes a m ile m eant that in an h o u r we ran about ten m iles. In this w ay we accustom ed ourselves to ru n for tw o and a h a lf hours each day. In other w ords, we used to ru n tw entyfive m iles each day. In these tw o and a h a lf hours we used to ru n from K h adki to C hinchw ad and then back again to o u r grou n d in K h a d ki. We had started ou r practice w ith the aim o f takin g p art in the tw enty-seven m ile race. For this we should have ru n th irty m iles every day. But we d id not go beyond tw enty-five m iles a day. A n d besides, the date fo r subm itting entries fo r the race had already passed. So we gave up this business we had started, o f ru n n in g every day. I m ust say it was a m atter o f great g ra tifica tio n that we could easily cover a distance o f tw enty-five m iles in two and a h a lf hours. These days, c ity fo lk and villag e fo lk do not travel by foot ve ry often. So th is w ill not mean m uch to them . But we can explain it this w ay: a person can w alk at m ost tw enty-five m iles in one day. So I was easily covering in tw o and a h a lf hours the distance that a person can travel on foot in one day, W hen I returned from K hadki to Dasgaon I becam e a p u p il o f the school at M ahad again. T lien I w ould go from Dasgaon to M ahad o r from M ahad to Dasgaon in h a lf an hour. Later, d u rin g the agitation against the khoti system in the K onkan and d u rin g the w orking-class protest against capitalist im p erialism in Bom bay, I easily w alked any num ber o f m iles each day.12 Because o f the habit o f ru n n in g I had no problem w ith w alkin g any distance, and I never got tirc a how ever m uch l w alked. H ie practice o f ru n n in g and w alkin g was a great help in keeping m e healthy. W h ile I was in K h a d ki another im p ortan t event o f m y life to o k place. Some o f m y friends had set up a bhajan group. The m anager o f a p a rticu la r tem ple had in vite d th is bhajan group to p erform at the D atta festival. A ccord in gly, this

bhajan group a rrive d at the festival site at the tim e agreed upon, w ith th e ir taal and mridanga. But the group had to sit outside the tem ple to sing. Some o f the you ng 12 The khoti system was a form of the zamindari system of land settlement implemented by the British in the Konkan. The traditional landlords, or khots, who were mainly Brahmins or Muslims, were given the right to collect taxes from the peasants. This resulted in extreme exploitation of the Konkan peasantry. Ambedkar launched a movement against the khoti system in 1937, moving a bill in the Legislative Assembly and later organizing a protest march to the Bombay Council Hall. Earlier, in 1922, S.K. Bole had introduced a motion in the Bombay legislature to abolish khoti. Sitaram Keshav Bole (1869-1961) was born in a well-off Bhandari (toddy tapper) caste family in Bombay. Later, he became a follower of Satyashodhak ideology. Bole met B.R. Ambedkar for the first time in 1907, when the latter was honoured for becoming the first Mahar to pass matriculation. Bole was elected to the Bombay Legislative Council from the Non-Brahmin Party in 1920. S.K. Bole also introduced, in 1923, a bill to open to the untouchable classes all public watering places, wells and dhmmnshalas which -were built and maintained out of public funds.

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m en in that group found it in su ltin g that, w hen th e ir group was in no w ay in fe rio r to the other bhajan groups, they were made to sit outside instead o f m ixin g w ith others inside the tem ple. The next day they m et me in the arsenal and we talked about this. Then one o f them suggested that I w rite about this in Satya Prakash, and I m ost h ap p ily agreed to do so. It is im p ortan t to note here that I had never in m y life seen Satya Prakash o r any other new spaper till then. A s I rem em ber, the nam e that these young m en had given th e ir group was 'D atta P rasadik Bhajan MandaF. A s m y friends had suggested, I w rote out this sto ry in easily readable M arathi, and gave it to them . In a w eek o r so the w hole sto ry was puoiished in Satya Prakash w ith the b ylin e 'G ham are5 . M y frien ds brought a copy o f that issue to me. W hen I saw w hat I had w ritte n p rin te d in a new spaper fo r the first tim e in m y lif e ,1 read it over and over again greedily. This article b rin g in g the injustice o f u ntou chab ility to lig h t was m y first step in the w on a o f jo u rn a lism . This was an event o f the first h a lf o f 1920. Satya Prakash was a new spaper o f the Satyashodhak m ovem ent. I read it for the first tim e on that occasion. Later I read other newspapers o f the Satyashodhak m ovem ent and other literature o f the m ovem ent like Gulamgiri ('S lavery5, by M ahatm a Jotiba Phule) and Dashavatar Pradipika.^ In the A legaonkars1 school m y name had been entered fo r the fo u rth form . From there I entered the fifth fo rm . In that school they used the w ord £form , instead o f standard! In M ahad I had passed the second standard and entered the th ird , but 丄had n ot com pleted the course for the th ird standard. I was satisfied that in th is situation, the schooj m K h a d ki, w ithout lo o k in g to certificates, had taken me in to the fo u rth on the basis o f a test. I had com e to Pune because I was draw n to education, but m y life there was an ordeal. To study along w ith doin g a job one needs a congenial en viron m ent. In the hom e o f the A b itka rs, staying w ith K a lib a i, I could perhaps have studied and done a job as w ell, but in try in g to avoid everybody I lost m y ow n way. I was sp in n in g rou n d and rou n d lik e a kite w ith no m oorings. N ow I began to m iss m y m other and other relatives. M y existence in Pune and K h adki seemed lik e tw o different w orlds to me. I had a distant i'd a tive in Lonavala. He live d there w ith his w ife and ch ild re n and w orked as a cle rk in the railw ay goods depot. I decided in m y m in d to v is it h im and ask about m y people at hom e. So in one trip to Lonavala I found out, from a distance, w here he w orked and w here he live d . In the next trip I arrived at his door. He had not com e hom e from w ork. H is w ife was at hom e. She recognized me and 1 3 13 The Satyashodak Samaj ('Truth-Seeiong Society') was founded in 1873 by Jotirao Govindrao Phule (1827-1891) and his followers. The Samaj engaged in a vigorous polemic against caste and Brahminism, and sought to build a broad coalition of Dalits and Non-Brahmins comprised of a coalition of agrarian labourers, farmens, ana landed gentry, united against priestly superstition and capitalist exploitation. The Samaj was actively engaged in producing an everyday counterculture that challenged the ritual and bureaucratic predominance of Brahmins. Phules famous text, Gulamgiri ('Slavery1), written in 1873 suggests a comparison between caste exploitation and Atlantic world slavery.

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said, 'W here have yo u been? Y our m other is h a lf dead fro m w o rryin g about you.1 Then she asked me to have a wash and set a m eal before m e. I said I w ould eat o n ly after the m an o f the house returned. She to ld m e, £He w ill com e hom e late, and if he has been d rin k in g , he w ill be a n gry w ith you. So it is better that you fin ish yo u r d in n e r now ' So I finished m y m eal and sat ta lk in g w ith her, to get m ore news o f hom e. Ä a i and P ithubai are fine. Y our m other is in good health, but she always talks o f you and cries. I have o n ly just returned fro m Dasgaon/ A s she was ta lkin g to m e, Shirkavale M ore entered. Seeing this sturdy re tire d person o f m ilita ry bearin g, I was subdued fo r a m om ent. R am ibai said, 'See, hereJs o u r R am chandra< , H e expressed his pleasv\re> and after he finished his m eal he sat me dow n beside h im and asked how I was. I to ld h im I was w o rkin g at the arsenal and attending the n ig h t school. Then he to ld me that he had m et some o f o u r fo lk in Bom bay and th ey had to ld h im that I had gone o ff in a group o f sadhusyo r h o ly m en. But he had re p lie d that such an educated b oy w ou ld never go o ff w ith sadhus. cSo I was proved rig h t after a ll N ow you go to sleep, we w ill ta lk in the m o rn in g.' So saying, he asked R am ibai to m ake m y bed. I then undressed and w ent to bed. Those people also retired fo r the n igh t. As I lay in bed m any waves o f thought passed th ro u gh m y m in d . So m any days after I had left hom e, I was s till penniless. I f I stayed on w ith these people they w ould pester m e w ith a ll kin ds o f questions in the m o rn in g . So I decided it was better fo r me to go away from there, and then I w ent to sleep. A t fou r in the m o rn in g, I lifte d the latch o f the d o o r w ithout le ttin g anyone hear m e, and stepped out o f the house. A t the nearby railw ay station I caught the shuttle to Pune and reached K h ad ki. Then I w ent to w o rk as u s u a l.I was sure that Shirkavale w ould w rite to Dasgaon and te ll m y fa m ily where I was. So, before som eone from D asgaon o r Bom bay came to take me away, I felt it w ou ld be w ise to re tu rn on m y ow n. I now began to th in k in that d ire ctio n . If I were to go it w ould be better to go d u rin g D iw a li. There were about tw o m onths to go fo r D iw a li. To ensure that I d id n 't forget anything im p ortan t w hen I left, as soon as I got m y wages I paid o ff m y fees and collected the fifth fo rm certificate from the A legaonkars, school. T h in k in g that I should save w hatever m oney I could, I stopped b u yin g new clothes. Just then news o f an im p o rta n t event reached m e: the death o f Lokm anya T ila k . To learn m ore about this I w ent to A legaonkars5 school w ith a few friends. 111

ere we were in fo rm e d that a special tra in had been arranged fo r those w ho

w anted to take p art in Lokm anya Tilalcs fu neral procession. Then I thought to m yself— I had decided to go in D iw a li, but D iw a li was s till far off. A n d anyway, w hat great difference w ould m y going for D iw a li make? I had decided to go after a ll, so w hy w ait t ill D iw ali? Besides, I should not waste the o p p o i'tu n ity to jo in the funeral procession o f a great In d ia n leader. I should th in k o f th is as a coincidence favou rin g m y re tu rn to Bom bay. O K then, I should just go— so I began to collect m y things and w ent and sat in the special bogey at Pune station. The end o f m y

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sojourn in Pune and K hadld and m y return to B om bay m arked the end o f one chapter o f m y life and m y jo u rn e y to the next chaptei'. A rriv in g in B om bay I was able to w itness the unprecedented event o f T ila ks funeral procession. But I could s till not p ut an end to the troubled and uncertain pattern o f m y life . Sardar G rih a , the place from w hich the procession set off, was just a sm all distance fro m the F am ily Lines w here I had been staying before I left Bom bay. In fact I should have gone to A kkas place as soon as I alighted from the tra in , and deposited the m oney I had brought fro m Pune and m y school certificate w ith her. But I d id not m anage to do th is. A t least after the procession it was essential fo r m e to m eet some o f m y relatives. But it is w orth n otin g here, from m y exam ple, that a persons w rongheadedness can som etim es be responsible for his degeneration. W hat happened was that after the fu neral procession was over, I was suddenly taken b y the desire to see a play. The thought never even crossed m y m ind that I had just a rrive d in Bom bay and I needed to m eet m y relatives first; plays I could see at any tim e. A s the idea o f seeing a p la y entered m y mind> m y feet m oved in the d ire ctio n o f the playhouse. Since the p lay was about to begin, I forgot about d in n e r, ate some tea and bread q u ick ly and got in to a seat in the theatre. The play started at nine p.m , and ended past m id n ig h t. A fte r that, I w alked as far as B o ri B under and sat dow n in the Bhatia G ardens near there around oneth irty . In the gardens some people were sleeping, some were sittin g on benches and some were w alkin g around here and there. I decided to spend the n ig h t sittin g there rather than w aking m y relatives at that tim e o f n ig h t. A t about three oclock sleep overcam e me and I to o k o ff m y coat and cap, folded them as a p illo w under m y head and lay dow n on the grass. In a short tim e I was fast asleep. W hen I w oke up at five -th irty I found that som eone had m ade o ff w ith a ll m y things. I had n oth in g left but the sh irt and d h o ti I was w earing. M y eccentric behaviour had re a lly got me in to trou b le. I had stepped from the fry in g pan in to the fire , b ut it was a ll m y ow n fault. Since I was not new to Bom bay I was s till confident that I w ould fin d a w ay out o f th is. So, w ith ou t th in k in g too m uch about w hat had happened, I to o k the road to the docks. Ï w ent to an illite ra te supervisor and agreed to w rite dow n the nam es o f the dockhands fo r h im fo r any wages he was w illin g to give m e. I folded m y dhoti to m ake it in to a lungi. N ow th is lungi and sh irt were m y d a ily o u tfit and the gardens w here I had been robbed were m y m gn tly sleeping place. I began a life o f daytim e in the docks and n igh t-tim e in the garden. I becam e acquainted w ith the people in the gardens w ho live d b y stealing, and came to be know n as one o f them . In those days one could get a bhakari and a piece o f pum pkin fo r tw o pice at the roadside near the docks, and a fu ll m eal fo r one anna on the ships. A t n ig h t I w ould attend sin gin g and dancing sessions and w ander around, then at an u n e a rth ly h o u r I w ould get up and go to the docks and lo o k fo r w o rk on d a ily wages, I used the public latrines and washed m yself o r to o k a bath at the taps nearby. I washed m y clothes at the same

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tap and sat w earing just a lo in c lo th till they d rie d . O n the days w hen I found w ork, I w ould get m y wages in hand in the evening. F rom this I w ould go to a restaurant and eat dal, roti, vegetables and rice o r som etim es m utton. But I had to be careful that I had enough m oney left over fo r breakfast in the m o rn in g. Som etim es I could not get w ork fo r as lon g as fo u r days. A t such tim es I w ou ld barely eat som ething and that too w itn the help o f m y friends at w ork. M y frien ds too were like m e. We helped each other as frien ds and accom plices. A peculiar in cid e n t to o k place one day. It happened that I and a frie n d o f m ine had gone w ith ou t eating fo r tw o days. W e cooked up the scheme o f going to restaurant and eating o u r fill. To do this, one o f us w ould place the ord er fo r w hatever we w anted to eat. A fte r we finished o u r m eal he w ould go o ff on the excuse o f eating paan and not com e back. The other w ould sit there for a w hile and then leave. If the restaurant-ow ner stopped h im he w ou ld say, I d id not give the ord er; take the m oney from the one w ho ordered the food. W e thought that the restaurant-ow ner w ould be fooled b y this tric k and we w ould have a m eal fo r free. In the end we re a lly put this scheme in to practice and w ent and ate in a restaurant. A t the end o f the m eal the one w ho had ordered the m eal w ent o ff and I rem ained behind. Then w hen I started to leave the ow ner asked me fo r m oney. I said, 'I d id n t give the o rd e r' H e replied, 'W h oever m ay have placed the order, you ate here and you have to pay.' I said, 'I don't have any m oney just now , T il pay tom orrow .5He said he w ould hand me over to the police. I said, ‘D o ü.’ H e then said, ‘N 0 , anyw ay the police w on't get me m y m oney. So you take o ff yo u r clothes and take them back w hen you pay me tom orrow .5 In the end, after arguing w ith h im fo r some tim e I left the hotel at one a.m , w earing o n ly a lo in c lo th . I spent the n ig h t sh iverin g w ith cold and in the m o rn in g I w ent to one o f the ships and to o k the w ork o f u n lo ad in g coal from the ships h o ld . I spent five days in that co n d itio n on the ship and on the sixth day I to o k m y wages and alighted. I w ent to the restaurant that n ig h t and paid m y dues, then put on the clothes I had left there and came out. I had eked out six days in Bom bay som ehow, w earing o n ly a lo in c lo th and sleeping on a ship. I had brought such a situation upon m yself from m y thoughtlessness. T liis was the greatest punishm ent I had suffered in m y life , It dem onstrates how an inconstant nature can get a person in to trou ble. A fte r that I stopped attending the m usical sessions at n ig h t and also stopped staying in the Bhatia G ardens. I rem em bered how I w rongheadedly w ent to the theatre w hen I came to Bom bay instead o f going to m y relatives, and then strayed on the w rong path and suffered. I was now determ ined to come out o f a ll th is. I w ould not spend the m oney I earned on inessential things; I w ould not spend tim e w ith m y friends w ho were on the w rong path them selves. I w ould save at least enough m oney to b u y a jacket, a cap and chappak, and then as soon as possible I w ould go and stay w ith the people I knew . I started a new rou tin e o f w o rkin g on the ships o r the docks d u rin g the day and sleeping on a nearby pavem ent at n igh t. W hen I

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had saved enough m oney I bought m yself clothes one day, got a haircut in the saloon and then w ent to a p ub lic bath in the H am am khana area fo r a wash before I put on m y new clothes. Then I w ent to v is it one o f m y relatives w ho live d in the Cem ent C haw l in Parel. H e was happy to see me after such a lon g tim e. A t n igh t, after dinner, I w ent to bed there. In the m o rn in g I had

first hot-w ater bath in

days, had breakfast and then w ent upstairs to try and m eet A m bedkar Saheb.14 But by that tim e he had left fo r London. I m et his elder b roth er Balaram dada in the evening and asked h im to guide me regarding m y fu rth e r studies. This was the first occasion on w hich I spoke w ith h im d ire ctly. He treated me w ith great affection and asked me to com e and m eet h im again in a few days. O f course, I spent those tw o o r three days staying w ith th is same relative. I m et Balaram dada once again. Then he to ld me that n oth in g cou ld be arranged im m ediately, he w ould th in k about it later. The next day I went back to the place in Bom bay from w hich I had earlier left the city, the F am ily Lines near C raw ford M arket. Then I caught a ship that stopped ove rn ig h t in Dasgaon. M y m other felt as though I had been reborn. M y o n ly sister was then seven years old. D u rin g m y absence she had been m a rrie d to one o f m y schoolm ates. Just like m y w edding, her m arriage was like a d o lls' w edding. She had been present for m y w edding, but I was not present fo r hers. T liis was a m atter o f great sorrow fo r m y m other. N ow w hen she saw us b rother and sister together, she was overcom e w ith em otion and stream s o f tears were flow in g from her eyes. M y sister was m y m others ve ry breath. Seeing m y m other c ryin g she too began to cry, and then o f course Ï too cou ld not h old in m y tears. O u r other relatives w ho had gathered there com forted m y m other and asked how I was. M y hom ecom ing this tim e became the subject o f ta lk in every house, because it was w ell know n that persons from that village com m u n ity from several generations, w ho had vanished like m e, never came back again. H ow was it that Ï had returned? F rom th is it appears that m any persons o f o u r com m unity, not ju st from o u r villages but fro m other villages, often left th e ir villa g e and vanished. C o u ld it be that this m ig ra tio n was an attem pt at an in d ivid u a ls escape from untouchability? W hen I returned to D asgaon I found that m y hom e had becom e a school. O u r house had been rented out to a M ahar school and m y m other was liv in g in a sm all shed next to the b ig house and liv in g on the wages o f her labour. O ne o f m y fathers m aternal cousins was the teacher in that school and he d id not even give the rent to m y m other. A b o u t the tim e I returned, he had been aw arded a contract fo r cuttin g forest tim b er in the villag e o f Talegaon on the D haram tar-M ahabaleshw ar road. For this he needed the help o f som eone lik e me. M y a rriva l solved a problem for h im . He at once m et the D eputy Inspector in the Schools D epartm ent and got me an appointm ent as stand-in teacher in the school at D asgaon. Two things resulted 14 In Satyendra More's biography, we learn that B.R. Ambedkar was living in the Cement Chawl at Poybawadi in Parel. His rooms would have been upstairs on the first floor.

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from th is. F irstly, he was free to do his w o rk as a forest con tractor and, secondly, I became a teacher in the school in m y ow n hom e. The fact that not o n ly had I su rvived and returned hom e, but I had also got a job as teacher in m y ow n house, was a m atter o f great happiness fo r m y m other, above a ll She thought that her days o f d e p riva tion were over, but that d id not happen. Because I was caught in the deceitful net o f false affection that the people at the b ig house cast over m e, and I s till d id not have the courage to break out o f it. I behaved just as those people asked me to behave. They, rather than m y m other, exerted th e ir a u th o rity over me. I had to hand over m y salary to them . H ow ever, I d id not give the rent m oney to them but to m y m other. They m ade a noise about th is at first, but I d id not listen to them . So I began to hand over three rupees a m onth as rent and tw o rupees fo r sweeping and cleaning the room s d a ily to m y m other. Besides th is, I spared w hatever m oney I could out o f m y pay, fo r basic needs, to give m y m other. In those days one could b u y a mann m easure o f rice fo r a rupee and other things were also cheap. So m y m other got some relief. Now , w hether I w ent on w orkin g as a teacher o r n ot, five rupees a m onth w ould come in to m y m oth ers hands. M y retu rn to Dasgaon secured th is m uch fo r m y m other. I had not gone to Bom bay and Pune w ith the in te n tio n o f m aking m oney. M y objective was education. I felt bad because m y education was incom plete. The question o f how to take m y studies fu rth e r m ade me restless. 111at was w hy I went to Pune. I got in to a ll kinds o f trouble because o f th is and in the end I found m yself a n igh t school and even began to study there. But because o f m y stu p id ity I left that halfw ay and w ent to Bom bay, and now Ï had returned to D asgaon. The teaching job I had in D asgaon was tem porary. W hen it was over I had a thought o f going to the school in M ahad again, and I to ld m y m other th is. A a i thought it a good idea. W h ile I was away in K h ad ki and Pune another im p ortan t event had taken place in Ladaw ali. In Ladaw ali and the villages around there had been an epidem ic o f cholera. H undreds o f people had died just in Ladaw ali. In the space o f tw o days about th irty people had died. M y grandm other, m y m other s eldest b roth er and his w ife died on the same day. O n ly m y youngest uncle su rvived . Since this unfortunate incident occurred in Ladaw ali there was n ob ody to lo o k after m y uncles fields and his cattle. W hen the cholera epidem ic had subsided m y youngest uncle got m arried, on m y m oth ers advice. A fte r that m y m other, m y sister, m y youngest uncle (mama) and his w ife began to live together. W hen I returned from Bom bay and Pune, A a i was in D asgaon, but she had o n ly just com e there tw o m onths earlier after a quarrel w ith her brother. M y uncle m ade frequent trip s to Dasgaon and trie d to convince her to com e back to Ladaw ali, and she too was th in k in g o f going back there. Because o f m y retu rn just then her plan o f going to Ladaw ali was postponed. N ow when I talked about going back to school in M ahad she was all fo r the idea. A fte r m y father passed away I, A a i and m y sivSter were liv in g w ith m y m aternal uncle w hen I attended the school in M ahad. A t the tim e o u r staying in Ladaw ali

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was out o f m y need. But now it was m y uncle w ho needed us to stay w ith h im , because he was in need o f m y m others p rotection . Besides, we had rented out o u r house to the school in D asgaon and the rent w ould also help h im . O nce we had fixed on the idea o f m y going back to school in M ahad, m y m other w ent to live w ith her brother in Ladaw ali and I began to stay w ith the people in the big house. O f m y six-m onth vacancy jo b , tw o o r three m onths had passed and a few m onths rem ained. A t such a tim e I had a great o p p o rtu n ity fo r m yself in d ivid u a lly, but from ignorance I was not able to take advantage o f it. This was how it happened— the person in whose place I was w orkin g as a teacher was dealing w ith people as a jungle contractor. H e had to get a stam p o f governm ent approval to cut dow n tim b er from the forest and sell it. The a u th o rity to grant this approval rested w ith the European C onservator. O nce, w hen this C onservator was in D asgaon, o u r contractor to o k m e to see h im . I talked to h im about the stam p in E n glish . Later he asked about m e and prom ised to get me an appointm ent as p rob ation er Ranger in the Forest O ffice. He to ld me to w ork fo r six m onths in a centre at W ada near Poladpur. A fte r that he w ould send me to do a course in A jm er. Then, he said, I w ould becom e a regular Ranger w ith a horse, an office at the tehsil place and fo u r round guards w o rkin g under me. cIf you agree to w hat I have said, com e and te ll me so to m o rrow and I w ill give you a w ritten appointm ent order.1 In those days an In d ia n was ra re ly given an im p ortan t post like that o f a Ranger in the C iv il Service. I was being offered the job even though I d id n t have the necessary educational qualifications. That was because I had relatives in the M ahar regim ent, and th is C onservator had been connected to the M ahar and other arm y regim ents. So th is was a rare o p p o rtu n ity fo r m e. But w hen the people in the b ig house and o u r neighbours sat dow n together at n ig h t to th in k about th is offer, except for me and one o r tw o other persons everyone was o f the op in ion that I should not take this job . W hat they said was that th is was the Forest O ffice after all. N ob ody could te ll w hen I m igh t be m urdered there. O thers w iil not like it (that I had such an im p o rta n t post). They w ill conspire to b rin g you dow n in any w ay they can and later w ill say they had n oth in g to do w ith it. Even though we are under B ritish ru le, o u r people are not taken into governm ent service anywhere except in the arm y. Even an o rd in a ry policem ans job is not given to ou r people. Even guards in the Forest O ffice are usually not from am ong o u r people. In view o f a ll th is, I should not take th is jo b — th is was everybodys o p in io n . Some said, 'Even if it is a golden dagger, should one pierce it in ones ow n heart?' O n one side there was this resistance fro m m y fam ily, and on the other m y fervent desire to study fu rth er, and so I let a good o p p o rtu n ity pass. I f I had accepted this job ofFer, I w ould have been m uch talked about as the first untouchable in the B om bay Presidency to be a candidate fo r a post as h ig h as a Ranger in a C iv ii Service job in the governm ent. A n d later I could have becom e

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a D ivisio n a l O fficer, but that d id not happen. That p e rio d o f m y life was a tim e that gave m y life its d ire ctio n . That was a tim e that pushed me to k ic k away the golden handcuffs o f a job in the governm ent, and stim ulated m e to stand at the fore fro n t o f the battle fo r freedom o f m y class and a ll the people. I have always felt a k in d o f righteous satisfaction in this. W hen m y term as a teacher in the leave vacancy was over, I changed from being a teacher to a student. M y nam e was entered in the school at M ahad once again in the fifth E nglish class. This was yet another tu rn that m y life had taken. Student, cow herd, farm labourer, w orker, co o lie , p orter, m arker, packer, cle rk, teacher and now a student again ；these were the tran sition s in m y occupational life . Even as a c h ild I came in to contact w ith diverse th ings in the p rovin ce o f the sp iritu a l and the cu ltu ra l. R eading h o ly books, w orshipping the gods, studying horoscopes, fasting, singin g bhajans accom panied by the ektari and the mridanga, singin g songs at w eddings and at the Gaud festival, te llin g tales, takin g p art p ersonally in

kirtanas, tamashas and plays, a ll this came easily to m e. W hen I came to the school in M ahad now , it was as a know ledgeable student, a student w ith experience. That was a p e rio d o f great social, p o litica l and econom ic events brought about by the first im p e ria list w orld w ar. The untouchables and those classes crushed b y social in e q u ity were b u ild in g th e ir ow n organizations. In the cities there were w orkers' strikes and struggles, and the w inds o f p o litic a l m ovem ents were beginn ing to blow around us. M y retu rn to the school at M ahad had com e after an in te rva l o f three o r fo u r years. D u rin g this tim e m om entous events had taken place in the w orld. G reat changes had taken place. But the practice o f u n tou ch a b ility in the school at M ahad had not changed at all. M y classes to o k place in the same classroom as th ey had been held before, and just as they used to seat me separately then, so d id they seat m e separately now. It was a h isto ric event in the m ovem ent fo r the a b o litio n o f u ntou chab ility that because o f this E nglish school at M ahad, I m yself and the injustice o f u n tou ch a b ility received p u b lic ity in the newspapers as early as 1914-15. U n to u ch a b ility has been practised in In d ia fo r hundreds o f years. But since it is an injustice, a k in d o f oppression, a form o f slavery, the enem ies o f the untouchables have always taken care that it should n ot be spoken of, that it should n ot be op e n ly discussed. The actuality that students w ith a love o f learn in g had the doors o f a school closed against them was published in a new spaper s ixty years ago because I was not given adm ission to that school, and in this w ay the social injustice o f u n tou ch a b ility came to be p u b lic ly discussed. O ne m ight say that this p u b lic discussion in an old er tim e was the trum pet call fo r the h isto ric m ovem ent that later, in 1927, b u ilt up under Babasaheb A m bedkars leadership to fig h t fo r the self-esteem , id e n tity and independence o f the untouchables. H um ans have enslaved hum ans, hum ans have decided that hum ans are untouchable, hum ans have exp loited and oppressed hum an beings, hum ans have

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chained hum ans in co lo n ia l ru le . O f course those w ho are enslaved m ust figh t against slavery. That is w hy they m ust agitate. Those w ho have been declared as untouchable m ust fig h t against the practice o f u n tou ch a b ility and they m ust agitate. Haose w ho have been exploited and oppressed m ust figh t againvSt e xp loita tio n . Those w ho are colon ized m ust struggle against co lon ia lism , they m ust agitate, and so the re a lity is that the real w ar o f the untouchables against the practice o f untou chab ility, the real agitation against iin to u ch a b ility began in M ahad under the leadership o f A m bedkar. In this context it is extrem ely im p ortan t to m ention that, soon after the B ritish governm ent em barked on the establishm ent o f selfgovernm ent bodies in this co u n try in 1864, a representative fro m those considered untouchable, G opal Baba W alangkar, was given m em bership o f the m u n icipal b od y at M ahad, in 1884. This w ill give the reader an idea o f the central im portance that M ahad held in the struggle fo r lib e ra tio n o f the m illio n s o f people w ho had been considered untouchable in In d ia . A s m entioned above, I had entered the school at M ahad fo r the second tim e as a student w ho was w iser than before. I had by now a general idea o f the relations betw een the people and the governm ent, o f the different strata am ong the people and th e ir problem s, o f re lig io u s, social, econom ic and p o litic a l differences. I was sharply aware o f the problem o f untou chab ility. T liis tim e I m oved around fearlessly in the school and in the m arke t at M ahad. M y earlier diffidence had now com pletely disappeared. I now had the guts to answ er any questions that were p ut to m e according to m y a b ility. A fte r I was adm itted to the school in M ahad fo r the firs t tim e, a restaurant had been started in the m arketplace to solve the problem I, and m y brethren com ing from the villages, faced in getting d rin k in g watei'. That restaurant was s till ru n n in g w hen I returned. It used to be closed d u rin g the rains and open in the hot seasons; but because it was fa r from the untouchable colon y nobody stayed there at n ig h t. But now there were m ore custom ers vis itin g the restaurant. There had been a ve ry large in flo w o f ex-soldiers in that v ic in ity. This was due to the disbanding and breaking up o f the 111th M ahar regim ent after the w ar was over. These unem ployed soldiers were now earning th e ir subsistence th ro u gh farm in g o r th rou gh m anual labour. Because o f th e ir m ilita ry occupation and th e ir h avin g travelled w idely, they were b o ld and courageous. Because o f m y know ledge o f M arathi and E n glish , m y thoughts on variou s subjects and m y feeling fo r the interests o f the com m on people, the know ledgeable visito rs to the restaurant fro m villages a ll over felt great respect fo r me and gave me a ll kin ds o f in fo rm a tio n . Som e people from villages near M ahad w ould m ake it a p o in t to com e and sit there every day. F rom m o rn in g t ill evening the place w ould be crow ded w ith people and there w ould always be a discussion going on some topic o r other. I used to be in the restaurant every day w hen I came to M ahad from Ladaw ali in the m o rn in g after breakfast. Then, d u rin g the draw ing and d rill classes w hen the school gave me tim e o ff to avoid m y touch, I w ould again be in the restaurant. The same after school:

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9フ

Group photo of Mahad karyakortas, including B.R. Ambedkarand R.B. More. Courtesy of Subodh More, who was provided a copy by Vijay Surwade. again I w ould be in the restaurant. So a ll in a ll I spent a lo t o f m y tim e there. D u rin g th is tim e I cou ld gather in fo rm a tio n from persons com ing from villages fro m a ll over, just b y sittin g there. That restaurant had becom e a v irtu a l in fo rm a tio n centre fo r a circle o f about s ixty square m iles around M ahad. R aigad, Pratapgad and the villages o f the va lle y com e w ith in that circle. So I gathered proper in fo rm a tio n about w hat la n d o f relations the people in this circle had w ith each other, and w hether the M ahar fo lk were on term s o f equ ality w ith people o f other castes, o r were subservient tow ards them . So I learned that even though the M ahars were in a m in o rity in these villages, th ey d id not bend before the people o f the other castes. Because o f the custom o f u ntou chab ility, untouchables and caste H indus kept a distance fro m each other. But they d id not hate each other. W hen they went on a hunt, everyone set out together, arm ed w ith spears and axes. A t such tim es th ey w ould not differentiate am ong untouchables and other castes. In these villages there are large num bers o f p o o r peasants from a ll castes. They cannot earn enough fo r th e ir subsistence in the villa g e . So th ey are a ll forced to head fo r the city. In every house there is at least one adult m ale w ho has jo in e d the arm y or is w orkin g in a m ill in the city. Since both untouchables and other castes are in the same life situation th ey relate to each other as equals. It is a han dfu l o f people from the upper classes w ith th e ir o rth o d o x th in k in g w ho are responsible fo r the sense o f otheniess that has grow n betw een the untouchables and the caste H in d u p o o r in the villages. W hen I understood this re a lity m y thoughts received a stim ulus.

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Because o f that restaurant in M ahad I came to understand the p reh isto ry o f the M ahar peoples o f that w hole area, th e ir characteristics, th e ir good and bad points, th e ir cu ltu ra l heritage, th e ir love fo r th e ir m otherland. This organized com m unity is a great force in M aharashtra. It has the capacity to b rin g about social and p o litic a l change. T liis too I realized, and then the w ork o f m aking this com m u nity aware about lo cal issues began. The im portance that M ahad has assumed in the m ovem ent fo r the lib e ra tio n o r freedom o f the untouchables can be traced back to that restaurant. The first reverberations o f the C havdar lake m ovem ent and o f A m bedkar s great deeds began from here.15 The H in d u and M uslim ru lers w ho rose to pow er after the varna system based on d iscrim in a tio n am ong castes in In d ia , and untou chab ility, its essence, had com e in to existence, tied up the untouchables w ith the chains or slavery. H ie B ritish im perialists w rested state pow er from the hands o f these H in d u and M uslim rulers and established th eir ru le over a ll o f In d ia . They to ok on them selves the m onopoly o f e xp lo itin g and strip p in g the people o f the w hole o f In d ia . O f course along w ith the exp loita tio n o f a ll the people they also exploited the untouchables. But by g ivin g the untouchables the new label of'D epressed Classes the B ritish gave them a place in In d ia n p o litic a l life . The H in d u and M uslim rulers had also treated the H in d u ana M uslim people as slaves. But even so, under th e ir ru le , the untouchables were never given the same place in society as the H in d u and M uslim com m on people. For them the people were d ivid e d am ong H indu s and M uslim s on ly. But the B ritish , be it fo r th e ir ow n selfish p o litic a l ends, b rought the untouchables as a th ird section o f society, alongside the H indus and the M uslim s, on to the p o litica l h o rizo n . D u rin g the M ontagu-C helm sford reform s the untouchables were designated as the Depressed Classes. D u rin g later reform s they were referred to as the Scheduled Castes. The educational and job-related fa cilitie s o r concessions that the untouchables receive even today are given to them as Scheduled Castes. This is the objective reality. Before this th ey d id n ot enjoy any o f the fundam ental righ ts o f citizensnip. From the tim es o f unregulated state pow er, there have existed the relationships between k in g and subject, between ru lers and raiyats o r peasants. O f course in India> the untouchable people were segregated away from th e ir settlem ents b y the subjects and the peasants them selves, were denied the use o f p ub lic places m eant fo r the use o f the subject peoples and o f w ells, lakes, dharamshalas, etc., and were liv in g the life o f slaves o f these subject peoples. T lie y say that slavery ended the w o rld over in 1861.16 But we can say that the slavery that was inherent in the In d ia n

15 C havdar lake m ovem ent, the first satyagraha to access the water o f the Chavdar reservoir in M ahad by untouchables wavS led by Am bedkar in M arch 1927, dem anding im plem entation o f the 1923 legislation initiated by S.K. Bole, w hich gave D alits access to public water facilities. This is dealt w ith in m ore detail in Satyendra M ore^ biography. Kl The B ritish abolished the slave trade in 1807, and abolished slavery in 1833.

THE A U T O B IO G R A P H Y

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M E M O IR S

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practice o f u n to u ch a b ility ended o n ly w hen the In d ia n C on stitu tion declared that u n to u ch a b ility had been abolished, lla is means that the In d ia n ru lin g class, by w ay o f the C on stitu tio n , has agreed to grant to the untouchable peoples the same righ ts, m ore or less, that are granted to the rest o f the In d ia n people. A n d all Indians have no alternative but to accept the b itte r tru th that the b egin n in g o f a ll this was m ade by the B ritish ru lers. I have given the above background in ord er to explain w hy so m uch tim e had to elapse! u n til the daw n o f the tw entieth century, before the struggle fo r the fundam ental righ ts o f citizen sh ip fo r the untouchables could begin in M ahad. The untouchable people o f the M ahad v ic in ity , lon g oppressed by the chains o f u ntou chab ility, were stru g glin g to liberate them selves from these bonds. The a c tivity o f d riv in g forw ard that struggle w ent on in the restaurant in M ahad. This restaurant had becom e a m eeting-place and a p latfo rm fo r the M ahar people o f about tw o hundred villages in the M ahad tapay o r section, the Nate tapay the B irw ad tapa, the V in h ere tapa and the T u d il tapa, five tapas in a ll. The usefulness o f th is from the p o in t o f view o f id eological aw akening and organization cannot be im agined. The people were angered that th ey had to face insults at every tu rn because o f u ntou chab ility, that others treated them w ith contem pt. They had also becom e convinced that they should give up eating the inedible (that is, ca rrio n m eat), change th e ir filth y liv in g habits, and resist injustice; they had now started to put a ll this in to practice. The untouchables felt p roud o f me as a know ledgeable student o f the E nglish school in M ahad, a sturdy-chested young m an w ho raised his voice op enly against the injustice o f u n to u ch a b ility that we a ll sufFered, and m y w ord carried w eight w ith them . In the past untouchable persons were shouted at and som etim es even beaten in the open m arketplace in M ahad. But if such a th in g happened now, eight o r ten youths arm ed w ith sticks w ould com e ru n n in g from the restaurant to help them , and if neeaed help w ou ld a rrive in larger num bers. So now these other people, H indu s and M uslim s, understood that the untouchable fo lk , especially those o f the M ahar com m unity，were becom ing aware and getting organized. It w ould be wise not to cross th e ir path. Some o f the B rahm ins and G ujars in the m arketplace w ould ask me m ockingly, are you going to becom e a mamledar or a law yer? To w hich I w ould reply, N ever m in d about m e, but there are m any persons in o u r com m u n ity w ho are educated far beyond yo u r expectations, w ho have acquired M .A ., P h.D ., D.Sc. degrees or are barristers-at-law ' They w ou ld n ot believe me w hen they heard this. They were not at a ll ready to accept that persons from the M ahar caste could attain such h igh academ ic degrees. They w ould say to me that at m ost som eone m ight becom e an L L .B ., but n o th in g h igh e r than that. To te ll the tru th , w hat they said was rig h t at that tim e; because in those days an in a m clu al w ho was so h ig h ly educated w ou ld be a ra rity even am ong B rahm ins. But I had determ ined in m y m in d that I w ould

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b rin g D r. Am bedlcar to M ahacl so that these persons5eyes w ould be opened, and I began to draw up plans fo r m o vin g in that d ire ctio n . A t one p o in t a la n d lo rd nam ed D eshm ukh closed dow n that restaurant ow ned by M ohoprekar, as p art o f an action taken against M ohoprekar, w ho was his tenant. But I defeated the la n d lo rd s action: I to ok over the restaurant m yself, put up a board saying 'R .B . M ore's Rest Housed and then got it goin g again. This caused me to be m uch talked about. M y success in teaching a w ell-know n la n d lo rd a lesson w on me the affection o f other p o o r people besides the untouchables. Because o f that restaurant in M ahad, every untouchable person com ing to the m arket in the tow n was able to m ove about w ithout fear. He spoke out against untouchability. The p o o r caste H indus d id not hate h im fo r th is o r bear any anger tow ards h im ; on the con trary, they felt a k in d o f cu rio sity about the courageous behaviour o f the untouchables. I m yself was a schoolboy com ing to M ahad every day from a nearby villa g e , in a situation w here the untouchable settlem ents were some distance from the school, so that I could not get a d rin k o f w ater in the m arketplace. H undreds o f untouchables com ing there from the v ic in ity o f R aigad were in the same p o sitio n . So the opening o f a restaurant in the m arketplace in M ahad solved m y problem and that o f a few others fo r the tim e being. But the drin kin g-w ater problem o f large num bers o f m en and w om en was not solved at all. So this was a problem concerning peoples needs w hich rem ained a sm ou lderin g issue in M ahad. Just then the year 1923 daw ned. That year S.K . Bole m oved a resolution in the Bom bay Legislative C o u n cil to open up p u b lic w ells, reservoirs, dharamshalas, d rin kin g-w a ter stands, etc. to untouchables, and the B ritish ru lers brought som e g litte r to th e ir im age b y passing it.17 T lien the governm ent passed the B ill on to governm ent in stitu tion s and sem i-governm ent bodies like m u n icip a l councils fo r im plem entation. A t th is tim e a num ber o f in stitu tion s came forw ard, p ostu rin g as backers o f th is governm ent B ill, to claim that theirs was a progressive body, and to try and w in the governm ents favour fo r some advantage o f th e ir ow n. Som e talkative reform ers am ong them even gave verb al assurances that they supported the B ill. But in re a lity not a single such b od y dared to im plem ent the B ill. They d id not even have the courage o r honesty to spread the w ord in support o f the B ill. To te ll the tru th , leaving aside a handful o f educated persons lik e me am ong the untouchables w ho had a lik in g fo r p ub lic a ctivity, n ob ody w anted to have anyth in g to do w ith the B ill. O ne day after the B ill had been passed, I organized a sm all m eeting in the M aharw ada o r M ahar colon y w ith some m ilita ry pensioners vis itin g the m arket­ place and som e o f m y frien ds, where I to ld them about this B ill w hich had been passed by the governm ent. Besides m e, there was another outspoken person present, an eld erly m an nam ed M aru ti Agavane. He had lost one arm and ran a shoe shop 17 Resolution no. 4770 o f 4 August 1923. For a discussion o f ju rid ica l ideas o f public acceSvS that anim ated the M ahad and temple entry satyagrahas, see Rao, The Caste Question^ C hapter 2.

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in the m arketplace in M ahad. H is th in k in g was in clin e d tow ards the Satyashodhak Sam aj, and he always expressed great affection fo r m e. In that m eeting he gave a call to take up the w ater question. Tliese people o f the C ham bhar (cobbler) caste from the D eccan plateau used to ru n th e ir shops in M ahad fo r eight m onths o f the

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year, and go hom e to th e ir villages fo r the fo u r m onths d u rin g the m onsoon. In

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that m eeting we m ade a decision o f h istoric im portance: to h o ld a conference o f

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the Colaba D is tric t Outcastes' A ssociation in M ahad under the chairm anship o f

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D r. B him rao R am ji A m bedkar. The heads o f caste panchayats were entrusted w ith

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the re sp o n sib ility o f collectin g three rupees a head from each and every villa g e , to

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cover the expenses o f h o ld in g the conference. N ow a new a ir o f enthusiasm sprang

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up am ong the untouchable yo u th in the m arketplace. Everyw here there was ta lk about the prospect o f A m bedkar Saheb com ing to M ahad fo r a big gathering. Later, in 1924, in the m onth o f M ay, I w ent to Bom bay and met A m bedkar

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Saheb. The people o f the Social Service League had given h im a room on the first flo o r above the D am odar H a ll in Parel.18 W hen he returned from England after appearing fo r the bar exam inations, this room was the first office that he set up. W hen I w ent to m eet h im , Shivram Sam bhaji G aikw ad was w ith m e. We first m et A nantrao C h itre o f the Social Service League and then m et A m bedkar and to ld h im what we had to te ll h im . The presence o f C h itre m ade things easy fo r m e. He (A m bedkar) in q u ire d about w here I live d , w hat I d id , how far I had studied and so on, and expressed his satisfaction. He then said to m e, 'You don't know w hat people o f the K onkan are lik e . They are ve ry obstinate. They w ill always say, w hat we do is as it should be. 111ey w ill say, who is this C h rist-lo ve r com ing here te llin g us w hat to do? A n d th ey w o n t listen to me! To w hich I answered, cSaheb, they listen to me so they w ill ce rta in ly listen to you.1 In the end he s a id ,1 have no tim e just now. Com e back d u rin g the D iw a li vacations and we w ill see w hat we can do.’ Then I w ent back to C h itre w ho was in the next room . He asked me how I intended to collect m oney fo r the conference, and I to ld h im that the people from villages all over w ould raise a little m oney. He then prom ised to help us in the fin an cin g and so we chalked out a p lan. The plan was to put up a p la y and use the incom e from that fo r the conference. He was so im pressed b y the idea o f a conference being held in M ahad under D o cto r Saheb's chairm anship that he called m e the ve ry next day and fin a lize d the plans fo r the play. The Social Service League w orked m the w orking-class v ic in ity under the leadership o f the Servants o f In d ia Society, w hich had been established b y M r.

!S The Social Service League was founded in 1911 by N .M . Joshi. Joshi was an im portant m em ber o f the Servants o f In d ia Society ；w hich was founded by G opal K rishna G okhale. He also founded the A ll In d ia Trade U n io n Congress, together w ith Lala Lajpat Rai. The League undertook relief w ork and welfare program m es for the poor. A nantrao C hitre and A .V . Tipnis, w ho played an im portant role in the M ahad satyagrahaywere prom inent m embers o f the Social Service League.

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[G opal K rishna] G okhale. O ne cou ld say that this Society had la id the foundations o f the cooperative m ovem ent in the w orking-class area o f B om bay about fifty years earlier. The Social Service League began its w o rk b y w ay o f setting up a cooperative cred it society at Elphiastone R oad, a cooperative p rin tin g press and a cooperative theatre com pany. Kadam was the leader o f th is cooperative theatre com pany. Sant

Tukaram was the first play they had rehearsed. They prom ised to deaicate the takings o f the first perform ance o f th is p lay to o u r conference in M ahad. We had secured a free perform ance o f th is play solely on the w ord o f C h itre and Kadam . But w ho was to ca rry out the re sp o n sib ility o f selling the tickets? The p lay was to be perform ed in the D am odar H a ll, and this h a ll was ow ned b y the Social Service League. So we were to get the h a ll also fo r free. W e o n ly had to arrange fo r the sale o f tickets. I felt that Balaram A m bedkar (Bhim rao's elder b rother) could help us out in th is, and so I w ent to see h im and asked fo r his help. He too was ve ry happy to learn that a conference was to be heid m M ahad. H e prom ised that he w ould com e to M ahad fo r the conference, but he d id not undertake the re sp o n sib ility o f se llin g tickets. He said, 'O u r people do not watch plays, they go to see tamashas. So I cannot do anyth in g fo r you in this regard.' O n w hich I to ld h im , 'If you give me the names o f some o f yo u r acquaintances, I w ill go and m eet them •’ He then gave me the nam e and address o f Sam bhaji Tukaram Gailcwad. A t the tim e he was w orkin g as forem an in a French m otorcar com pany, and he earned a salary o f tw o hundred rupees. In those days a w orkm an o r a cle rk h ard ly earned tw enty to tw enty-five rupees a m onth. He was a dedicated social w orker o f the tim e from the M ahar com m unity. That was the first tim e I had m et h im . W hen he heard that I had received m y M arathi and E nglish education in the villages and w hen he heard about o u r plans fo r the conference, he was overcom e w ith em otion. But w hen it came to the question o f sellin g tickets, he fla tly refused to sell the tickets h im se lf o r to get som eone else to sell them , p o in tin g to the peoples bad habits and a d d iction s.19 Balaram A m b edkar and Sam bhaji G aikw ad were at the tim e the o n ly tw o people I knew in the w hole o f Bom bay w ho had a concern fo r social a ctivity, excepting D r. A m b edkar him self. Since both o f them had tu rn ed me dow n, I was ve ry disappointed. Then I w ent to m eet three friends o f m ine w ho live d in the servants' quarters o f St. G eorge H ospital in the F ort area. I to ld them about a ll this business o f sellin g tickets fo r the play. A ll three o f them were w orkin g as u n ifo rm e d guards or peons. Tw o o f them were barely literate and the th ird had passed the fo u rth standard exam ination in M aratm school. W ith the help o f these m ends Ï 19 S.T. Gaikwad's refusal to sell tickets for the play was based o n his b e lie f that the people were not used to seeing plays, they preferred tamashas and w ould spend their m oney on cbad habits and addictions! He d id not want to engage w ith these problem s, perhaps because he belonged to a h igh er incom e class. But in the end R.B. M ore succeeded in selling cheap tickets to his fellow w orkers, though he was unable to stop gatecrashers.—Tr.

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Felicitation of Tukaram Gaikwad, with Ambedkar and R.B. More (second from left). Courtesy of Mahesh Bharati.

m anaged to sell some four-anna tickets and about tw enty eight-anna and ten-anna tickets. A n d on the actual day o f the perform ance these three came w ith m e to the D am odar H a ll to see to the other arrangem ents. I seated the one w ho was m ost educated at the ticket w indow to sell tickets, and gave the job o f checking the tickets o f people entering the theatre to the other tw o. Since the h all had fo u r o r five entrances, these tw o were n ot able to do th e ir jo b p rop erly. A large num ber o f freeloading spectators eluded them and they fille d up the h all. W hen the p lay started D octo r Saheb was sittin g in his office seeing to some w ork. I w ent to h im and pleaded that he should request Balaram dada o r som eone else to give thanks before the play ended to the M anoranjan Theatre C om pany and to C h itre and Kadam fo r donating this show to us. He said, w hy do you need anybody else, you can thank them yourself. So I had no alternative but to propose a vote o f thanks m yself. A fte r the last act o f the play was over, the cu rtain was brought dow n and a table and chair placed on the stage, where I seated m yself. A fte r a w hile the cu rtain was raised and I stood up. T liere was a clam our o f applause. I placed m y hands on the table to steady m yself and gave thanks in a few w ords speaking slow ly, as if I was g iv in g d icta tio n to a class o f sch oolch ildren . This was the first speech I had m ade before an audience o f the educated o f Bom bay, on the dais o f a p u b lic h a ll. N ineteen tw enty-four can be noted as a year that gave a great push forw ard to the untouchables vStruggle fo r self-respect, independence and lib e ra tio n . It was the year w hen it was decided to h old a convention o f the C olaba D istrict Outcastes'

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R.B. More seated two places from B.R, Ambedkar, on his left, Sicidharth College. Courtesy of Anil Sawadkar.

A ssociation in M ahad and this decision was conveyed to the designated chairm an o f the convention, D r, A m bedkar; then th is was p u b licly announced in the D am odar Thackersey H a ll in Bom bay, and given w ide p u b licity. The even greater im portance o f that year is that it was then that D r. A m bedkar, having gained h igh academ ic degrees from European and A m erican u n iversities, returned to In d ia after the com pletion o f his educational program m e and in the same year dedicated h im self to p u b lic action w ith the establishm ent o f the B ahishlcrit H ita k a rin i Sabha ('Association fo r the W elfare o f OutcastesO. I knew D r. A m bedkar from before, but the occasion w hen I went to m eet h im to speak about the convention was u n p a ra lle led That year I not o n ly becam e know n to h im but I becam e a close acquaintance and devotee. I had becom e one o f those w ho revered his leadership. In those days, w hether in M ahad o r any other ru ra l area, because o f the contact w ith in d u stria l cities like Bom bay and because o f the a va ila b ility o f new means o f transport lik e the railw ays and m otorboats, it had becom e d iffic u lt to practise u n tou ch a b ility as had been done earlier. The B ritish ru lers took advantage o f these developm ents, and affecting to be great prom oters o f social reform , in 1923, th ey declared some p ub lic places to be open to untouchables. It was ta kin g this background in to account that I was able to b rin g about awareness am ong the untouchable fo lk w ith the help o f some untouchable yo u th . It was decided to h o ld the convention in M ahad in 1924. But in fact it actually came about o n ly in 1927. T lie in te rve n in g three years were im p ortan t from the p o in t o f view o f raisin g p ub lic awareness in M ahad. I therefore

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he to o k up residence in D a p o li C antonm ent, in D a p o li tehsily an area developed b y the B ritish , w here arrangem ents had been m ade fo r D alits to acquire school education. M any D alits w ho had retired from the arm y were liv in g there then. T lie illite ra te fo lk used to refer to D apoli Cam p in the R a tn a giri d istrict as D a p o li £Kaap?. A fte r com ing to live in D a p o li, W alangkar form ed a separate organ ization o f the untouchables and began to w o rk fo r the a b o litio n o f untouchability. H e felt it necessary to form such an association so that as m any untouchables as possible could be draw n in to this w ork. H e started an association w hich he called the

Anarya Dosh Parihar Mandal, o r cA n arya Society fo r the R em oval o f (Social) Ills 5. He considered h im se lf to be a n on -A rya n , and declared that the untouchables m ust act to im prove them selves; in this s p irit he began the w ork o f social reform in his com m unity. Thus, G opal K rishn a W alangkar established the A n a rya D osh P arihar M andal as the first so cio -p o litica l class organization o f the D alits in this country. This was a precursor to the independent m ovem ent o f untouchables led b y D r. A m bedkar. This organization to o k up D a lit issues in the p u b lic dom ain. In 1 8 9 1 ,the B ritish regim e put an end to m ilita ry recruitm ent o f D alits. This was because it was in 1891 that the B ritish in itia te d th e ir first package o f reform s, and intended to appease the n on -D alits by b rin g in g them in to the governm ent. This was a policym ade to w in over the caste H in d u m ajority. That is w hy th ey to o k the despicable step o f ending D a lit m ilita ry recruitm ent. U p to th is tim e the D alits naively supposed that the B ritish were ethical and w ou ld b rin g about the lib e ra tio n o f the untouchables. But w hatever they had done (fo r the benefit o f the untouchables) was fo r op p ortu n istic reasons.2 In 1891,w hile BabasaheKs father held the ra n k o f subhedar in the arm y, before he retii'ed in 1894, the B ritish governm ent brought an end to recru itm ent o f D alits in to the arm y. They announced a new p o lic y o f not a llo w in g D alits to enter the arm y as new recru its, w hile those already in service w ou ld be entertained o n ly u n til 1896. In response to th is, D a lit soldiers first sent w ritte n applications to the governm ent, w hile the first m ilita n t protests b y D alits in the m ilita ry were led by D ulbhya Subhedar.3 H e had a good com m and o f the E n glish language, and so he played a m ajor role in sending w ritten applications to the governm ent. In short, the first person w ho can be m entioned as a leader am ong the D alits from M aharashtra w ho were in m ilita ry service was D ulbhya Subhedar. D r. A m bedkar s father, R am ji 2 R.B . M ores text suggests, w rongly, that M ahars were taken back into the B ritish A rm y in 1 8 9 1 (p. 74). 3 It is not clear w hether the D ulbhya Bahadur referred to here is in fact Subhedar Bahadur Gangaram K rishnaji Bhatankar, w ho was active in the prote-st against the decision to stop recruitm ent o f M ahars into the B ritish army. In 1903 Shivram Janba Kamble organized a conference o f M ahars at Saswad ne*e\r Ptme at w hich persons from 51 villages attended. Subhedar Bahadur Bhatankar presided over this conference.

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M a lo ji, also helped D ulbhya Subhedar in conducting this correspondence, since he too had a good com m and o f E n glish . Later on W alangkar to o k up this issue through his A n a rya D osh P arihar M andal. To this end, he subm itted an application to the governm ent in 1893 w ith the help o f Justice M ahadev G o vin d Ranade. In 1899, W alangkar subm itted a set o f questions to the Congress p a rty on the issue o f untouchability. In this he dem anded that the Congress should indeed follow a p o lic y o f w orkin g fo r p o litic a l reform s. W hen, in 1898, S ir H erbert R isley began a study o f H in d u religiou s rites and custom s, he sent a letter to W alangkar s A n arya D osh P arihar M andal to seek in fo rm a tio n on the custom s o f H in d u D alits. It becomes clear from this that W alangkars Society was the first recognized organization o f D alits at the tim e. The activists o f th is Society not o n ly w orked to overcom e d ifficu lties faced by the D alits; they also trie d to b rin g about awareness th rough th e ir w ritin gs. M uch o f W alangkars w ritin g was published in the p erio d ica l Dinabandhu d u rin g this p e rio d . Later the B ritish nom inated h im as an honourable M em ber o f the M ahad M u n icip al C o u n cil. In 1900 he passed away in his native villag e R aodhal.4 H ie torch o f independent struggle by the D alits, w hich had been lit by W alangkar, was taken up by Shivram Janba Kam ble o f Pune. Like W alangkar, he took guidance from Jotirao Phule, and set up a m ovem ent fo r the a b o litio n o f u n tou ch a b ility am ong the D alits. Kam ble had not been educated in the m ilita ry like W alangkar. H e spent a large p art o f his life from boyhood w o rkin g as a cm an-of-alIw ork1in the house o f a European. A t the tim e he had no know ledge o f reading and w ritin g . In 1885, w hen he was ten years o ld , he learned the alphabet from some o f his literate lab ourer frien ds. H e began to read w hatever books in M arathi he could get h o ld of. He w ent on to read new spaper articles and books by Rajaram Shastri, L okh itavadi, Baba Padam ji, A ga rkar and M ahatm a Phule. Based on th is, he b u ilt up an independent m ovem ent o f the untouchables. W h ile he was d o in g th is, his first published article appeared in Maratha

Dinabandhu in 1902. This fired his enthusiasm and he began to w rite re gu la rly in newspapers on the w elfare o f the untouchables. O n 25 N ovem ber 1902 he organized a m eeting o f D alits fro m 51 villages in Saswad near Pune. He gave a p u b lic account o f the trib u la tio n s o f the D alits and m ade the people aware o f the need for social eq u ality and p o litica l righ ts. H e brought w ith h im a w ritten application w hich was a p o litic a l m anifesto o f the D alits. In this application he appealed to the B ritish governm ent saying that the D alits were citizens just like

4 Dinabandhu ('Friend o f the Poor*) was a weekly started in Pune in 1877 by Jotirao Phule and K.P. Bhalekar, to fu rth e r the w ork o f the Satyashodhak Samaj. In 1880 the trade un ion leader, and founder o f the Bom bay M ill-H ands Association (1890), Narayan M eghaji Lokhande (1848-1897), took over as editor. Since Lokhande is know n as a pioneer in taking up the specific grievances o f D a lit and M uslim w orkers, it is not surprising that W alangkar became a regular contributor.

the

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those from the caste H in d u com m unity. He therefore dem anded that the ban on m ilita ry recru itm ent o f untouchables be lifte d w ith im m ediate effect. So also they should be given jobs in the police. He m entioned several other issues: e.g. the education o f D a lit boys and g irls was the governm ent’s re sp o n sib ility and it should make the necessary arrangem ents fo r th is. Kam ble obtained the signatures o r thum b p rin ts o f 1,588 M ahars w ho were present at th is m eeting. Later, the letter was sent to the governm ent. This was the h isto ric first letter sent by D a lit citizens to the B ritish governm ent! Kam ble sent copies o f this letter to the B ritish Parliam ent, to newspapers and to noted in d ivid u a ls w ith in the country. But the B ritish governm ent d id not w ant to risk losing the support o f the n on-D alits, th e ir cooperation in governm ent and the peace ensured b y keeping the D alits vsuppressed. In pre-B ritish tim es, the D alits had suffered the ru le o f others fo r generations. T lie B ritish had m ade overtures to the D alits w hile th ey were establishing th e ir ru le. It was not su rp risin g that the D alits had thought them to be friends. But the hollow ness o f th e ir D a lit-frie n d ly p o lic y became clear in 1891. A n d yet, w hen the D alits sent applications to the B ritish , they w ould rem in d the rulers about the help they had given to them . S hivram Janba Kam ble also follow ed this p o lic y and even D r. Babasaheb A m b edkar was not far behind in this. To w hat a w retched con d ition had the D alits been reduced by the In d ia n social order! The D alits could not possibly have gathered the strength to conduct a fro n ta l struggle fo r th e ir righ ts, and if they had, th ey w ould not have gained the support o f the n on -D alits. Lacking a pragm atic understanding o f this situation, a ll progressives in clu d in g the C om m unists have condem ned D a lit leaders fo r being puppets o f the im perialists and servile to the B ritish m asters. In any case, Kam bles app lication found its w ay to the waste paper b in . The B ritish ign ore d Shivram Janba Kam bles w ritten app lication , but he d id not stop there. H e in fo rm e d the social reform er [G opal Ganesh] A garkar about w hat had happened. H e then w rote a c ritic a l essay in A ga rkar s Sudharak entitled £The M ahars app lication , the G overnm ent and O u r Society'. O th e r newspapers also c ritic ize d the governm ent fo r n ot g ivin g a sym pathetic hearing to this application. But Lokm anya T ila k ^ Kesari was silent on the issue. A lth o u g h the call fo r reform based on justice and righ ts had been raised, T ila k chose to tu rn a b lin d eye. The issue became the subject o f a social m ovem ent and m any n on-D alits m ade this cause th e ir ow n. A process o f m eeting a felt social and p o litic a l need began here. Kam bles activities expanded w ith tim e. In 1902, a M ahar gentlem an nam ed G o vin d W u llu d M ukunda dipped his bucket in to a p u b lic re se rvo ir and d ran k from it. The news spread like w ild fire , and the religious conservatives file d a com plaint against h im in cou rt under Clause 2 フ7 o f the In d ia n Penal C ode. The news reached a ll the M ahars in M aharashtra. T lie y sent applications to the B ritish governm ent supporting the action. But the governm ent d id not w ant to in vite the anger o f the non-untouchables, and ign ore d the applications com pletely. A fte r th is, the M ahars

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collected funds and decided to fig h t the case in cou rt. The case came up before the m agistrate o f A hm ednagar d is tric t, Bapu H a ri G odbole. He sentenced the accused to tw o weeks in ja il and fined h im eight rupees. A fte r this the A hm ednagar D istrict C o lle cto r S ir R ichard brought the case to the Bom bay H ig h C o u rt. H ie H igh C o u rt revoked the sentence and declared G o vin d W u llu d M ukunda to be free o f g u ilt. Kam ble w rote about this cou rt case in his b ooklet Suchipatra ['N ew sletter ]. U sing the booklet he m ade the case a lesson regarding the righ ts o f D alits. It was as a result o f this and other such agitations that in 1923 S.K. Boles B ill opening p ub lic reservoirs and dharamshalas to D alits was placed before the Bom bay Legislative C o u n cil and passed. The h isto ric M ahad satyagraha and the rise o f D r. A m bedkars leadership also drew strength fro m this. W h ile this struggle was going on, Kam ble felt the need to establish an association o f untouchables, just as W alangkar had done w ith the A n a rya Dosh P arih ar M andal. A cco rd in gly, in 1904 he started an association w hich he nam ed the Shri Shankar Prasadik Somavanshiya Hitachintak Mitra Samaj [cS hri Shankar Society o f Friends and W ell-w ishers o f the Som avanshiyas ]. H e also started the first p ub lic lib ra ry fo r D alits, called the Shri Satchidanand Vachangriha ['S hri Satchidananda R eading R oom '], aim ing to cultivate the habit o f reading am ong the untouchables. Kam ble also to o k p art in social m ovem ents led b y caste H indus against untouchability, based on the b e lie f that if u n tou ch a b ility were to be abolished for the sake o f social in te gra tion , not o n ly D alits but others should also take p art.

I

H e w ould attend m eetings organized by caste H indus on diverse social issues, Loknianya T ila k wtvs the m ain speaker at one such m eeting held in fro n t o f the R ay M arket in Pune to oppose the consum ption o f alcohol. Kam ble was present in the audience at this m eeting. H e w ished to speak in the m eeting, and so he sent a note to the chairm an saying that he belonged to the D a lit class and that he w ished to speak in support o f the organizers. The chairm an passed the note to T ila k , w ho agreed, and Kam ble was called to the stage. T ila k asked h im to sit beside h im and introduce him self. M any newspapers praised T ila k fo r his courage and fo r acting appropriately in th is instance. But T ila k d id not have the strength to becom e a M ahatm a Phule and his praisew orthy behaviour was restricted to th is occasion. W hen news o f Kam bles a c tivity in leading a m ovem ent fo r the lib e ra tio n o f D alits reached H is H ighness C hhatrapati Shahu M aharaj o f K olhapur, the prince was ve ry happy.5 He had already started w o rkin g fo r the a b o litio n o f untouch3 His Highness C hhatrapati Shahu M aharaj o f Kolhapur» also know n as Rajarshi Shahu M aharaj (1874-1922), He belonged to the Bhosle dynasty o f M arathas, and wavS Raja (1894-1900) and M aharaja (1900-1922) o f the In d ia n princely state o f Kolhapur. He was a patron o f the Satyashoclhak Samaj founded by Jotiba Phule but later join e d the A ry a Samaj. H is efforts fo r social reform are unique for that period in In d ia —-many o f his progressive acts were initiated as early as 1902. They include ensuring education fo r the low er castes including D alits, reservations for low er castes in jobs, p ro h ib itio n o f child m arriage, and

；

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a b ility before this. The M aharaj in vite d h im to K olhapur on 11 Septem ber 1908. He asked h im about his w ork and the difficu lties he faced, praised h im and treated h im w ith respect, and gave encouragem ent for his future w ork. Reading and w ritin g were a passion fo r Kam ble. W hen he realised that he needed a jo u rn a l to sustain the struggle, he started a m o n th ly nam ed Somavanshiya

Mitra [T rie n d o f the Som avanshiyas], the first issue o f w hich came out on 1 Ju ly 1908. Through this m agazine he intended p rim a rily to start a cam paign against undesirable practices am ong the M ahars. A lso , he w anted to give voice to the educational, religio u s, social and econom ic problem s facing the D alits. A m ong the M ahars there was the e vil custom o f dedicating young boys and g irls to the gods. Young g irls, muralis and jogtins, were left to the goddess and were n ot allow ed to m a rry after they reached p uberty; instead they were prostituted in the open m arket in the nam e o f the goddess. Kam ble started a cam paign in his m agazine against this practice. As a result, m any muralis and jogtins rebelled and gained th e ir lib e rty. Kam ble was the in itia to r o f such m ovem ents in M aharashtra, and he also w orked fo r the a b o litio n o f u ntou chab ility. But even though the untouchable com m u nity was the class at the bottom o f the hierarchy constructed b y the H in d u re lig io n , it s till stood b y the disgusting and debasing custom s im posed on it. O ne w ould pretend to be deeply religioUvS and p ut on the airs o f som eone w ho had reached an exalted p o sitio n . Upper-caste people considered D alits to be in fe rio r, b ut the funny th in g was that th ey also considered each other to be in fe rio r. People w ould behave as if th ey were B rahm ins even though they had been b o rn in a caste deem ed to be the low est, and they w ould treat others as being low ly. Such castes also, lik e the B rahm ins, b u ild fences around them selves. Kam ble launched a figh t against such evils am ong the D alits. Kam ble sought to end practices lik e dedicating muralis, jogtins and potrajs to the gods and c ritic ize d th e ir lack o f courage and m ental weakness. B ut people saw these efforts as an attack on th e ir w ay o f life . The H in d u re lig io n had inculcated such s e rv ility in them that this was now as if in th e ir b lood; the M ahars rebelled against Kam ble and closed dow n his m agazine fo r good. C on tem porary w ith the m ilita n t struggle o f S hivram Janba Kam ble fo r the lib e ra tio n o f the untouchables, Subhedar B ahadur G angaram K rish n a ji B hatankar had retired from m ilita ry service.6 In recogn ition o f the courage he had displayed even a decree against dom estic violence against wom en. He m et A m bedkar for the first tim e in 1917 and continued to associate w ith him u n til the end o f his life. 6 The Bhatankar and the Sawadkar families play an im portant role in the history o f D a lit activism in the region. M arriage into G opal Baba Walangkai^s fam ily connects them w ith each other, and w ith M or^s fam ily. Tims, what we see here are links (through interm arriage) between m ilita ry M ahars, w hich produced an educated and p o litica lly engaged elite. Rao Bahadur Subhedar Gangaram Krishnaji Bhatankar was decorated during the Second Afghan W ar w ith a title and received a generous pension o f Rs. 600/annum in perpetuity. Crangavam Bhatankar served as the fust honorary Jvidge from the M ahar commxmity. H is

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d u rin g his service, he was honoured w ith the title o f Subhedar B ahadur and given a jagity a sizeable land gran t in Panvel tehsil d is tric t R aigad. Besides this he was given land to b u ild a large house fo r him self. But Bhatankar was not the k in d o f person to live o n ly fo r him self; he w anted other untouchables to im prove th e ir lives as w ell. So, he requested the governm ent to grant land in Panvel so that other re tire d soldiers could also b u ild houses. M any benefited from this in clu d in g D r. A m bedkar's m aternal uncle M urbadkar. Bhatankar helped mcany fam ilies. The residential colon y was at first outside the tow n. It was know n as the Subhedarw ada. Since G angaram Bhatankar had been honoured w ith the title o f subhedar Bahadur, he was also given the pow ers o f a bench m agistrate. H is cou rt sat every Tuesday m o rn in g in the mamledar office. W hen Bhatankar entered the court on his first day, there was a large m at spread underneath the table and chairs. O n the second Tuesday the clerks had rem oved it, and they were th ro w in g the papers m eant to be handed over to the m agistrate on to the table, from a distance. This was a m an w ho had spent his life in m ilita ry service, so th is angered h im . He com plained to the C olle ctor. The clerks were im m ediately reprim anded by the h ig h e r authority. Bhatankar h im self ordered a ll the staff to attend the cou rt in fu ll dress, w earing a dhoti, s h irt coat and hat. fIh e y a ll practised u n tou ch a b ility so they had to bathe after th ey returned hom e, and wash a ll th e ir clothes. So, they were always angry w ith Bhatankar. Subhedar Bhatankar was influenced b y G opalbuva W alangkar ever since he entered the arm y. He to o k up his legacy and w orked to spread awareness am ong the D alits, especially the D alits o f the K onkan region . In his personal behaviour B hatankar carried h im se lf w ith great self-respect. H e was a pensioner, w ho had to collect his m ilita ry pension from the treasury. O nce, w hen he had gone to the treasury fo r his pension, the M am ledar threw the bag con tain in g his pension at h im . This awakened his self-respect, and, w ithout thought fo r the consequences, he threw the bag back at the M am ledar and asked h im to behave him self.

son, Y.G. Bhatankar, was a nom inated member o f the Panvel M unicipality for sixteen years. A nother son, R.G . Bhatankar, was elected as an M L A o f the Independent Labour Party from Thane district in 1937, S.D. Tamhanekar, JhunjarNete: Jagannathrao Bhatankar: Alpa Charitra, Parel, M umbai. Gangaram Bhagoji Sawadkar ( b . 1865) died in Turkey d u rin g the First W orld W ar, and was buried there. H is wife was G opal Baba W alangkars brothers daughter. Gangaram ^ son, Subhedar Vishram Sawadkar (1889-1939) was a leading m em ber o f the iMahar Samaj Seva Sangh, and features pro m in e n tly am ong the leaders o f the M ahad satyagraha. He was also a m em ber o f Ambedkat^s Independent Labour Party. Vishram 's first wife was G opal Baba W alangkar's grand-daughter. Vishram's son, Kashinath, was the ow ner o f the Bharat Bhushan P rintin g Press, w hich was renam ed the Buddha Bhushan P rintin g Press in 1956. Kashinath was an elected m em ber o f the Bom bay M unicipality. These details are the result o f extended personal com m unication between Anupam a Rao and Anil. Sawadkar since 2011.

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暖 贫 謂 ；：. . . . . . . . . . . . . f . s»^a»ie w hen he obtained perm ission fo r a four-year break before he returned to In d ia in 1917, H e was com pelled to do this because his request fo r just one years scholarship had been tu rn ed dow n b y the M aharaja o f Baroda. vSo he was unhappy and was not in a state o f m in d to be felicitated by anyone. But, even at that tim e, there was not a single D a lit untouchable in society w ho had acquired M .A . and P h.D . degrees in Econom ics. So it was a m atter o f p rid e fo r the D alits to felicitate Babasaheb. They pressed h im , but he gave a staunch re fu sa l So a m eeting o f the B rigade Panchayat was organized at the F am ily Lines near where the Phule M arket is today, by those arm y soiaiers and officers w ho had settled in Bom bay. Since Babasaheb^ father was a retired subhedar o f the arm y, he h im self and later both his elder son Balaram and his younger son B him rao were m em bers o f the brigade caste panchayat by tra d itio n . The Panchayat used this connection to call the m eeting in the F a m ily Lines. Babasaheb d id not w ish to go to the m eeting and m ix w ith people, b ut Balaram dada explained m atters to h im and m anaged to persuade h im , so that he agreed to attend. So, it had been announced that Babasaheb was to attend the m eeting. Even before Babasaheb and his brother Balaram dada reached the place, a large num ber o f people, h op in g fo r an o p p o rtu n ity to see Babasaheb and hear h im speak had form ed a crow d w aitin g fo r h im in the chawl com pound. One o f M ores relatives had b rought h im along and he was am ong that crow d. M ore had com e to Bom bay fo r the D iw a li holidays and to lo o k fo r w ork. Babasaheb came and sat in the sittin g room in the place kept fo r h im . M ores relative, w ho was w ith h im , seated both o f them selves in a spot from w hich they cou ld be seen b y Babasaheb. Then Balaram dada began to introduce some persons sittin g near h im : th is is a subhedar fro m such-and-such regim ent, this is a hawaldar from such-and-such regim ent» and this is so-and-so^ son, th is is so-and-so^ brother. W h ile these in tro d u ctio n s were going on, Babasaheb recounted some m em ories o f twentieth century, according to B ritish m edical reports (L. Rogers, Incidence and Spread o f

Cholera in India, 1928). In fact, this region has been identified as the area in the Bom bay Presidency most prone to cholera throughout: the year, because o f its h igh h u m id ity.— 7r.

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his ch ild h o o d and laughed; and others also laughed at his h um ou r and his w it, and seeing them , M ore laughed from tim e to tim e. Som eone asked h im , teasingly: 'E h , boy, w hy are you lau ghin g?' O n w hich laughter broke out generally, and everyones attention was directed to M ore. Then Balaram dada asked M ores relative about the boy. lie introduced you ng M ore to Bm m rao and Balaram dada as the grandson o f V itth a l A nand H ate-Joshi, maadiwalla o f Dasgaon, w ho was stuaym g in the th ird E nglish class at the m gh school in M ahad. Then Balaram dada p ointed to M ore and said som ething about h im to B him rao, w ho looked at h im and sm iled. A t the tim e, M ore was just tm rteen o r fourteen years old. A fte r the p re lim in a ry introdu ction s were over, the agenda o f the m eeting was taken up. Several persons m ade speeches in the next one hou r, but B him rao d id not utter a single w ord t ill the end. It was as if he had decided to be present o n ly as an observer. rRns was the first occasion M ore had o f seeing and hearing Babasaheb. A fte r this, M ore returned to Dasgaon. In Bom bay, Babasaheb was in search o f a job so that he cou ld com plete his education. H e got a job as a professor in Sydenham C ollege, and began to b u ild his savings. Some days later, M ore came back to Bom bay from D asgaon, again to looic fo r w ork. T ry in g to m eet Babasaheb th ro u gh a frie n d , he a rrive d at the Cem ent C haw l in Parel Poybaw adi where he live d . Babasaheb listened to his account o f obstacles in his education, and treated h im w ith affection. A s he was leavin g, he gave M ore a b o o k o f maps as a g ift. U p to this tim e, M ore regarded Babasaheb as a learned m an am ong his Kin, and felt respect fo r h im . But M ore openly adm itted that, at the tim e, he d id not have enough understanding to realize that Babasaheb was m uch m ore than that. A n d so d id M ore's first face-to-face m eeting w ith Babasaheb take place!

T h e F ir s t O p p o s it io n t o U n t o u c h a b il it y E ve ry person b o rn in an untouchable caste has an in b o rn awareness that he m ust first struggle against u n to u ch a b ility; and so it was w ith M ore. He was lo o kin g for a leader w ho w ould not h u rt the self-esteem and sense o f se if o f the untouchables, w ho d id not lo o k at them w ith p ity. This person should have the p osition that u n tou ch a b ility is a disease affecting o u r nation, and that one needs to free the nation from th is disease. That is, he was lo o kin g fo r a leader w ho had em braced the cause o f a b o litio n o f the caste system . M ore saw such a leader in Babasaheb and he was m ore convinced by h im than by M ahatm a G an d h i. rIh is was because G a n d h iji view ed the untouchables w ith pity. If one asked an untouchable person o f D r. A m bedkars tim e o r earlier, w hether he w anted n ation al independence first o r social equality and freedom from social slavery, his answer w ould be that he first sought social freedom . Freedom from the slavery that had com pelled h im for hundreds and hundreds o f years to suffer contem pt and live a life worse than a cat o r dog w ould com e before freedom from the foreign ru le o f a hundred and fifty

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years. A n d was there anything w rong in this answer? I f you im agine that you have been born in an untouchable caste and th in k about it honestly, you w ould fin d this response quite reasonable. This was the answer that D r, A m bedkar gave w hen he m et Lala Lajpat R ai in C olum bia U n ive rsity in 1915. M ore also determ ined, w hile he was in M ahad, that his life goal was the a b o litio n o f u ntou chab ility. To this end he began to spread awareness am ong the D a lit people and to organize them . H e realized that this was not an aim that he could accom plish on his ow n. H e decided in his m in d that he w ould fo llo w D r. Babasaheb A m bedkar, and, w h ile s till a student d u rin g 1917 to 1920, he began to in fo rm h im self about Babasahebs activities d u rin g his stay in In d ia , and to study them . If u n tou ch a b ility was to be abolished, it was n ot enough to form an association o f M ahars alone. It was necessary to b u ild u n ity am ong a ll untouchable castes, just ats Babasaheb had done. In 1918, w hen a D a lit was to be nom inated in a reserved seat in the Bom bay M u n icip a l C o rp o ra tio n , Babasaheb suggested the nam e o f P. Baloo (Palw ankar), an in d iv id u a l o f the C ham bhar caste and the first cricketer fro m his caste, rather than a M ahar. (P. B aloo later becam e an opponent o f Babasaheb.) W hen the M ahars protested against this, Babasaheb to ld them , act as if you are his elder brothers. S im ila rly, at the tim e o f the M ahad satyagraha, M ore organized the Cham bhars o f M ahad. In M ahad M ore w ould expound before the D alits on Babasahebs collab oration w ith Shahu M aharaj at the conference at M angaon in K olh apu r d istric t, o r the later conference in N agpur. He had m em orized Babasahebs h istoric deposition before the Southborough C om m ittee, even before Babasaheb came to M ahad fo r the satyagraha. Thus, M ore, having chosen Babasaheb as his leader, studied variou s aspects o f his w ork, and, lik e Babasaheb, dedicated h im self to the objective o f a n n ih ila tin g caste.

T h e C a st e Q u e s t io n W hen M ore m et Babasaheb A m bedkar fo r the first tim e he was about thirteen years o ld . Even at that age he had suffered the blow s o f being treated as untouchable, and so he was m ature beyond his years. He felt p rou d to m eet a m an w ho had suffered the same p ain , but had becom e vSuch a great m an. In those days a person b o rn in an untouchable caste w ho suffered the in d ig n itie s o f u n tou ch a b ility w ou ld be plagued by the question o f how this practice origin ated and how it w ould end. W hen A m bedkar was asked to w rite an independent essay at C olum bia U n ive rsity he first started w ritin g on Sam bhaji (the M aratha p rin ce and son o f S h iva ji), but then he decided to study the problem o f caste, w hich had caused h im suffering. He discussed the topic w ith som e scholars, but found th e ir view s to be ch ild ish in the extrem e. Some even understood varna as skin colou r. E arlier, it was D r, BabasahelVs position that u n to u ch a b ility was a p art o f the

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four-vcirna or chaturvarna system , and that this burden o f chaturvarna could never be cast off. But even w hile he was at C olum bia U n ive rsity and w hile he was studying in Europe, he was influenced by scholars such as Seligm an w ho was his teacher, from w hom he became acquainted w ith M arxist thought: and the concept o f class,9 A n d so, at the age o f 26, he presented a paper on 'The Caste System in In d ia ' on 9 M ay 1916 before the anthrop ologist D r. A .A . G oldenw eiser at an anthropology sem inar. He used the concept o f class in expounding on this question before an E n glish audience. He was even then influenced b y M a rx5s th o u g h t.10 D r. Babasaheb A m b edkar com pared the caste system to a m ulti-storeyed b u ild in g w ith no staircase. O ne w ho is b o rn on one o f the floors can never change his flo o r. He put forw ard the im age that the fo u r varnas B rahm ins, K shatriyas, Vaishyas and Shudras are b orn on different floors, w ith the Shudras, whose num bers are 70 to 75 p er cent, occupying the low est flo o r, and since there is no staircase they cannot ascend to a h ig h e r floor. The B rah m in p rie stly class on the topm ost flo o r has, according to D r. A m bedkar, b u ilt a fence around itse lf to protect its su p eriority. To m aintain th e ir own p u rity and greatness they do not allow others to enter, and place restriction s on them selves. These restricted classes are, Babasaheb says, equivalent to caste or jati. Marx has termed caste a distinctive

feature o f the Asiatic mode of production and social formation. The classes w hich form ed in other countries were h o rizo n ta lly, not ve rtica lly, aligned and so they can change th rough th e ir ow n deeds, b ut this is not possible in the H in d u re lig io n . Babasaheb used M arxs concept o f class as the basis o f his exp osition. In this way [A m bedkar] began to collect the resources fo r the a n n ih ilation o f caste even w hile he was in A m erica. W hen M ore m et Babasaheb fo r the first tim e in 1917, he was e n tire ly ign oran t o f his thoughts on the caste system and o f his scholarship. Babasahebs analysis o f the caste system and u n to u ch a b ility in later years was based on these thoughts. It is a fact that nobody else has m ade such a deep study o f this question up to now . But he to o k the religiou s books as the m ain source o f this study. In fact it w ou ld be possible to make a causal analysis o f the o rig in o f u n tou ch a b ility using a M a rxist m ethodology. M any M a rxist thinkers have made attem pts to do th is, and some such efforts go on , but th ey have m et w ith little success. It is im p ortan t to note that Babasaheb displayed a research effort and persistence in p u rsu it o f th is question w hich is su perior to that o f others.

9 Edw in Robert A nderson Seligm an (1861-1939) is best know n as the in itia to r o f global progressive public finance. He was Professor, Political Economy* at C olum bia U niversity between 1885 and 1933. 10 A t best, 'Castes in In d ia : Their M echanism , Genesis and D evelopm enf can be viewed as an effort to bridge the ideas o f M arx and Weber. It w ould be quite a stretch to suggest that Seligm an was a M arxist, o r that A m bedkar]s 1916 text was M arxist in its orientation.

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D r . Ba b a s a h e b A m b e d k a r A b s e n t C o n f e r e n c e s o n U n t o u c h a b il it y in 1 9 1 7 -1 8

D r. Babasaheb A m bedkar looked at the question o f caste and u n tou ch a b ility as an issue o f hum an righ ts, and he d id n ot w ish to solve it fro m a p osition o f'ta k in g pity*. Tins was w hy Babasaheb had differences o f o p in io n betw een 1917 and 1920 w ith non-untouchable social reform ers lik e S ir N arayan C handavarkar a n d V itth a lR a m ji Shinde w ho considered them selves trustees o f the untouchables. So, he avoided p articip a tin g ia program m es w here he w ould appear w ith them in public. O n 11 N ovem ber 1917 there was going to be a fe licita tio n o f D r. Babasaheb A m bedkar in a cerem ony to be presided over b y Sir N arayan C handavarkar [H indu reform er and early m em ber o f the In d ia n N ation al Congress] on the open ground in fro n t o f tw elve maadis in M adanpura in Bom bay and he was to be presented w ith a purse. A lso , resolutions concerned w ith the p o litica l righ ts o f the untouchables were to be m oved in th is m eeting, and a delegation was to be chosen to m eet the M in ister fo r In d ia M ontagu and the V ice ro y Lord C helm sford to present the dem ands fo r p o litica l righ ts. But D r. A m bedkar deliberately d id not attend the m eeting, even though he was to be felicitated, becavise C handavarkar s p o in t o f view was one o f p ity fo r the untouchables, and A m bedkar d id not approve o f the untouchables issues being fram ed in the w rong m anner. S im ila rly, the firs t C onference fo r the A b o litio n o f U n to u ch a b ility was held on the large grou nd o f the French B ridge in B om bay on 23-24 M arch 1918, w ith the M aharaja o f B aroda, Sayajirao Gailcwad, p residin g. The chairm an o f the w elcom e com m ittee was S ir N arayanrao C handavarkar, and am ong the speakers were B ip in C handra Pal, Lokm anya T ila k , B arrister [M .R .] Jayakar, H on . Khaparde, V itth a lb h ai Patel and others. R abindranath Tagore, M ahatm a G a n d h i, the Shankaracharya o f the K arveer Peeth and others had sent telegram s and messages. D r. A m bedkar rem ained deliberately absent at th is im p ortan t m eeting too. This was because the approach o f a ll the above to the question o f u n to u ch a b ility d id not th in k o f the untouchables sense o f self, but to o k up an attitude o f p ity. W h ile speaking in support o f a m o tion that the m onarchs o f p rin ce ly states should help the cause o f the untouchables at th is conference, Babasahebs w ellw isher Keluskar stunned the audience in to silence b y te llin g the sto ry o f how even the M aharaja o f B aroda had not been able to p ro vid e residence to Babasaheb in his state, and how he had given in to pressure from the servants o f the p rin ce ly state and the o rth o d o x p u b lic .11 C handavarkar then trie d to push the tru th o f the m atter under the carpet. Lokm anya T ila k m ade a speech d eclarin g that 1 am not ,! K rishnaji A rju n Keluskar was a w ell-know n M arathi w rite r and social reform er. Keluskar presented Am bedkar w ith a biography o f the Buddha d u rin g the felicitation cerem ony that was held in 190フ when he com pleted his m atriculation exam ination. The function was chaired by S.K. B ole.— Tr.

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against the untouchables, u n to u ch a b ility is a custom and it m ust be abolished^ but he refused to sign a m anifesto signed by 380 o f those present at the conference that carried the u n d erta kin g 7 will not practise untouchability and I will break

the system of caste. N o t o n ly th is, but T ila k s new spaper Kesari d id not publish even a sum m ary re p o rt o f th is conference. Babasaheb d id not have faith in such h o llo w speechifying social reform ers and those w ho to o k up p o litic a l leadership but to o k care not to offend the o rth o d o x, and that was w hy he d id not attend this conference. Even though the C om m unist P arty d id n ot exist at that tim e, there was consensus am ong the C om m unists that u n tou ch a b ility m ust be abolished. But th e ir c rite rio n was firs tly op p osition to B ritish im p e ria lism , and to th e ir p o lic y o f aggravating casteist forces. A lso , the C om m unist th inkers o f the tim e had the m istaken b elie f that the Congress p a rty was honest on the D a lit issue. The re a lity was that the Congress p a rty was in the g rip o f feudal ideology. So the C om m unists' b e lie f that the D alits cou ld con fid en tly rely on the Congress was w rong. T ila k had refused to sign an avow al that he w ould not practise untouchability. W hen we exam ine the w hole situation o f that tim e, we see that A m bedkars p osition regarding the Congress was correct. H is to ry has proved h im rig h t.

M o ntag u - C h elm sfo rd R efo rm s A N D T H E S O U T H B O R O U G H C O M M IT T E E

A fte r his In d ia to u r M ontagu returned to E ngland and presented the findin gs o f his to u r in the B ritish P arliam ent. A fte r that, it was decided to send out a Franchise C om m ittee w ith L o rd Southborough as its chairm an, w ith the pow er to decide w ho w ou ld be e ligib le to vote, and w hat crite ria should be applied in this regard. The process o f assim ilating the In d ia n people in to the state ad m in istration and according them p o litic a l righ ts began in 1891.But in that year D alits were deprived o f some o f th e ir righ ts; it was in that ve ry year that the B ritish dissolved the M ahar regim ent, and G opalbuva W alangkar had to raise his voice in protest against the decision. In 1901 the 'M o rle y-M in to Reform s' were enacted to w iden the scope o f the p o litic a l righ ts granted to Indians in 1891. M uslim s and A n glo-In d ian s were granted p o litic a l righ ts, but the D alits were again com pletely overlooked. A t that tim e Babasaheb had felt that it was necessary fo r h im to b rin g up the issue o f p o litic a l righ ts fo r the D alits, else he w ould be neglecting his duty. Because at the tim e the leaders o f the Depressed Classes M ission, V itth a l R am ji Shinde and others, were n ot w illin g to see the question o f the D alits as a separate issue in this context. They saw the issue in term s o f com passion fo r the D alits and were w illin g to leave it to the g o o d w ill o f the Congress and the B ritish . So A m bedkar refused to go along w ith them and dem anded that, as a m em ber o f the Depressed Classes and a professor in Sydenham C ollege, he should be allow ed to present a p etition to the

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Southborough C om m ittee and also appear as a w itness. H is dem and was granted and on 27 January 1919 Babasaheb Am beclkar presented an independent p e titio n to the C om m ittee and also testified as a w itness. In this p etition he pointed out that w hen the Im p e ria l Legislative C o u n cil at the C entral level and the State Legislative C ou n cils at the P ro vin cia l level were constituted so as to b rin g the In d ia n people in to the state ad m in istra tion , care had been taken to give scope to H indu s, M uslim s, C h ristia n s, Parsis, Jews and a ll the different re lig io n s, and also to the zamindar and jagirdar classes. O n ly those property-ow ners w ho paid taxes had the rig h t to vote on these C ouncils. So, o f course the D alits had no rig h t to vote. Secondly, since the D alits were considered to be an in d ivisib le p art o f the H in d u com m unity, the H indu s also got advantage from th e ir num bers in the p op u la tio n . It was caste H indu s w ho dem anded th e ir due w eight as representatives o f the D alits. So A m b edkar m ade the dem and in his w ritten p etition that the D alits should be separated fro m the rest o f the H indu s, and that they should be recognized as having a separate existence, so that th ey could be granted nine seats in the Bom bay Legislative C o u n cil according to th e ir num bers in the p op u la tio n . T liu s, since D alits com prised eight per cent o f the p op ulation, they should have eight seats in the P ro vin cia l Legislative C o u n cil o f Bom bay and one seat on the Im p e ria l Legislative C o u n cil. H e also dem anded that, in view o f the D alits econom ic co n d itio n , the p ro p e rty c rite rio n fo r franchise should be relaxed fo r them . H ie Congress p a rty considered this dem and to be o f a casteist nature. The p osition o f the Congress was that it was acceptable to d ivid e the rig h t to vote on the basis o f com m u n ity o r re lig io n fo r the M uslim s and C h ristian s, but to give this rig h t to the D alits w ould be d ivisive . In D r. A m b edkars view this was a m atter to be decided b y the D alits fo r them selves. H e stated in his testim ony that to give this a casteist co lo u r was tantam ount to an effort to deny the D alits the rig h t to vote. H e to ld the C om m ittee how, w hen D adabhai N a o ro ji had m oved a resolution c ritic izin g the governm ent on the question o f D alits righ ts, several persons claim in g to be sym pathizers o f the cause o f the D alits c ritic ize d h im and d id not allow the resolu tion to be passed, thus causing D adabhai to lose face. He also to ld the C om m ittee how one legislator K haparde w ho was a m em ber o f the h ig h e r cou ncil at the tim e, w rote an article declaring that 'those w ho were try in g to b rin g about the u p lift o f the untouchables were m ade to be fools' A m bedkar put forw ard this evidence and fo rce fu lly argued that to leave the question o f the D alits to the g o o d w ill o f the Congress w ould indeed be an injustice. He also asserted that associations like the Depressed Classes M ission w ho were reluctant to give D alits the rig h t to vote and held instead that the governm ent should nom inate one o r tw o D alits out o f com passion, w hich w ould place them under perm anent ob lig a tio n , had an attitude o f p ity tow ards the D alits. A m bedkar d e a rly stated that the C om m ittee should not regard such a society (the Depressed

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Classes M ission) as representing the D alits, as it had u n til then not taken a single D a lit on its executive. He also spelt out in his p e titio n how the above-m entioned nine seats should be fille d , p o in tin g out that there were at that tim e 25 untouchable persons w ho were educated and capable. H ie Southborough C om m ittee was o n ly em pow ered to m ake recom m endations. It was u ltim ately up to the governm ent to decide w ho should be given the rig h t to vote and how m any seats. But D r. Babasaheb A m bedkars exp osition was so com prehensive and solid that the C om m ittee was convinced that the D alits had a separate existence and that, if a p o lic y o f takin g care o f th e ir dem ands was n ot follow ed, there m igh t in future be a danger to the regim e from the D a lit classes. So, it recom m ended that these dem ands be accepted. W ith in the new capitalist m ode o f p rod u ction and the econom ic developm ent it brought, the D a lit people were becom ing awakened. R ealizin g th is, the governm ent, aim ing to keep them under co n tro l, granted them the rig h t to vote fo r the first tim e by* g ivin g them seats on the Legislative C o u n cil. The C om m unist intellectuals

o p in io n about these M ontagu-C helm sford

reform s was that this was a carrot dangled before the D alits and an exam ple o f the 'd ivid e and ru le 1 p o litics played b y the B ritish . They were lo o kin g at the issue o n ly in p o litica l term s. T lie y d id not th in k o f the social situation and the re a lity u n d e rlyin g this prob lem . They too considered the D alits to be p art o f the H in d u com m unity, and were not aware o f th e ir separate existence. T lie y considered the Congress to be th e ir representatives. This was a lacuna in th e ir th in k in g . In actuality, a ll these reform s came about o n ly because there was a peoples m ovem ent com ing up to press fo r them . It is tru e that a separate force o f D alits could not have em erged at that tim e. But th ey w anted the rig h t to decide fo r them selves w hat they w anted and w hat they d id not w ant. T lie forces that were in the arena then were n ot capable (o f deciding w hat the D alits w anted) and th e ir approach was one o f p ityin g the D alits. So, because D r. A m bedkar, w ho h im self was b o rn in the D a lit class, thus presented his studied view o f the w hole issue before the governm ent, the D alits accepted h im as th e ir o n ly leader; and an independent m ovem ent o f the D alits also arose as a need o f the tim es. A fte r th is, d u rin g the p e rio d 1919-20, Babasaheb w ith help from Shahu M aharaj took p art in D a lit conventions at K olh apu r and N agpur, and so the foundation fo r a future independent D a lit m ovem ent was laid . [R.B.] M ore was n ot aware o f a ll these aspects d u rin g the early p art o f his p o litic a l life . N ot just he, but m ost o rd in a ry D alits had not re a lly becom e aware o f the actuality, as th ey should have been. M ore h u m b ly adm its th is in his booklet entitled Two Historic Conferences at Mahad.

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fIhis resolution o f the year 1923 was w elcom ed b y progressive-th inking non-D alits as m uch as it was b y the untouchables. G oregaon is a villa g e w ith a m arketplace in the M angaon tehsil o f C olaba d is tric t. The fam ous w orkers5 leader N .M . Joshi came from there. M any o f the Kayastha Prabhus and B rahm ins o f th is villag e had in h e rite d the legacy o f N .M . Joshi s progressive th in k in g . So these people b rought together the M ahars and Cham bhars o f the villa g e in 1926, explained the Bole resolution to them , and called on them to make use o f the p u b lic re se rvo ir and w ells in the villag e . Since this was a villa g e w ith a m arket, education had spread to some extent am ong the D alits. They discussed the w ater issue am ong them selves, and, under the leadership o f the lo ca l C ham bhar p o litic ia n Ram chandra C handorkar, they courageously decided to d rin k from the re se rvo ir and w ells. A ccord in gly, Ram chandra C h an dorkar jum ped in to the re se rvo ir；upon w hich the other villagers were enraged and, w hen the news spread to the M arathas and other non-D alits, they co lle ctive ly attacked the M ahars and Cham bhars, dam aged th e ir p rop erty and beat them up. Then news o f th is incident reached the p olice. The police m erely a rrive d , looked on and left. "Ihen the M ahars and the C ham bhar leader C handorkar in fo rm e d the M ahar Samaj Seva Sangh in Bom bay. H ie association held protest m eetings in Bom bay and collected funds to help the victim s in G oregaon. M ore

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h im self visited G oregaon to distrib ute these collected funds and to m ake an on-thespot survey o f the in cid e n t. H e had e a rlie r becom e acquainted w ith Ram chatadra C handorkar in Bom bay. H e heard a ll about the attack from C handorkar. "Ilien he held a m eeting o f the D alits and d istrib uted the m oney he had b rought w ith h im . M ore d id not confine the issue to G oregaon villa g e , but decided in his m in d to im plem ent the Bole resolution w herever possible in C olaba d is tric t. H e to o k C handorkar along w ith h im to his ow n villa g e Dasgaon and decided to im plem ent the resolution there. In D asgaon there is a large p u b lic reservoir and a p u b lic w ell nam ed the C raw ford w ell. M ore, on b ehalf o f the M ahar Samaj Seva Sangh, decided that the untouchables o f Dasgaon w ould d rin k the w ater o f th is re se rvo ir and w ell to put the Bole resolution in to practice. A cco rd in gly, he called a p ub lic m eeting on the grou n d in fro n t o f the Dasgaon dharamshala on 4 D ecem ber 1926. Pam phlets p u b licly announcing this program m e were also distrib uted. The chairm an o f the m eeting was a progressive gentlem an by the nam e o f A darkar. A b ou t tw o to three hundred persons from the villages o f Veer, G oregaon, V ahur, Dasgaon and Sape and others attended the m eeting. Because the police had com e to know about the m eeting, the M am ledar and the p olice constable o f M ahad were also present. M ore in fo rm ed the m eeting about the Bole resolution. Then, w ith h im in the lead, a ll the D alits dran k the w ater o f the lake and the C raw ford w ell. N ot a single caste H in d u o f the villag e raised any objection to th is. M ores frie n d R am ji Babaji Potdar> from the Sonar caste, who w orked as a teacher in the village school and held progressive view s, played an active p art in this program m e. Because he d ran k w ater fx'om the w ell along w ith the D a lits, the non-untouchable backw ard castes o f the villag e boycotted h im fo r three m onths. The barber refused to shave h im o r cut his hair. Later, how ever, the boycott was lifte d . This was a p u b licly announced action in the real sense that to o k place before the C havdar lake satyagraha in M ahad. The people o f this region colle ctive ly resisted all p ro h ib itio n s and custom s to d rin k the w ater, and thus, the 1923 Bole resolution was im plem ented in M aharashtra fo r the firs t tim e. The im pact o f this event was felt a ll over the C olaba and R a tn a giri districts; the people w ere infused w ith new energy and began preparations fo r the C olaba D is tric t Depressed Class Conference o f 19-20 M arch 1927 w ith vig o u r. It was because o f this action that the D alits o f the K onkan were fille d w ith confidence and awakened to consciousness. A fte r th is in cid en t, Babasaheb felt that a convention in M ahad w ould be successful. Despite a ll th e ir efforts over tw o o r three years, the activists had not been able to get h im to give them a date. But after this event and seeing the energetic preparations that were going on in M ahad, Bhai A n an trao C h itre in January 1927 w rote the fo llo w in g letter to Babasahebs colleague in Bom bay, Bapusaheb Sahasrabuddhe,13 and let h im know that it was everyones w ish that D r, A m bedkar G angadhar N ilkanth aka Bapusaheb Sahasrabucklhe was a long-tim e B rahm in associate o f

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should agree to preside over this convention. Later, D r. Babasaheb in fo rm ed Sahasrabuddhe o f his w illingness to attend the convention. The tw o letters related to this are given below : M ahad, January 1927 D ear Bapusaheb, The efforts to organize a conference o f the untouchables at M ahad are in fu ll sw ing. Enthusiastic untouchable youths like Subhedar Saw adkar and Ram chandra M ore are roam ing from villag e to villag e aw akening the people. It is everyb od ys w ish that D r. A m b edkar should agree to preside over the conference. He should be requested on o u r behalf; I am sure he w ill not disregard the request o f o u r touchable and untouchable friends. A nantrao C h itre Bom bay, February 1927 D ear A nantrao, A fte r great effort we have secured a prom ise to preside over the M ahad m eeting from B abasaheb.. , . G .N . Sahasrabuddhe O nce Babasahebs agreem ent fo r the convention had been attained, the activists were fille d w ith enthusiasm . It was the w ish o f all the activists, in clu d in g M ore, that som e o f the caste H in d u leaders from the c ity should attend the convention along w ith Babasaheb. O n Babasaheb^ b id d in g , M ore visited the then fam ous social reform er, the advocate T rive d i, at his residence in Bom bay and requested h im to com e to the convention. But he avoided attending the conference on the excuse o f other w ork. In the end, o n ly tw o caste H in d u leaders prom ised to com e and actu ally attended. O ne was G angadhar N ilka n th aka Bapu Sahasrabuddhe, know n to be a B rahm in follow er o f the social reform er G opal Ganesh A garkar, and a m ajor supporter o f the Social Service League and the C ooperative m ovem ent. The other was A nan trao V in ayakrao C h itre o r Bhai C h itre . O n the in vita tio n card fo r the con ven tion , o n ly the names o f D r. B him rao R am ji A m bedkar as the chairm an and those o f Bhai C h itre and Bapusaheb Sahasrabuddhe as speakers were p rin te d . This was the firs t and last p rin te d pam phlet issued to p u b licize the convention. The pam phlet was sent to a ll newspapers, b ut not a single one showed the g o o d w ill to publish it. The re sp o n sib ility o f b rin g in g Babasaheb and other leaders to M ahad fo r the conference rested w ith M ore. A ll o f them set out from Bom bay in a private car and reached the D ak B ungalow at: M ahad at 12 noon. The fo llo w in g leaders had D r. Am bedkar. He was present at the M ahad satyagraha and in fact m oved the resolution to b u rn copies o f the Nkmusmriti.

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com e w ith Babasaheb from Bom bay: Sitaram Nam deo S hivtarkar, Bapusaheb Sahasrabuddhe, Bhai C h itre , Balaram R am ji A m bedkar, G anpat M ahadey Jadhav aka M adkebuva, W akh rika r G aikw ad, D e vji D agcluji D olas, Sitaram K alu Hate and D attatray M ahadev C h itre . From Pune there were Shantaram T ip n is, Pandurang N athu ji R ajbhoj and others. Bhaurao G aikw ad from N ash ik and others were not am ong them . The conference was m a in ly attended by people from the K onkan. O n that day M ahad tow n was festive w ith untouchable fo lk . Surbanana T ip n is from M ahad was also w o rkin g fo r the success o f the con ven tion . O n the 19th there was a steady stream o f people; b y the afternoon m ore than five thousand had reached M ahad. Excepting the people from Bom bay, every person held a stick in his hand. In those days a person o f the M ahar caste never left his hom e w ithou t such a stick in his hand. E specially w hen they set out fro m th e ir villag e to another villa g e , they had to ca rry a stick lik e th is .14 Everyone know s that w hen an illite ra te person has to sign a docum ent, his or her thum b p rin t is taken in place o f a signature. But in the past, in villages in this region o f M aharashtra, the signature m ark depended on ones caste. F or exam ple a Iambi o r cu ltiva to r used a p lough sign, a p o rte r used a p alanq u in , a chambhar or cobbler used an awl sign, and the mahar s sign was a stick. So the huge crow d at the M ahad conference was a stick-w ielding crow d. So, w hen Babasaheb came on stage in the a u d itoriu m o f the V ireshw ar Theatre the people, instead o f clapping, raised th e ir sticks to h on ou r h im . In his b ooklet on the M ahad conference M ore has described w hat a pleasing and th rillin g sight it was to see m ore than five thousand sticks raised in the a ir at once. M ore introduced the guests at the convention. A fte r th is, Babasaheb delivered a h istoric speech. In his speech he called on the people to th row o ff a ll tra d itio n a l restriction s and live as hum an beings. H e to o k due note o f the social w ork that G opalbuva W alangkar had carried out. Because o f his speech, the people gained a new vis io n and th e ir self-confidence was strengthened. Bhai C h itre , Bapu Sahasrabuddhe and the chairm an o f the local o rg a n izin g com m ittee (the w elcom e com m ittee), Sam bhaji Tukaram G aikw ad, also addressed the audience at the convention. Several resolutions were adopted in this conference; am ong them was the im p ortan t resolution to im plem ent the Bole decision to open up p u b lic lakes, w ells and dharamshalas to a ll citizens. A ccord in gly, on the next day Bhai C h itre called on a ll representatives to go and d rin k the w ater o f the C havdar lake in ord er to im plem ent this resolu tion . A n d thousands o f people, le d by Babasaheb, to o k out a procession to the C havdar lake and, breaking the centuries-old re ligio u s taboo, d ra n k the w ater o f the C havdar lake. This action had strong repercussions am ong the tra d itio n a l caste H indu s o f M ahars were village servants, guards o f the village boundary, and delivered messages and announcem ents o f im portant events likes births and deaths across villages. They tra d itio n a lly carried a stick.

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M ahad, and they spread the ru m o u r that the D a lit people were going to enter the V ireshw ar Tem ple and p ollu te it. So the caste H indu s o f the tow n came out on the streets arm ed w ith sticks and b ad ly beat up m any o f the representatives w ho had com e fo r the convention. The president o f the M ahar Samaj Seva Sangh, B h ikaji Sam bhaji G aikw ad, the untouchable leader, Bhanudas Kam ble, and C ham bhar caste leader P.N. Rajbhoj were so b ad ly in ju re d that they had to be taken to hospital. The shops and houses o f C ham bhars and other D alits were b u rn t dow n, and there was a lo t o f breakage o f p rop erty. N ot just the m en but you ng and o ld w om en, and ch ild re n were also beaten up. O n the next day a ll the newspapers reported this in cid e n t p ro m in e n tly and this had reverberations a ll over the w orld . The struggle o f the untouchables fo r th e ir ow n independent lib e ra tio n re a lly started from M ahad. The fame o f this convention and Babasahebs nam e spread far and w ide. A n d it was from this convention that M ore, as m ain orga n ize r o f the convention, em erged as a leader.

T h e N e w s p a p e r 'B a h is h k r it B h a r a t 5 a n d M o r e ’s Pa r t ic ip a t io n in St a r t in g I t We have given an account above o f how the M ahad Satyagraha Conference o f 19 and 20 M arch 1927 and the C havdar lake satyagraha were a great success. But a great visio n a ry like D r. Babasaheb A m bedkar had realized how h isto ric an event it was and how it had the capacity to give a new d ire ctio n to the social system . He had also recognized M ores honesty, his grow in g natural gifts as an activist, and his organizational s k ill, as w ell as the m odesty that w ent w ith it. A lso understanding M ores love o f le a rn in g , his excellent know ledge o f language and his w ritin g skills, Babasaheb had taken h im in to his hom e to stay fo r six m onths before the conference, in 1926. M ore to o k Babasahebs help in p rep aring fo r the conference. He w ou ld leave Bom bay o n ly w ith Babasahebs perm ission to go to Colaba d is tric t fo r p u b licity. Babasaheb also realized that if a convention was to be held, and a m ovem ent to be launched, a new spaper was a necessity. The jo u rn a l Mooknayak started w ith the help o f Shahu M aharaj had long since folded up. N ow , w hen a convention was to be held in M ahad, there was a need fo r a newspaper to m ake propaganda fo r it— and the nam e Mooknayak w ou ld not do now. The D a lit people were now no lon ger m ute as they had been in 1920. The nation Bharat in w hich they now live d was forb idden to them . This had to be brought hom e to everyb od y— it was w ith this th ou gh t firm in his m in d that A m bedkar decided in 192b itse lf on 'B ahishlcrit B harat' as the nam e fo r his newspaper. So it was decided to seek fresh perm ission fo r cB ah ish krit Bharat1. K now ing that this w ould n ot happen im m ediately, that the procedure w ould take three to fou r m onths, he set to w ork to obtain perm ission. H e started th is w ork th rou gh M ore and the perm ission was granted before the date o f the conference.

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Front page of Bahishkrit Bharat, 3 April 1927, courtesy of Prakash Vishwasrao, Dr. Babasahao Ambedkar. W hen Babasaneb returned to B om oav after the C havdar lake 似 f夕ßgm fta ot 丄9 and 20 M arch, he b rought M ore along w ith h im . llie first issue ot the fo rtn ig h tlv m agazine Bahishkrit Bharat was to be published on 3 A p ril 1927. It was to c a rry D r. Babasaheb A m bedkar s p o sitio n on the h isto ric satyagraha at M ahad, the sum m ary account o f the conference w ritten b y M ore him self, and som e docum ents o f the h istoric satyagraha. A lso , other colum ns had to be w ritte n . The w hole task, and also the p rin tin g , was to be com pleted w ith in eight to ten days. So Babasaheb told M ore to stay in the R ahim B u ild in g , w hich was to be the journaFs office u n til the first issue came out. A n d Babasaheb also stayed there w ith M ore on the last fo u r to five days. "Ihus, his reliance on M ore was com plete. A n d so d id Babasaheb publish the first issue o f Bahishkrit Bharat o n ly w ith M ores assistance.

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A fte r this first issue, M ore and Babasaheb began to live and w ork together constantly. Even w hen Babasaheb was not present. M ore stayed in the Bahishkrit

Bharat office tw enty-four hours a day and after d o in g a ll kin ds o f jobs in clu d in g w ritin g , reading proofs, overseeing the p rin tin g , etc., he w ould go and have his m eals at Baba's residence. But w hen the date o f p u b lication approached, Babasaheb too w ould not go hom e. H e too w ou ld sit w ith M ore and w rite a ll n ig h t. M ore w ould jo in tw o benches together and spread a m at over them . Babasaheb w ould sleep there w hile M ore spent several consecutive nights w ritin g . In the evening both w ould eat the tiffin sent over from Babasahebs house. In the m o rn in g both w ou ld take a bath at the tap, then go dow nstairs to the Ira n i restaurant to have bread and butter. A fte r th is Babasaheb w ould go to the H ig h C o u rt b y tram , w hile M ore w ould retu rn to the office to w ork. Thus, M ore enjoyed a close p ro xim ity to Babasaheb. In those days, the tw o young activists, D r. Babasaheb A m bedkar's biographer C hangdeo B. K hairm ode and Shankar W adaw alkar also stayed in the Bahishkrit

Bharat office along w ith M ore. In Septem ber 1927, w hile these activists were chatt­ in g w ith M ore, K h airm ode came up w ith the suggestion that, as D r. A m bedkar s fam e had spread far and w ide after the first M ahad conference, and as it was lik e ly to spread even fu rth e r in future, he should be given an h o n o rific title , just as T ila k was called ‘Lokm anya’ and G andh i was called ‘M ahatm a’. In the conversation several others also expressed th e ir o p in io n on this. K h ain n ode suggested that A m bedkar be called 'Babasaheb' and Ram abai be called Aaisahebl O n th is, Ram chandra Babaji M ore said that both the titles were appropriate and m ade a lon g speech about it. A fte r th is everyone agreed to both these titles. So that the titles w ould becom e popular, K h airm ode, W adaw alkar and M ore began to use them w henever th ey spoke in m eetings. A m b edkars biographer C .B . K hairm ode has stated clearly in V olum e 2 o f his b iograp h y that M ore and W adaw alkar had a large share in p o p u la rizin g these titles.

T h e A m a r a v a t i T e m p l e Sa t y a g r a h a a n d t h e D e a t h o f Ba l a r a m A m b e d k a r Even as preparations fo r the second M ahad satyagraha were going on, the m ovem ent fo r the A m aravati Tem ple e n try in the B erar P rovince also began. A m on g the m ovem ents fo r social equality and in op p osition to u n tou ch ab ility o f the b egin n in g o f the tw entieth century, the tem ple e n try m ovem ent had an im p ortan t place. Progressive persons am ong the caste H indu s to o k the lead in this m ovem ent. They w ould launch agitations and take the untouchables along w ith them . T .K . M adhavan, the you n g, educated jo u rn a list fro m the Ezhava caste in K erala, had been ta kin g the lead in this m ovem ent since 1918. H e was a m em ber o f the state cou ncil in the p rin ce ly state o f Travancore in Sooth In d ia . He had even m oved a B ill that u n to u ch a b ility should be abolished b y law. A satyagraha was held

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in V aikom in the Travancore state on 30 M arch 1924 to open up the S ri M ahadeva Tem ple there. In this the senior South In d ia n social reform er, Ram asam y N aicker (P eriyar), T .K . M adhavan, Keshav M enon, M adhavan N ayar, Velappan N ayar and others took the lead. Later, a satyagraha to o k place at the fam ous G u ru va yu r Tem ple in the South, in w hich the senior C om m unist leader A .K . G opalan also to o k part. It was d u rin g this p e rio d , in

1925，before the M ahad satyagraha, that

M adhavrao G o vin d M eshram dem anded that the ancient shrine o f A m badevi in A m aravati be opened fo r D alits. H e w rote applications and m ade pleas, but the tem ple m anagem ent ign ored h im . A fte r th is Dadasaheb P atil, D r. Punjabrao D eshm ukh and others w ho were associated w ith the Satyashodhak m ovem ent to o k up the untouchables dem and and on 2b Ju ly 1927 a huge m eeting was held in A m aravati. In this m eeting it was announced that a satyagraha w ould be heid fo r tem ple entry. O n 13 and 14 N ovem ber a conference was held w ith D r. Babasaheb A m bedkar in the chair, to prepare fo r the satyagraha, and it was announced that if the question was n ot resolved by 15 F ebruary 1928, a satyagraha action w ould be taken. W h ile the conference was in progress, a telegram arrived on 14 N ovem ber 1927 in fo rm in g D r. Babasaheb A m bedkar that his elder b rother Balaram dada had passed away. Even so, Babasaheb w ith great courage continued the w ork o f the conference, takin g o n ly a ten-m inute break. A fte r this a condolence resolution was passed. W h ile Babasaheb was away in A m aravati fo r the conference, he had asked M ore to rem ain in Bom bay to lo o k after the w o rk o f the jo u rn a l Bahishkrit Bharat. Since M ore was staying at Babasaheb's residence at the time> it was he w ho b rought out a leaflet to in fo rm social and p o litic a l activists about the death, and he also m ade the arrangem ents fo r the funeral procession. M ore and others paid th e ir respects at the crem ation grou nd , and at last the funeral pyre was lit. A t a sorrow fu l tim e like this, M ore d id not allow Babasahebs rnends and relations to feel Babasahebs absence. A n d in the next issue o f Bahishkrit Bharat M ore, using the pen nam e 'Student', w rote an article h o n o u rin g the m em ory o f the late Balaram dada A m bedkar. This was how m uch M ore had becom e a p art or Babasaheos fa m ily by then.

Se c o n d S a t y a g r a h a C o n f e r e n c e a t M a h a d — t h e B u r n in g o f t h e M a n u s m r i t j The first £C olaba D is tric t Outcastes C onference at M ahad and its struggle on the w ater question was different from the tem ple en try m ovem ent o f South In d ia . It was the first struggle o f the untouchables in In d ia related to a m aterial issue and to the id e n tity and self-esteem o f the D alits. Its im pact was felt n ot o n ly in M aharashtra, but a ll over the w orld. The second M ahad conference aim ed m ainly to assert the rig h t to the water o f the C havdar lake, and to establish the righ ts o f h u m an ity and o f e q u a lity by

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its im plem entation. H iis conference to o k place on 25 D ecem ber 1927. In the first conference, m ost o f the people present were from C olaba, R a tn a g iri, and Thane and Pune d istricts. The rest o f the D a lit com m unity in M aharashtra d id not know m uch about this conference. H ow ever, the news o f the second conference was spread all over M aharashtra b y the fo rtn ig h tly jo u rn a l Bahishkrit Bharat. rfh e responsib ility o f arranging fo r and o rg a n izin g th is conference once again la y on M ores shoulders. Since it was not possible to reach M ahad by m otor car, the fo llo w in g route was decided on: from Bhaucha Dhaklca in Bom bay to the p o rt o f H areshw ar and from H areshw ar to Dasgaon port> thence to M ahad. A t the first M ahad conference the untouchable people and th e ir activists had been b a d ly beaten up b y the o rth o d o x o f the tow n. So M ore and others decided that they w ou ld go to the second conference prepared fo r a con fron ta tion . A ccord in gly, they m o b ilized a squad that th ey called the Ambedkar Seva Dal— o r A m bedkar Service League— com p risin g w ard boys and coolies o f St. G eorge H ospital, and young labourers liv in g in chawls in Parel, B yculla, A grip ad a and N aigaon in Bom bay. They to o k the help o f D a lit activists re tire d from the arm y to set up this squad. In doing th is, they received trem endous cooperation fro m the various branches o f the M ahar Samaj Seva Sangh. A fte r the second M ahad Conference was over, M ore, w ith D r. Babasaheb A m bedkar5s p erm ission, changed the nam e from A m bedkar Seva D al to Samata Sainik DaZ— League o f S oldiers for E quality. In short, the founder o f todays Samata S ainik D al was M ore h im se lf.15 O n 24 D ecem ber 1927, as D r. Babasaheb A m bedkar reached Bhaucha Dhalcka in Bom bay to em bark fo r M ahad b y boat, this squad o f volunteers saluted h im in m ilita ry fashion w ith the sound o f bugles. Later, everyb od y w ent and sat in the boat. W hen Dadasaheb Sam bhaji Tukaram G aikw ad in fo rm ed Babasaheb that all this had been organized b y M ore, Babasaheb m ade m uch o f h im . M ore especially in q u ire d after a ll those tra ve llin g b y boat via Bom bay w ho had com e from outside the Konlcan. A m ong these, M ore noticed that Bhaurao aka Dadasaheb G aikw ad was different from the others, and he gave Babasaheb m ore details about h im . In the evening the boat reached the p o rt o f Hareshw ar. There, th rou gh the efforts o f Pandurang Babaji Jadhav and D harm abuva O stekar, enthusiastic activists o f the M ahar Samaj Seva Sangh, hundreds o f D alits from the region o f S hrivardhan and Janjira gave Babasaheb a hearty w elcom e. In the m o rn in g th ey departed by another boat going to B ankot via D asgaon. In the afternoon the boat touched the p ie r at the p o rt o f Dasgaon. H undreds o f volunteers w earing badges o f the local orga n izin g com m ittee fo r the conference greeted Babasaheb at the harbour. Even before Babasaheb reached DavSgaon, the D eputy Superintendent o f Police together w ith his team was w aitin g at the Dasgaon h arbour. H e handed over to 15 The Samata Sainik D al was form ed in 1927 to protect Dalit-s from physical attack and intim id ation . It was a h ig h ly disciplined force. M embers wore a un ifo rm that recalled the M ahaiV m ilita ry past.

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Samata Sainik Dal. Courtesy of Anil Sawadkar. Babasaheb a letter from the C olaba D is tric t C o lle cto r stating that the C havdar lake satyagraha had been o ffic ia lly banned, and the D.S.P. requested Babasaheb to accom pany h im to M ahad in his car, to meet the C ollector. E n tru stin g to M ore the re sp o n sib ility o f takin g the satyagrahis in a procession fro m Dasgaon to Mahaci> Babasaheb set o ff fo r M ahad w ith Sahasrabuddhe. A lth o u gh the first convention had asserted its righ ts b y d rin k in g the w ater o f the C havdar lake, some o rth o d o x lo cal people afflicted b y B rahm inism had 'p u rifie d 5 it using cows5 u rin e , and claim ed in cou rt that the lake was not p ub lic but p riva te ly ow ned. So the co u rt granted a tem porary stay. Babasaheb and the other satyagrahis had com e to M ahad prepared to defy the stay order, and to go to ja il if necessary. O n re tu rn in g from m eeting the C ollector, Babasaheb gave the speech that he had specially prepared fo r the convention. Saying that 'this convention has been

assembled to make a ceremonial start to the new age o f equality that has dawned in this land of Bharat] he com pared it to the French R e vo lu tion o f 1789. Then he passed a resolution asserting basic righ ts, and other m o ti^ iis . A m on g them was the im p ortan t resolution to b u rn the Manusmritu the H in d u religiou s text w hich upheld in e q u a lity and treated shudras and w om en w ith contem pt. This resolution was m oved b y Babasaheb's colleague fro m the B rahm in caste, G angadhar N ilka n th Sahasrabuddhe, and it was seconded by P.N. Rajbhoj and Thorat. The said resolution read as follow s:

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W ith a view to the Manusmritu w hich insults the shudra castes, ham pers th eir progress, and, b y destroying th e ir self-confidence and strength1 perpetuates th e ir social, p o litic a l and econom ic slavery, and com paring it w ith the p rin cip le s laid dow n in the declaration o f the b irth rig h t o f the H indus o f w hom the above castes are a p art, this conference is o f the firm o p in io n that the said religiou s b o o k is not fit to be called such, and in ord er to express this o p in io n it is undertaicm g the b u rn in g o f this b ook w hich is destructive o f the people and shows contem pt fo r hum anity. A fte r m oving th is re solu tion , Babasaheb called on the representatives at the conference to com e to the pyre that had been assem bled in the conference m arquee, and to b u rn this b ook w hich was a stain on the face o f hum anity. For the first tim e in M aharashtra, the Manusmriti was b u rn t in fro n t o f such a large gathering o f people. This action was carried out on the evening o f 25 D ecem ber and, w ith it, the day s proceedings were concluded. The b u rn in g o f the Manusmriti had w ide repercussions am ong the p ub lic. Several newspapers and the supporters o f o rth o d o x view s c ritic ize d Babasaheb, and he ro u n d ly answered this criticism in the pages o f the fo rtn ig h tly jo u rn a l Bahishkrit Bharat. A fte r the proceedings o f the conference were over fo r the day, Babasaheb gathered together a ll the m ain activists and discussed w ith them w hether they should ca rry out the satyagraha and cou rt arrest. Babasaheb said. I f we carry out the satyagraha the governm ent w ill send me to ja il too, but I have com e here in readiness to go to p riso n . N ow we m ust consider the view s o f others w ho are present here and decide w hether o r n ot we are to c a rry out the satyagraha! H earing th is, there was agitation in the crow d. S hivtarkar said, 'D o cto r, if you go to ja il the people w ill be left helpless.16 There w ill be no other leader and the governm ent and the o rth o d o x caste H indu s w ill take advantage o f this to crush us. So I th in k we should call o ff the satyagraha! O n w hich M ore at once declared, Ih is satyagraha cannot be called oft? Some o f the teachers and governm ent servants w ho had com e fo r the conference gave variou s reasons to express th e ir feeling that the satyagraha should not be held. A n d some suggested that the satyagraha should be conducted, b ut that Babasaheb should not take p art. But the m ajority, in w hich farm ers, a g ricu ltu ra l labourers and w orkers num bered, were o f the o p in io n that the satyagraha should go ahead. A fter m id n ig h t the contents o f a pam phlet con taining a pledge were w orked out. In it was w ritte n , 'I am prepared to c a rry out the satyagraha and to go to ja il, struggle, and die if need be.' B y fo u r in the m o rn in g three thousand persons had> igned the pledge o r given th e ir thum b p rin ts. A fte r it was seen that alm ost everyone had show n readiness to go ahead, the collection o f signatures was stopped^M basaheb was awake a ll n ig h t. A t seven in the m o rn in g he gave M ore a letter to the C ollector. 16 Literally, 'robbed o f their salt1.— Tr.

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In th is he had requested the C o lle cto r to com e to the m eeting and put forw ard the governm ents view . H ie C o lle cto r to ld M ore that he w ould com e to the m eeting, and M ore conveyed this to Babasaheb. The w ork o f the conference resum ed the next day at nin e a.m . Babasaheb in fo rm ed the people assem bled about the talks he had had w ith the C o lle cto r the previous day regarding the ban ord er on the C havdar lake satyagraha that caste H indus o f the tow n had obtained from the cou rt, and the case they had file d in the D iw an i cou rt. T lien Babasaheb h im self m oved the resolu tion to c a rry out the

satyagraha. He also to ld the people w hat the legal consequences o f the satyagraha w ould be> and asked the representatives at the conference to p u b lic ly state th e ir op inion s. Tw elve persons spoke in favour o f the resolution and eight spoke against. W h ile this was going on, Keshavrao Jedhe and D in ka rrao Jawallcar, both leaders o f the N on-B rahm in m ovem ent, entered the conference m arquee. They both expressed th e ir support on b eh a lf o f the M aratha com m unity. These proceedings w ent on d ll five in the evening. Just as they were w in d in g up, the D is tric t C o lle cto r M r. H ood a rrive d at the entrance to the conference. Subheclar R adhoram Ghatge w ent to m eet h im , and, as Babasaheb had instructed, b rou gh t h im on to the dais. Babasaheb greeted h im by shaking hands w ith h im . H e asked the C o lle cto r to te ll the people w hat his colleagues had to say. T lie D is tric t C o lle cto r spoke in M arathi, saying, 'The G overnm ent does n ot recognize d istin ctions between there were efforts, larg e ly b rou gh t about th ro u gh M ore, to b rin g together the tw o sides in M aharashtra (the B om bay Presidency o f the tim e). The leaders o f both sides form ed a tem porary k in d o f accord, but the real need was fo r a sustained u n ity, and that was n ot fu lfille d . A fte r C h ip lu n , M ore organized B a h ish krit Conferences together w ith d istric t farm ers conventions at K hed and Rohe, in the districts o f R a tn a g iri and C olaba (the present-day Raigad d is tric t). But they could n ot coalesce in to perm anent organizations; a d istrict-le vel farm ers' association was not form ed. To fill this gap, M ore to o k the lead in establishing the C olaba D is tric t Farm ers A ssociation in 1930, w ith B .G . K her as president. M ore was the first general secretary o f this

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association. (Bal G angadhar K her, the first president o f the association, later w ent on to becom e prim e m in iste r in the first Congress m in is try in Bom bay Presidency.) This association organized a num ber o f agitations d u rin g the C iv il D isobedience M ovem ent o f 1930-31. Later, the governm ent banned this association, and barred M ore and others from entering the d istrict. The in d u stria l re vo lu tio n and a new capitalist social system w hich were favourable fo r Babasahebs m ovem ent fo r the lib e ra tio n o f the untouchables had a rrive d in In d ia . W ith th is change in one m aterial stratum o f life , u n tou chab ility had received a jo lt. K a rl M arx had rem arked, w hen the H industan railw ay was founded, that factories w ould com e up around the railw ay, and the ru ra l econom ic system w ould be shaken up, and the practice o f u n to u ch a b ility w ou ld also develop cracks.20 This was realized in a ctu ality even before Babasaneb was b o rn . Even in Babasahebs tim e and a little before that, though society was s till shackled by the o rth o d o x th in k in g o f the Vedas and Puranas, som e progressive­ th in k in g people were com ing forw ard in society. A m on g these A nantrao C h itre , Bapu Sahasrabuddhe, P urushottam Prabhakar aka Bapurao Joshi and Tuljaram M ith a deserve special m en tion here. They were present at the first satyagraha conference at M ahad. Later, m any m ore persons from caste H in d u society, like C om . Sham rao Parulekar, A ch arya M .V . D onde, P.G. Kanekar, S.C . Joshi, B arrister Sam arth, D evrao N aik, D .V . P radhan, R .D . K avali, Raghunath Kadrekar, Gupte and Joshi came forw ard as Babasahebs follow ers and to o k p art in his w ork fo r the a b o litio n o f u ntou chab ility. T h e ir background was the Servants o f In d ia Society. So th ey were connected w ith the peasant m ovem ent as w ell as the m ovem ent fo r the righ ts o f D alits. 20 It is well know n that the In d ia n railw ays were financed by private capital w ith assured rates o f p rofit. As w ell, railw ays (like steam shipuing) enabled new m odes o f natural resource extraction and th e ir accelerated global circu la tio n . H ow ever, Satyendra M ore articulates a rather sim ple view o f the relationship between (social) technology and the transform ation o f social relations, w hich is challenged by ins ow n account and that o f R.B . M ore. T lie ir narratives suggest that though D alits em braced new discourses o f rights and d ignity, they also confronted new form s o f u n tou ch a b ility in the city. M oreover, M a rxJs w ritings on In d ia are rather com plex. O n the one hand, he echoes nineteenth century com m itm ents to u n ilin e a r progress and the benefits o f m od ern institutions and technologies. A t the same tim e, ms analyses underscore the paradoxical ways in w hich lib e ra l 'freedoin exacerbates social inequality. A sm all sam ple o f w ritings aboüt M arx on In d ia (and the colonies) includes: A ija z A h m ad (ed.), On the National and Colonial

Questions^ D elh i: LeftW ord, 2 0 0 1 ;K evin A nderson, Marx at the Margins: On Nationalism, Ethnicity, and Non-Western Societies, Chicago: U n ive rsity o f C hicago Press, 2010; H a rry H arootunian , M arx After Marx: History and Time in the Expansion o f Capitalism, New York: C olum bia U n ive rsity Press, 2015; and Sudipta K a viraj, 'M arxism in translation: critica l reflections on In d ia n radical thought', in Political Judgement: Essays for John Dunn, ed. R ichard B ourke and R aym ond Geuss, C am bridge: C am bridge U n ive rsity Press, 2017, p p .172-200.

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T h e S im o n C o m m is s io n Thus, on the one hand the m ovem ent o f w orkers and peasants was deepening th ro u g h o u t the n ation , and S ocialist-C om m u n ist awareness was spreading w ith in it; on the other hand, an independent m ovem ent o f D a lits was ta kin g shape, aim ed at g a in in g freedom fro m th e ir social and p o litic a l slavery. The m ovem ent fo r n ation al independence was g a in in g strength, and at the same tim e the process o f H indu s and M uslim s being organ ized on com m unal lin es had also begun. It was the p o lic y o f the B ritish to d ivid e H in d u s and M uslim s from I

each other in ord er to ru le over them . That was w hy, w hen th e y in tro d u ce d the M o rle y-M in to reform s in 1909, the M uslim s were granted p o litic a l righ ts fo r the first tim e .21 Later, the S outhborough C om m ittee upheld the term s agreed upon in the Lucknow Pact o f 1916, w h ich sought to iro n out differences betw een H indus and M uslim s w ith in the C ongress, and approved extended seats fo r M uslim s. Thus, the B ritish created in te rn a l enem ies fo r the C ongress and con tinu ed w ith th e ir attem pts to w eaken it. W hen the Southborough C om m ittee was sent to In d ia , it had fo u r Indians am ong its ten m em bers, but not even one In d ia n was includ ed in the Sim on C om m ission. O n 26 N ovem ber 1927, the ru lin g C onservative P arty announced its p o lic y o f gran tin g a d d itio n a i p o litic a l righ ts to the In d ia n people. Stanley B aldw in was p rim e m in ister o f B rita in at the tim e; he announced the appointm ent o f a C om m ission headed b y S ir John Sim on to survey the m atter o f gran tin g p o litica l rights to In dians and to conduct negotiations in this regard.22 The m ain in te n tio n

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in te n tio n was to dangle the carro t o f lim ite d franchise before the people, in such a w ay as to deepen the rifts am ong them . To te ll the tru th , the question o f the lib e ra tio n o f the D alits should have been an issue before the national m ovem ent equal in im portance to independence. But the B ritish governm ent to o k advantage o f the fact that the leaders o f the freedom m ovem ent were in d iffe re n t o r unclear about this issue, and m anaged to keep the D alits separate fro m the m ovem ent b y p ostu rin g as th e ir true benefactors. U ltim ately, the B ritish ru le rs' tactic o f gran tin g p o litic a l righ ts to the D alits brought about a tran sform ation in th e ir lives. U n w ittin gly, the B ritish helped the cause o f the D alits.

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status as a com m unity o f ‘h istoric and p o litical im portance’. 22 The expansion o f colonial franchise was a response to In d ia n involvem ent in the First W o rld W ar, follow ed by a wave o f p o litical protests w hich m arked B ritish intransigence on the question o f self-governm ent.

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him self, were all E n glish . That was w hy the In d ia n N ation al Congress boycotted the C om m ission and condem ned it. The M uslim League had already announced its opposition to the C om m ission. The Left forces w ith in the Congress and the C om m unist P arty d id n ot accept the p rin cip le o f self-governm ent fo r the colony, T lie ir dem and was fo r fu ll independence. A lso , at the tim e there was a trem endous wave o f w orkers' strikes and general p o litica l aw akening, w hich was led by the C om m unists. Thus, the C om m unists were in the fore fro n t o f the m ovem ent opposing the Sim on C om m ission. They had concluded that the Sim on C om m ission was a devious tactic fram ed by the B ritish to m islead the In d ia n people. O n 3 F ebruary 1928, the m em bers o f the Sim on C om m ission alighted from th e ir ship in Bom bay harbour. The people o f Bom bay greeted the C om m ission w ith p ub lic protest dem onstrations c a rryin g black signs. But som e Non™Brahmin> D a lit and M uslim leaders w elcom ed the Sim on C om m ission. There was a lo t o f criticism o f th is. D r. A m bedkar, V.P. C havan and Sitaram Keshav Bole were condem ned as being sycophants. The untouchable com m u n ity d id not take p art in the protests against the Sim on C om m ission because the protesters were fig h tin g fo r a w idening o f the scope o f th e ir p o litic a l righ ts, w hile the D alits had no righ ts. The struggle o f the untouchables, w ho had been denied [the rig h t] to live as hum an beings for thousands o f years, was to gain those rights o f hum anity. The Sim on C om m ission presented them w ith an o p p o rtu n ity that they cou ld not afford to miss out on, w hile the Congress and the C om m unists d id not have a m aterial understanding o f the real wealcness in the situation o f the D alits. W hat is m ore, th ey had not even given the m atter any th ou ght so that some solutions cou ld be w orked out. Even so, they had labelled the D alits as sycophants and puppets o f the im p erialists. D u rin g the 1918 conference fo r the a b o litio n o f u ntou chab ility, a D a lit activist Santuji W aghm are had confronted Lokm anya T ila k w hile addressing the conference and to ld h im , 'Lokm anya T ila k , open up the path o f w orshipping G od to us and allow us e n try in to the tem ples.5T ila k listened to w hat he had to say, but d id not express his o p in io n . A m bedkar decided that it w ould be foo lish to depend on such unreliable national leaders, and so he planned to take advantage o f th is op p ortu n ity. O n 12 O ctob er 1928 D r. A m bedkar deposed before the Sim on C om m ission and placed before it the dem and that the D alits be given 22 seats in the Bom bay P ro vin cia l Legislative C o u n cil. H e dem anded p ro vin cia l autonom y and the rig h t to vote fo r every adult m an and w om an. Later, on 17 M ay 1929, according to his e a rlie r announcem ent, he placed before the Sim on C om m ission his w ritten recom m endation on w hat p o litic a l rights should be granted to the Bom bay P rovince. M ore had supported the dem ands placed b y Babasaheb before the Sim on C om m ission th rou gh the M ahar Samaj Seva Sangh.

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M o r e J o in s t h e C o m m u n is t Pa r t y The Parel and Poybaw adi areas o f Bom bay, being w orking-class areas, were n a tu ra lly the centre o f C om m unist a c tivity and m any o f the P arty offices were located there; at the same tim e they were also the centre o f D a lit m o b iliza tio n , and Babasahebs office was in the same area, lliis was the p e rio d around 1927 o r 1928. In 1928 a h isto ric strike o f m ill w orkers to ok place, w hich lasted fo r six m onths. M ore was a w itness to this strike and he w ould occasionally attend the m eetings that to o k place on the K am gar M aidan, the w orkers' grou nd . D u rin g this strike m any D alits to ok p art in the m eetings as w orkers, and M ore began to feel attracted tow ards the C om m unists. Secondly, in the m anifesto o f 18 dem ands that had been adopted in th is strike, there was the dem and that D alits should be allow ed to w ork in the cloth-w eaving departm ent w here the thread had to be m oistened w ith the w orkers saliva w hile w in d in g it on the shuttle. So M ore was conscious that the C om m unists were aware o f social issues. A fte r the strike o f 1928, the m ill w orkers u n io n again called fo r a strike in 1929. The C om m unists were in the lead in orga n izin g th is strike too. To ensure the success o f the strike, the u nion began p icketing at the fa ctory gates. So those w orkers w ho d id not w ant to take p art in the strike were hustled away from the fa ctory gates. M ost o f the w orkers, in clu d in g a large num ber o f D a lit w orkers, d id not w ant this strike. These D a lit w orkers went to m eet Babasaheb and asked h im to fin d a w ay out. O n th is occasion, the 29 Septem ber 1929 issue o f Bahishkrit Bharat carried an e d ito ria l b y Babasaheb c ritic izin g the C om m unists, w ith the title 'F irst the Superstructure, then the Base' In this he argued that the In d ia n C om m unists had not understood C om m unist p h ilosop h y; the article d id not say that C om m unist p hilosop h y was w rong. The central argum ent was that com m unism could not take ro o t in In d ia u n til the struggle against caste d iscrim in a tio n and u n tou ch a b ility was com pleted. A lso , in the 15 Septem ber issue o f Bahishkrit Bharat in that same year, he had stated, 'Even though the objective o f the C om m unists is extrem e, we have n ot said that it is inappropriate.5This encouraged M ore and he m oved closer tow ards the C om m unists. It was from 1928-29 that M ore was draw n tow ards understanding M arxism . In a way, one could say that Babasaheb h im self urged M ore to understand C om m unist th in k in g . From the year 1928/29 onw ard, M ore began to attend the m eetings on the Kam gar M aidan regularly. O n 23 A p r il1928, a you n g m ill w orker nam ed Parshuram Jadhav was k ille d in the police firin g on a procession o f s trik in g m ill w orkers in Sew ri, A fte r the strike o f 1928 there was a new aw akening o f consciousness am ong the w orkers, and scattered strikes w ould take place w herever there was a case o f injustice. There were about 70 to 80 such occasional strikes. D u rin g these strikes, Papa M iya, leader o f the M ill W orkers C om m ittee o f the M oti M ill, was fire d on. T liis enraged the

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w orkers, and an E nglish m anager nam ed D avar was k ille d in the fu rio u s attack o f the w orkers. Papa M iya, fro m U ttar Pradesh (then the U nited Provinces) and Babu M aru ti from Junnar in M aharashtra (then the Bom bay Presidency) were trie d and found g u ilty in th is case and th ey were hanged on 18 M arch 1929. They had been offered a chance to avoid being hanged if they testified that C om rade Dange (then leader o f the C om m unist Party) had instigated them (to m u rder). But they both chose n ot to testify and preferred to be executed. The execution o f these tw o w orkers resulted in a wave o f anger spreading am ong the w orkers. Just tw o days later, on 20 M arch, in the w ell-know n M eerut C on sp iracy Case, 32 C om m unists were arrested on a charge o f con spiring t〇 overth row the governm ent and sent to M eerut ja il.23 M ore was im pressed to see D a lit and n on -D a lit w orkers, M uslim s and H indu s forgettin g caste b arriers to figh t in unison fo r th e ir righ ts, and to see the C om m unist Party, whose declared objective was to establish a secular w orkers state free o f caste d ivisio n s, leading this figh t. So he m oved even closer to the C om m unist ideology. To add to the im pact o f these events, on 8 A p ril 1929 Bhagat Singh threw a bom b and re vo lu tio n a ry leaflets in the C entral Legislative A ssem bly m eeting in D e lh i w hile the P ublic Safety B ill (w hich w ould give w ide pow ers to the police against agitators) was being discussed. A ll the events o f that year had a deep influence on M ores life and he was draw n to the C om m unist m ovem ent. M ore began to attend a ll the m eetings o f the C om m unists. H is m ain objective was to get acquainted w ith the C om m unist leadership and to understand the

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M arxist-L en inist id e o lo g y that had helped to establish Socialist state pow er and b u ild a socialist society in Russia. M ore personally m et C om rades B.T. Ranadive, S.V. D eshpande, Jagannath A d h ik a ri and R .M . Jam bhekar, and got them to

!

introduce h im to the study o f M arxism .

j

S till, he continued to w ork fo r the independent m ovem ent fo r D alits under the leadership o f D r. A m bedkar. It was his o p in io n that an independent m ovem ent o f the untouchables was also a need o f the tim es. But he felt that they needed real lib e ra tio n on a class basis, and that this was possible o n ly in a society w ith a socialist state. So M ore decided on the strategy that the independent m ovem ent o f the D alits should be left to grow on parallel lin es, and that he w ould enter the C om m unist P arty and act as a lin k to see how it cou ld becom e a p art o f the struggle 23 lliis was a case that helped to gain wide support for the still recently form ed C om m unist Party o f In d ia. H arkishan Singh Surjeet, a form er general secretary o f the C P I (M arxist) w rote about the afterm ath o f the M eerut C onspiracy Case thus: (A P arty w ith a centralized apparatus, came into being o n ly after the release o f the M eerut prisoners, in 1933. The M eerut C onspiracy Case, though launched to suppress the com m unist m ovem ent, provided the o p p o rtu n ity for C om m unists to propagate their ideas. It came out w ith its own m anifesto and was affiliated to the C om m unist International in 1934.) (H arkishan Singh Surjeet, (75th A n n ive rsa ry o f the Form ation o f the C om m unist Party o f India, an article in

The Marxist, v o l. 2, n o .1 ,January-M arch 1984.)

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o f the w orkin g class. W h ile he was s till w ith D r. A m b edkar and w o rkin g in the peasant m ovem ent, A n an trao aka Bhai C h itre had acquainted h im w ith class struggle. This was how M ore came to decide in his ow n m in d to m ove tow ards the C om m unist m ovem ent. Since D ange and others had been im prisoned in the M eerut C onspiracy Case, it was C om rade B.T. R anadive and S.V. Deshpande w ho led the strike o f 1929 and functioned as leaders o f the C om m unist P arty even though th ey had jo in e d the P arty o n ly that year. H is to ric a lly this was the first generation o f In d ia n C om m unists, llio s e w ho jo in e d the P arty d id so w ith the in te n tio n o f d o in g p arty w ork; this was a part o f th e ir consciousness. In those days, the cost o f ru n n in g the P arty was m et out o f funds raised by m iddle-class P arty m em bers. T liere were no funds to pay P arty w orkers, and those w ho came forw ard as fu ll-tim e P arty w orkers were m a in ly you ng people fro m w ealthy fam ilies. A m o n g those w ho came from the low er m iddle class, P arty w orkers lik e C om rade S.V. Deshpande carried on p arty w ork side by side w ith practising th e ir occupations as schoolteachers, etc. 1110se w ho came from the w orkin g class lacked w ealth. They were fed and looked after by the w orkers them selves, in w hom awareness had b u ilt up that it was th e ir resp o n sib ility to support these activists. M ost o f these w orking-class P arty w orkers were unm arried. M ost o f them were under th irty years o f age. M ore was one am ong them , a P arty w orker w ho had started out w ith n oth in g to his nam e. But M ore, u n like the others, was m arried b y then and had one son (the present author, Satyendra). H is w ife Sitabai came fro m a fa m ily that was quite w ell off. H er father was a teacher in Dasgaon at the tim e. The fa m ily had some lan d, and there was a cultured atm osphere in th e ir hom e. In those tim es, w hen w om en were not educated at a ll, Sitabai had studied up to the fo u rth standard. M ore w ould b rin g books fo r her to read, and so com pared to other D a lit w om en, she was w ell inform ed and in te llige n t. M ore in volve d her in a ll his social and p o litica l activities, and treated her as an equal. So M ore received conscious support from her in his w ork. M ores m other was alive at the tim e. She prob ab ly live d in th e ir hut in Dasgaon villa g e , and her econom ic co n d itio n was poor. In those days M ore w orked part-tim e fo r his live lih o o d , and from the little he could save fro m th is, he sent some m oney to his m other from tim e to tim e. But since th is m oney d id n ot a rrive regu larly, she w orked fo r wages in the villag e to earn a m eagre liv in g . M ores sister P ithubai had been m arried at an early age. H er husband D ajjan Hate w orked fo r som e tim e as a teacher and then came to Bom bay w here he d id all kin ds o f od d jobs fo r wages. O n the w hole, the situation was hard. So M ore w orked p art-tim e and devoted the rest o f his tim e to p arty w o rk lik e other w orking-class P arty w orkers. In those days, the P arty leaders were both leaders and P arty w orkers doing a ll kinds o f w ork fo r the Party. They carried tables and chairs on to the ground fo r m eetings and also m ade speeches. In those days there was no business w ith

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m egaphones or m icrophones. W ritin g posters, sticking them up, b rin g in g out cyclostyled newspapers, sellin g them , w ritin g in them , h o ld in g w orkers m eetings, m eeting the w orkers in th e ir hom es, educating them selves, educating w orkers about the class struggle, leading m eetings and dem onstrations—-they carried out a ll these tasks them selves. These were C om m unist activists w ho d id not recognize a d ivis io n between leader and a ctivist, w ho had live relations w ith the people. rIh is was the first generation o f C om m unists, fired b y the ideal o f b u ild in g a society based on people's pow er, selfless and soaked in the affection show ered on them by the people. A n d M ore was one am ong them . D u rin g 1928-29, M ore, w ho was then general secretary o f the M ahar Samaj Seva Sangh, used it as a p latfo rm to organize speeches on different social and p o litic a l topics by C om rades S.V. D eshpande, Sham rao Parulekar, Keshav Sitaram Thalcre and m any such others.24 Thus, he was exposed to a w orld beyond the D a lit m ovem ent alone ； this was how he trie d to b u ild bridges between the D a lit m ovem ent and the C om m unist m ovem ent. In 1930 he read The Communist Manifesto and other available books» and becam e firm ly convinced that the lib e ra tio n not o n ly o f the D alits but o f all h u m an ity could be achieved on the basis o f M arxs p h ilosop h y o f peopled power. Since he was by nature a sincere and active w orker, he plunged h im se lf in to the d a ily w ork o f the Party. fIh e P arty to o k note o f this, and tow ards o f the end o f 1930, he was given m em bership o f the C om m unist P arty.25 In th is context, M ore in fo rm e d Babasaheb in 1930 that he wavS jo in in g the C om m unist Party. O n hearing th is, Babasaheb was not a n gry w ith him> n o r d id he feel that M ore had betrayed h im ; on the con trary, he applauded h im . Seeing M ores courage and honesty he s a id ,1 am overw helm ed b y yo u r sin ce rity and dedication. I am p rou d that I have such a p u p il w ho is o f m y k in d . N ot cow ardly, but brave. He tells me h im se lf that he is leaving me to jo in the lib e ra tio n struggle o f the w hole o f hum ankind.5 Later he said, £I w onder w hether the C om m unist P arty in In d ia , w hich belongs to B rahm ins, w ill appreciate yo u r dedication and honesty? I am yo u r w ell-w isher and I hope you w ill have a b rig h t future. M y o n ly w ish is that you w ill be p ro p e rly appreciated there. I stand fo r in d ivid u a l freedom and dem ocracy, so Ï fu lly accept yo u r leavin g m e. I w ill be happy if you take p art in the w ork o f ru n n in g m y new spaper even after you go there, but it is up to you. I have no objection at all to yo u r g o in g ' Thus d id Babasaheb b id farew ell to M ore in 1930. As he was leavin g M ore to ld h im ,

24 A p pend ix A gives a list o f 19 lectures arranged by the M ahar Samaj Seva Sangh w hile M ore was general secretary, between 22 September 1928 and 5 Septem ber 1931.— Tr. 25 The Communist Manifesto was translated into M arathi as the Communist Jahirnama in 1931 by Gangaclhar A clhikari, It is possible M ore read the Manifesto in English before then.

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Even though I am setting out to do the w ork o f freeing m an kin d from all oppression, the struggle fo r the social and p o litica l righ ts o f D alits in the present fram ew ork o f capitalist la n d lo rd ism , w hich you have started, is also im p ortan t, and that is the d ire ctio n o f C om m unist th in k in g . But the C om m unists do n ot have the social support to b u ild a separate force o f D alits tow ards this objective, and I am aware that they have these inherent lim ita tio n s. S im ila rly, M ahatm a G andhi too w ill not be able to launch the struggle for the rig h t to be hum an against u ntou chab ility, because he looks at the D alits as an object o f p ity. That strength, that leadership resides in you. That is w hy, even though in the eyes o f people I am leaving yo u r fo ld , s till I h old that in m y practice I w ill rem ain yo u r m an on the question o f D a lit lib e ra tio n and I w ill not desert you. I have faith that the independent struggle o f the D alits and the w orkers' struggle fo r radical re vo lu tio n can go forw ard hand in hand. The C om m unists have never opposed the dem and that D alits m ust be given th e ir p o litic a l righ ts. The o n ly issue is that the C om m unists do not today have the force to enter the arena o f struggle fo r these righ ts w ith the same in te n sity as you do. This is th e ir weakness today; the C om m unists adm it th is and so do I. So today there is a need fo r an independent D a lit m ovem ent as w ell as a w orkers m ovem ent.

T h e F ir s t D a l it C o m m u n is t U n til M ore jo in e d the C om m unist Party, not a single D a lit in d ivid u a l from In d ia , let alone M aharashtra, had with full awareness becom e a m em ber o f the Party. W hat was m ore, none o f the activists w ho had helped to launch Am bedkai^s independent m ovem ent had ever entered any other p o litic a l m ovem ent, so to ta lly grip ped were the D alits as a com m u nity b y the independent m ovem ent o f D alits. M ore was in fact one am ong them . The p reva ilin g atm osphere was such that fo r an activist to leave the independent m ovem ent to liberate D alits fro m a life o f social oppression and h u m ilia tio n , w hich had been b u ilt up fo r the first tim e in h istory, was considered a great insu lt to the m ovem ent. This was the background against w hich M ore had jo in e d the C om m unist Party. D r. A m bedkar was able to understand how m uch m ental preparation, strength and courage w ent in to th is decision. O n ly a person from the D a lit com m u nity could understand th is. O ne w ho has never had to live the social existence o f D alits w ould fin d it d iffic u lt even to im agine th is. O n ly a M ahatm a Phule could do it. Lokm anya Tilalc had been touched b y the problem o f untou chab ility, but he d id not have the nerve to rebel against it. That is w hy T ila k has now fallen behind M ahatm a Phule in history. T liu s, M ore was the first person fro m the D a lit com m u n ity to jo in the P arty after h aving been in the fore fro n t o f BabasaheKs m ovem ent and after consciously

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attain in g an understanding o f M arxism -L eninism . Before M ore, there were many* D a lit m ill w orkers o r w orkers from other occupations w ho were a p art o f the trade u nion m ovem ent under C om m unist leadership. A m ong them was an in d ivid u a l nam ed P ira ji Sadhu Bhise from am ong the m ill w orkers o f Bom bay ； being a potraj, he was D a lit b y caste. H e was not just a m em ber o f the u n io n ; he was president o f the B om bay M ill W orkers U n ion under the leadership o f Daage, But he had n o th in g to do w ith the Party. D alits w ould jo in the u n io n , but th e ir lo ya lty rem ained w ith the independent m ovem ent o f the D alits. There m ust have been m any such D a lit w orkers elsewhere in the co u n try w ho jo in e d unions under C om m unist leadership, but M ore was the o n ly one to have been in the forefront o f the D a lit m ovem ent and w ho left Babasaheb to jo in the Party. This was surely som ething for the P arty to be p rou d of. It is true that the P arty d id not at the tim e realize the strength o f C om num ist consciousness and the courage that was needed fo r M ore to becom e a part o f the C om m unist m ovem ent; n o r d id the P arty recognize M ores im portance fo r that m ovem ent. If it had in fact recognized it, this w ould have helped the grow th o f the Party. Even so, today D alits are jo in in g the C om m unist P arty in large num bers, and fo r them M ore is an ideal figu re. The C om m unists do not believe in caste d iscrim in a tio n , b ut in the w o rld in w hich we live , re lig io n and caste d iscrim in a tion do exist. A n d it cannot be denied that no efForts were m ade to acquaint P arty activists w ith his th in k in g , in ord er to attract D alits to the P arty in the given situ ation . T liis injustice was, even if u nknow ingly, dealt out to M ore. M ore join e d the C om m u n ist P arty at the end o f 1930. This means that M ore was one o f the first generation that b u ilt the C om m unist m ovem ent in In d ia . This was indeed a m atter o f p rid e fo r the C om m unist Party. W hat is m ore, there were m any occasions when M ore could have gained personal benefit and prom inence because o f b eing a D a lit, but he never succum bed to such tem ptation, neither d id he ever tu rn back from the path he had chosen. If he had rem ained in the D a lit m ovem ent, he w ou ld have attained top leadership and w ould have been eulogized. But M ore shrugged o if these enticem ents and live d the life o f a dedicated C om m unist.

H a v in g L e f t B a b a s a h e b 5s F o l d , M o r e R e m a in s L oyal t o t h e D a l it M o v e m e n t M ore join ed the C om m unist P arty because he was im pressed by M arxism LeninisnVs p hilosop h y o f radical re vo lu tio n . In th is, he had not revoked Babasaheb and his p osition that an independent D a lit m ovem ent was necessary. He recognized that Babasaheb was the first leader after M ahatm a Phule to form uiate the D a lit question w ith such s o lid ity and steadfastness w ith in the fram ew ork o f a capitalist-feudal society. But w hile he was w o rkin g w ith Babasahebs independent D a lit m ovem ent, M ore came to h o ld the firm o p in io n that ultim ate lib e ra tion for

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the D alits could be brought about o n ly th rou gh the C om m unist m ovem ent for radical transform ation o f society. M ore was the o n ly one to have left Babasaheb^ side w hile he was s till alive and capably b u ild in g the independent m ovem ent o f D alits, and w hen the D alits had declared h im to be th e ir saviour. To te ll the tru th this was a rebellious act; but it was a th ou gh tfu l re b e llio n . M any left Babasaheb's fold fo r selfish reasons and jo in e d the Congress o r other bourgeois parties. M ore d id not do so, and that is w here his unique im portance and his distinctiveness lies. frhe reason w hy D r. Babasaheb A m bedkar and his independent m ovem ent arose was that the Congress p arty at the tim e and leaders lik e G a n d h iji were in d ire c tly u p h old in g the feudal social system , and thus, Babasaheb had no alternative but to b u ild an independent m ovem ent o f D alits. The C om m unist P arty based on the p h ilosop h y o f M arxism -L eninism had o n ly just been b o rn . It was aware o f these social questions, but it d id not possess the inherent o rga n iza tio n a l strength to tackle them as Babasaheb A m b edkar d id , w o rkin g w ith in the lim ita tio n s o f capitalism . Thus, the independent m ovem ent o f the D alits fo r th e ir lib e ra tio n was the h isto rica l need o f the tim es. M ore was conscious o f th is w hen he jo in e d the C om m unist P arty; and yet he entered the Party. This was because M ore was convinced that, as lon g as the independent D a lit m ovem ent d id n ot becom e a p art o f the w ider, basically re vo lu tio n a ry, struggle o f the w orkers and peasants, and as lon g as the C om m unist m ovem ent d id not a rrive at an understanding o f the social issues o f the D alits, the class struggle w ould not take ro o t firm ly. That was w hy he to o k the rather far-sighted view that he should devote the precious years o f his life to the C om m unist m ovem ent fo r radical change, and so he entered the C om m unist P arty and to o k the p o sitio n that he w ou ld, in Babasahebs life tim e, becom e a lin k between the tw o m ovem ents. Even though M ore had left Babasahebs fold , he s till w ent to m eetings and program m es organized b y h im . H e w ould always be present at a ll the m eetings held by Babasaheb in Bom bay. "Iliose others w ho left Babasaheb before M ore and after h im w ould never go and sit before the platform at one o f his m eetings. But M ore was not one am ong them ; he never to ok the p osition : I have left Babasahebs side and com e ou t o f his party, so w hy should I have anyth in g m ore to do w ith h im . The thought was constantly in his m in d that, if the C om m unist m ovem ent for radical transform ation o f society was to be m ade successful, one had to understand the independent m ovem ent fo r the lib e ra tio n o f the D a lits, and see how it could be m ade p art o f the C om m unist m ovem ent. That is w hy, being so m uch a p art o f both the D a lit and the C om m unist m ovem ent, he never avoided the m eetings and activities organized b y Babasaheb in Bom bay. M ore conducted study circles fo r you ng persons from the D a lit com m u n ity in fo u r chawls in B yculla, in W o rli-N a ig a o n , in A grip ad a-B om b a y C en tral, D elisle Road and m any other areas. He taught the basics o f M arxism to m any o f them . In this w ork he was helped b y C om rade S.V. Deshpande M aster. In fact, d u rin g 1930-

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31 M ore brought the w hole contiguous area o f D elisle Road, w hich is now N .M . Joshi Road, on to the C om m unist P artys m ap. C haw l N o .14 in this D elisle Road area was his first centre or activity. This chawl came to be know n as the Red Chaw l. S.R. G aikw ad, w ho live d in the B D D C haw l, was a frie n d o f M ore. He used to w ork in the Film s D ivis io n as a rilm e d ito r and artiste. G aikw ad was attracted to M ores capacity to thim c fo r h im self even w hile he was w ith D r. A m bedkar in his independent m ovem ent o f D alits. It was the same w ith G o vin d V itth a l Tam hankar, Baburao G arud and Bhargav Sonawane, w ho live d in C haw l N o .14. T lie y were attracted to M ores indepenaence o f thought and becam e his friends. They were proud o f M ore in his m any roles: as one o f the m ain leaders o f the M ahad

satyagraha, jo u rn a list w ritin g fo r Bahishkrit Bharat, e d ito r o f Avhan, president of the Colaba D is tric t Farm ers5A ssociation and later a C om m unist leader. in those days these young m en had a cricket club in D elisle Road. M ore suggested to them that they should n ot lim it this you th club to cricket alone, but set up a p o litica l-so cia l-cu ltu ra l association. A cco rd in gly, in 1 9 3 1 ,w ith guidance from M ore, an association called the j^nenas iJn io n was established. Through this association M ore began to spread his ideas am ong the untouchable people. Through the m edium o f th is association, jalsas, plays and festivals and other program m es based on w orkers problem s and other social questions were organized in the m ill precincts o f K ala C how kie and Lai Bagh. H ie activists o f the Young W orkers1 A ssociation, related to the C om m unist P arty and the Samata S ainik D al used to stage program m es o f the cu ltu ra l troupe that sprang up fro m th is association. This was the first w orkers cu ltu ra l troupe in the w orking-class m ovem ent o f Bom bay.26 This cu ltu ra l troupe put up a playlet th ro w in g lig h t on the problem o f unem ­ ploym ent in the te xtile m ills. The dialogues in th is p la y were w ritten b y M ores C om m unist frie n d C om rade D .S, V aidya. S.R, G aikw ad and Baburao G arud had com posed the songs. The fam ous m usic com poser C . Ram chandra (Ram chandra C h ita lka r) w ould often com e dow n to the Friends1 U n io n cu ltu ra l troupe to give them guidance on m usic and to w rite tunes fo r th e ir songs. He was a frie n d o f G aikw ad and M ore, and had great respect and affection fo r M ore. It is im p ortan t to note that the Friends U n ion cu ltu ra l troupe was spreading consciousness am ong the w orkers even before the In d ia n Peoples Iheatre A ssociation. It was from th is troupe that com poser-singers uke C om rade Raghu Kadam and C om rade S ikandar Shaikh em erged, w ho later jo in e d the cu ltu ra l troupe o f A m a r Shaikh and A nnabhau Sathe in the m ovem ent fo r a u nited M aharashtra state and became w id ely popular. S hahir Raghu Kadam and other artistes were p erfo rm in g the song Jagat sukhachi malaki swabale majuranna milanar (the 26 The In d ia n People's Theatre Association (IPTA) was form ed in 1943, d u rin g the Q u it In d ia m ovem ent. W h ile this association included m any m em bers w ith a Left or C om m unist orientation, the Red Flag C ultural Squad was set up in 1944 by A m a r Shaikh, Annabhau Sathe and D .N . G avhankar w ith a m ore explicitly C om m unist agenda.

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Annual meeting of 20,000 members of the Samata Sainik Dal, organized by the HP in Kamgar Maidan, Bombay, on 8 January 1939. Courtesy of Prakash N/ishwasrao, Dn ßdwsahafcjyAmbed/cflパ. w orkers, on th e ir ow n strength, w ill com e to possess a ll the joys o f th is w o rld ), set to m usic b y C . R am chandra, w itm n the m ovem ent u n til recently. It was th rou gh the m edium o f th is same frie n d s ' U n io n that the first p u b lic celebration o f D r. A m bedkar s b irth d a y was undertaken w ith great enthusiasm on M ores in itia tive , on 14 A p ril 1933 in C haw l N o .14, BD D Chaw ls. (C .B . K h airm ode, biographer o f D r. Babasaheb A m bedkar, has taken note o f this b irth d a y celebration in the second volum e o f his b iograp h y o f A m bedkar.) In o rg a n izin g this jayanti program m e, some activists w ho had just recently jo in e d the C om m unist P arty to o k p art alongside M ore. M ore persuaded D r. Babasaheb A m bedkar h im self to be present fo r this jayanti celebration. O n this occasion he praised M ore fo r his co n trib u tio n to the w orkers m ovem ent. Com rades Raghu Kadam and Baburao G arud personally to ld the present author that a photograph o f the m ain activists o f 5

the Friends U n io n was taken w ith Babasaheb on this occasion.27 27 Baburao G arud and G o vin d Tam hankar came from m ilita ry fam ilies, who m oved to Bom bay in the first decades o f the tw entieth century. Both had grow n up in the segregated Saurabh Chawl where D alits occupied the ground floor, and were not perm itted to w alk up the floors where the upper cavSte>s lived. They m oved to the Delisle Road B D D Chawls in 1930. Tam hankar was politicize d by the M ahad salyagraha, and joined the Friends5 U nion together w ith G arud at the height o f the N ashik temple satyagraha. The Friends5 U nion celebrated A m bedkars first Jayanti (birthday). The Friends>U n io n also started the first

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M ore also started w orkin g fo r the P arty th ro u gh this Friends' U n ion and several active m em bers o f the U n ion subscribed to the Party. In those days, M ore b u ilt the first u n it o f P arty m em bers from the D a lit com m unity, in D elisle Road. These included C om rades G o vin d Tam hankar, Baburao G arud, B hargav Sonawane) Tukaram Rohekar, G o vin d le m b e and H iru Jadhav.

R o u n d Ta b l e C o n f e r e n c e A t the end o f 1928 the Sim on C om m ission was appointed and entrusted w ith the task o f draw ing up a con stitu tion fo r a self-governed In d ia n colony having D o m in io n status. In the nation-w ide protest against the Sim on C om m ission, in w hich the Left parties to o k the p ositio n o f dem anding n ot D o m in io n status, but fu ll independence, Lala Lajpat R ai was fa ta lly in ju re d and died soon after. So the C om m ission had resulted in the loss o f a great national leader, though the dem and fo r fu ll independence d id not o rigin a te w ith the Congress and G a n d h iji. But as a result o f this aggressive protest, the 1929 Lahore C onference o f the Congress p arty passed a resolu tion dem anding fu ll independence. Later, in 1930, there were m assive protests against B ritish ru le a ll over In d ia . So the Congress was not present fo r the first R ound Table C onference; it had boycotted it. Besides, m any Congress leaders were in ja il at the tim e. O n 20 January 1 9 3 1 ,the B ritish P rim e M in iste r Ram say M acD onald announced the h o ld in g o f the second R ound Table Conference. O n 26 January G a n d h iji and m em bers o f the Congress W orkin g C om m ittee were u n co n d itio n a lly released from ja il. O n 4 M arch 1931, the G a n d h i-Irw in Pact was signed. In the same m onth, the Congress held a conference at K arachi and in that conference there was a unanim ous resolu tion to agree to a com prom ise. The Congress decided to set aside the dem and fo r fu ll independence and to h o ld talks w ith the B ritish ru lers in the R ound Table C onference on a u n ifie d constitution- In this con stitu tion Indians workers' cultural troupe» the Mela Kamgar Kalapathak. Annabhau Sathe, A m ar Shaikh, and G avhankar got th e ir start through this troupe. G arud notes, cA t the tim e, our th in kin g was that as w orkers, we w ould be one w ith the Lai Bavtawale [those o f the red flag, i.e. the Com m unists] and we w ould also jo in BabasaheKs struggle against untouchability as activists' G arud attributes his and Tam hankars entry into Left politics to Com rade R.B. M ore, and notes that it was M ore w ho introduced them to w orking-class organizations and to the revolu tionary meSvSage o f the C om m unist Party. R.B. M ore notes that he had w orked w ith Tam hankar on SahisPikril Bharat, but that Tam hankar associated him w ith the publications Avhan, Kranti, e\nd Railway Mazdoor. M ore notes that the Samata Sainik D al distributed Av/ztm from

to dtflvW, and thus underlines the sig n ifia m t connections

forged between working-class DalitvS, C om m unist ideology, and the Am bedkar m ovem ent. See rem iniscences b y Baburao G arud and R.B. M ore in Ek Adarsha Kamgar Karyakarta—

Govind Tamhankar: Jeevan, Vichar, Karya, w ritten to com m em orate his first death anniversary, on 17 Septem ber 1 97 1 ,and published by his son, Vasudev G o vin d Tam hankar, w ith a forew ord by Satyendra M ore.

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w ould be granted responsibilities, but in th e ir ow n interest the B ritish authorities w ould retain certain pow ers. This was a p ositio n o f m eekly subm itting before the B ritish , and so there was w ide protest from the In d ia n people against G a n d h ijis going to England for the R ound Table C onference. This was a betrayal by G anclhiji. D r. Babasaheb Am bedkai^s presence at the R ound Table C onference had a difi^erent significance. The B ritish , w ith in the fram ew ork o f the M ontaguC helm sford reform s, and m aybe fo r th e ir ow n selfish ends, had thought o f gran tin g p o litica l righ ts to the D alits, w hich In d ia n society had never done. rEhe D alits were hum an beings w ho had been liv in g a life m ore h u m ilia tin g than that o f anim als fo r hundreds o f years in this society. It w ould be not just a m istake but great foolishness to im agine that the B ritish were acting as angels in g ran tin g them these righ ts. H ie B ritish came to In d ia to trade and rob her o f her w ealth; on top o f th is they im posed th e ir ru le on her residents. The basic socio-econom ic u n it in In d ia was the village; they broke th is up and brought the capitalist econom y. As th ey brought a k in d o f freedom to the p o o r w ho were liv in g in bondage in the villages and gave them the o p p o rtu n ity to becom e w orkers in the city, so too d id the untouchables also gain this freedom . But the B ritish kept the feudal regim e as it was. In b rie f, they transplanted the capitalist system on to the feudal society. So the social system that was im p riso n in g the D alits developed at least a few cracks. A new consciousness, a new self-know ledge was b o rn w ith in them , llie B ritish had realized, w hile gran tin g p o litic a l righ ts to M uslim s in the fram ew ork o f the M o rle y-M in to reform s, that in this changed situation they could not afford to neglect th e ir interests. But th ey d id not com e to such a x'ealization in the case o f the D alits. O f course, there is no doubt that in gran tin g these rights to M uslim s they were seeking to m ark them and set them apart (from the m a jo rity). The B ritish d id not th in k o f the D alits in th is w ay because the^ D alits had not yet com e in to existence as a p o litic a l force, but they peixeivecl the beginnings o f such a force. It was so that the D alits should not prove a threat to them that the untouchables found a place in the M ontagu-C helm sford reform s that follow ed the M o rle y-M in to reform s. In ca rryin g out b oth these (sets of) reform s the B ritish had the selfish objective o f pressing on w ith im posing th e ir ru le. The progressives o f the tim e were not w rong in re co gn izin g that this was a p o lic y o f d ivid e and ru le. But the progressive forces had also largely failed to note that the social, p o litic a l and econom ic backgrounds o f the M uslim s and the D alits were different. So applying the same c rite ria to both these groups in this situation showed the fa u lty understanding o f the C om m unists. For the D alits the M ontagu-C neim sford reform s presented an o p p o rtu n ity that had com e after hundreds o f years. From the p oin t o f view o f the D a lit question, it w ould have been w rong to m iss it. "fhe progressive th inkers had n ot understood this. The progressives at the tim e had neither the organizational strength to deal w ith the D a lit question, n o r a strategy; Babasaheb sum m ed up the situation

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correctly, and thus, was not w rong to seize the o p p ortu n ity. Therefore, to say that A m bedkar was a stool pigeon o f the B ritish is not to understand the practical re a lity o f the circum stances. The Sim on C om m ission arrived, in In d ia after the aforesaid M ontaguC helm sford reform s. Babasaheb la id his extensive testim ony before the C om m ­ ission and m ade a dem and fo r a d d itio n a l p o litic a l righ ts fo r the D a lits. O thers had also presented th e ir points or view before the C om m ission. But nobody was satisfied w ith the outcom e. Thus, alm ost a ll the p o litic a l parties opposed the recom m endations o f the Sim on C om m ission. A ll the p o litic a l leaders in London had taken the same p o sitio n . The B ritish p o litic a l leaders suggested that the In d ia n p o litic a l parties and these leaders should com e together and discuss the m atter. So it was decided that In d ia n and B ritish leaders should h old a (R ound Table5 conference. The m ajor objective o f (the B ritish p oliticia n s in h o ld in g ) the R ound Table C onference was to defeat the dem and fo r fu ll independence and trap In d ia in the fram ew ork o f D o m in io n self-rule. Even so, in the reform s that had been instituted up till then, the rig h t to adult francm se was not includ ed .

righ ts o f aclivasis

were not even m entioned. D alits' righ ts had been taken note o f and then com pletely denied. A gainst this background the eyes o f this deprived section o f society were on the R ound Table C onference as presenting them w ith a long-aw aited op p ortun ity. A n d even though the Congress had p ut up the slogan o f fu ll independence, it had becom e am enable to the B ritish p ositio n o f D o m in io n self-rule. In the list o f m em bers selected b y the governm ent to take p art in the Conference in Septem ber 1930, there were tw o representatives o f the D alits: D r. A m bedkar and [Rettam alai] S rinivasan .28 'This first R ound Table C onference was to begin in London on 17 O ctober 1930. Babasaheb and Srinivasan arrive d in London on 18 O ctober 1930 and took p art in the Conference. There Babasaheb and S rinivasan first explained the nature o f the question o f u n tou ch a b ility and how it was d istin ct. They argued that it was necessary to m ake special p rovision s for the D alits and that the H indus5 and M uslim s vie w p o in t was a selr-m terested one. A fte r th is, on 31 D ecem ber 1930, Babasaheb subm itted a 15-page w ritten p etition enum erating the p o litic a l dem ands o f the untouchables. The eight m ain dem ands29 in this p e titio n were as follow s: 1 . For equal citizen sh ip , u n tou ch a b ility m ust be abolished b y law. They cannot accept m a jo rity ru le in th e ir present state o f h ered itary bondsm en. Before m a jo rity ru le is establisned, th e ir em ancipation from the system o f u n tou ch a b ility m ust be an accom plished fact. It m ust not be left to the w ill o f the m ajority. 28 Satyendra M ore refers to R, Srinivasan as ^ rin iva sl 29 We have translated the eight points o f the petition as given by the author.— — ’Jn

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It m ust be p u b licly announced that D alits have been given equal righ ts. A nyone who prevents them from passing through th e ir fields, o r burns dow n th e ir house, m ust be charged w ith a c rim in a l offence and punished.

3.

T liere m ust be a C entral law against offences based on caste hatred.

4.

T lie untouchables m ust have adult franchise, separate electorates, and the untouchables m ust have adequate representation in the C en tral and P ro vin cia l Legislative C ou n cils.

5.

M ake a con stitu tional p ro visip n fo r C entral and P ro vin cia l P ublic Service C om m issions. A n d appoint untouchables in governm ent service on all

6.

kinds o f posts* I f the pow ers o f C entral and P ro vin cia l governm ent go in to the hands o f the 'touchable5 H indu s, because o f th e ir prejudiced vie w p o in t they m ay harm the interests o f the untouchables. There should be con stitu tional p ro visio n to prevent this.

7.

The constitution should m ake p ro visio n fo r a special departm ent to put an end to oppression o f untouchables and to safeguard th e ir interests.

8.

The E m peror m ust in stru ct every G overnor-G eneral that he m ust include representatives o f the untouchables in his cabinet.

I

Babasaheb succeeded in b rin g in g up the above topics fo r discussion in the first

;

R ound Table Conference. He m anaged to secure the agreem ent o f the Conference

!

on the p o in t that the untouchables m ust be treated d iffe re n tly from the H indu s,

I

and that there should be protective measures to ensure that th ey w ould be elected to the Legislative C ouncils. The question o f w hether they should be given reserved

I

seats w ith a united electorate o r separate electorates was placed on the agenda o f

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the C onference. The C onference also to o k note o f the seriousness o f other issues (concerning the untouchables). In the end, w ith the sittin g o f 19 January 1 9 3 1 ,the w ork o f the first R ound Table C onference was te m p o ra rily w ound up. A fte r this Babasaheb returned to In d ia and began, an agitation to obtain the backing o f the untouchables fo r his p o litic a l dem ands. The question o f w hat k in d o f con stitu tion In d ia should have was discussed at the first R oun d Table Conference> b ut because o f the absence o f the Congress in th is conference no decision was taken. The Congress had boycotted th is first conference. To fin d a w ay out o f this im passe, the governm ent released Congress

j

leaders from ja il and convinced G a n d h iji to be present at the second R ound Table

I

C onference. A fte r th is, at the Congress p a rty convention held in K arachi, it was resolved that G a n d h iji w ould go to London as representative o f the Congress. So, on 29 A ugust 1931 G a n d h iji departed fo r London on the ship Rajputana accom panied by tw o she-goats, and a few vessels o f Ganges water. H e a rrive d in London on 12 Septem ber. H e to o k up residence at K in gsley H a ll in the East E nd o f London, w hich was then considered to be an u n d erp rivilege d d is tric t o f the city. He

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was accom panied b y M adan M ohan M ajaviya, S arojin i N aidu, S ir Prabhashankar Pattani, the D iw an o f Bhavnagar, M ahd^iev D esai, P yarelal, D evdas, M iraben and G hanshyam Das B irla . The second R ound Table C onference to o k place from フ Septem ber to 31 D ecem ber 1931. D r. A m bedkar and other representatives such as B arrister Sapru, Jinn ah, and N .M . Joshi also took p art. O n 13 N ovem ber 1 9 3 1 ,speaking before the tenth sittin g o f the M in o ritie s C om m ittee, G a n d h iji said/0 The Congress is the representative o f a ll the m in o ritie s. I am the tru e supporter and prom oter o f reform s fo r the untouchables. I consider th e ir righ ts to be as precious as m y ow n life . I w ill not sacrifice the hum an righ ts o f the untouchables in ord er to attain independence. I w ould n ot sell the v ita l interests o f the untouchables even fo r the sake of w in n in g the freedom o f In d ia . I claim m yself in m y own person to represent the interests o f the untouchables. Even if the w hole w o rld is prom ised to me I w ill not betray the untouchables. Therefore, to fo llo w D r. Am bedkar^s proposal and the p rovisions o f the M in o ritie s Pact to grant them separate p o litic a l righ ts w ould be suicidal fo r the untouchables. If the untouchables decide to convert to Islam o r C h ris tia n ity I w ill not oppose them . H e also said that the representatives sent by the Congress fo r the second R ound Table C onference were the true representatives o f a ll castes and religious com m unities. A m bedkar and others were representatives nom inated by the governm ent; th ey d id not represent the people. D r. A m bedkar to o k objection to this. He said that if p o litic a l pow er in In d ia passed into the hands o f the H indus and the M uslim s, they w ould continue to rid e roughshod over the poor, ign oran t and backw ard people. A m bedkar noted, 'That is w hy the untouchable people are not fig h tin g fo r a d d ition a l p o litic a l rights fo r In dians. The untouchable people are stru g glin g , so that, if these addition al righ ts are granted, there m ust be p ro visio n to safeguard the righ ts o f a ll m in o rity com m unities and the untouchable com m unity. The Congress desires that the untouchables should place tru st in the Congress in the m atter o f p o litica l rights fo r In dians. But fo r hundreds o f years, the H indus have treated untouchables as w orse than anim als/ So he (A m bedkar) refused to give u n con d ition a l support to the p o litica l dem ands o f the Congress and on 4 N ovem ber 1931 he subm itted a fresh p etition in co rp o ra tin g , w ith some im provem ents, the dem ands he had placed before the first Conference. A t the b egin n in g o f the R ound Table C onference D r. Babasaheb A m bedkar3 0 30 We have translated the account o f G andhis testim ony before the second Round Table Conference as given by the author.— Tr.

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had dem anded reserved seats and adult franchise in jo in t electorates, but the untouchables sent h im thousands o f telegram s aslcing h im to dem and separate electorates. A ccord in gly, he got the dem and fo r separate electorates in corp orated in the M in o ritie s Pact. M ahatm a G andh i d id not like this and so he in cited some antiAm beclkar D alits like [M .C .] R ajah, D e vru kh ka r and P. B aloo (old-tim e cricketer) to raise a dem and fo r jo in t electorates. But A m bedkar d id not give up his dem and for separate electorates. This dem and o f Babasaheb was supported in the Conference by S ir Tej Bahadur Sapru, S ir RS. Sivasw am i A iyya r, M .A . Jinnah, D r. R.P. Paranjpe, S ir A .R Panze, S ir H e n ry G idney, D iw an Bahadur Ram asam y M udaliar, D iw an B ahadur Ram achandra Rao and R aobahadur A .T . P anniraselvam . A lso , D r. B.S. M oonje (a leader o f the H in d u M ahasabha, a fundam entalist H in d u organization) supported h im at the tim e, but d id an about tu rn w hen he returned to In d ia . M ahatm a G andhi was in favour o f gran tin g separate p o litic a l righ ts to Sikhs and M uslim s, but he opposed g ivin g the same righ ts to untouchables. To secure the same opp osition from the M uslim s, on / u cto b e r 1 9 3 1 ,he m ade a secret pact w ith the M uslim s. A m bedkar says that this in fo rm a tio n reached his ears th ro u gh a M uslim representative. Fearing that if G andh i were to gain support fo r his p osition from other m in o rity groups, his dem and (fo r separate electorates) w ou ld be defeated; A m bedkar together w ith his colleagues R aobahadur [Panniraselvam ] and R . Srinivasan signed a supplem entary p e titio n w hich was placed before the R ound Table C onference. In this p e titio n th ey dem anded that the untouchables be given p o litic a l righ ts in p ro p o rtio n to th e ir num ber in the p op u la tio n . T lie y em phasized the p o in t that p ro visio n be m ade so that the untouchable voters w ould elect th e ir representative from untouchable electorates. U ntouchables should get places in jobs, in local bodies and in C en tral and P ro vin cia l legislatures in p ro p o rtio n to th e ir p op ulation, M ahatm a G andhis p ositio n was that the task o f e lim in a tin g u n tou ch a b ility fell to the caste H indus and he w ould com plete it. The untouchables should rem ain w ith in the H in d u com m unity, then u n tou ch a b ility w ould be abolished and th e ir representatives w ould be elected to the legislative bodies.31 In th is way, once u n tou ch a b ility was abolished the road to an ove ra ll im provem ent in the situation o f the untouchables w ould be opened up. W h ile G andh i was in London, speaking about the p o litic a l future o f the untouchables before the 'In d ia n Students M ajlis, he said,

31 This sentence reads oddly, but the point Satyendra M ore is try in g to convey is that G andhi was arguing against separate representation for D alits and in support o f reserved representation, w hich he believed w ould achieve the same result, that is, D a lit representation. As we know , Am bedkar's argum ent was different: he argued for separate representation and against reserved representation on the grounds that when the general (H ind u) electorate elected D a lit reprevsentatives from reserved constituencies, they invariably elected representatives who were m ore palatable to caste H indus.

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The M uslim and S ikh com m unities have becom e h ig h ly p o litic a lly consci〇Us and organized. That is not the situation o f the untouchables. So to separate them from H in d u society w ill be h arm fu l to the untouchables. D r. A m bedkar is the representative o f the untouchables. He looks at H in d u society w ith h o stility. The H indu s have treated them (the untouchables) m ost cru e lly and so a hostile feeling has arisen w ith in h im . This is a consequence o f past events. W e are obliged to h im that he has not broken o u r heads out o f anger w ith the H indus. I have great respect fo r D r. A m bedkar. But his dem anding separate electorates fo r the untouchables is a m istake. He xnay be w anting to m ake his ow n fortune th rough these p o litic a l righ ts, b ut I do not understand w hat good th ey are going to do to the interests o f the untouchables. O n the co n tra ry D r. A m b edkar to o k the view that, if the untouchables dissolved th e ir p o litica l existence w ith in the H in d u fo ld , they w ould becom e puppets in the hands o f the H indu s, w ho w ould then com pel them to vote for a candidate put up by the H indus. The life o f untouchables in the villages is subject to the w him o f the H indu s. I f the untouchables gained separate p o litic a l righ ts, they w ould be able to elect th e ir ow n representatives, and, because o f this separate p o litic a l existence, they w ill be able to raise an agitation against the H indus w hen they oppress them . This w ould lig h t the fire o f self-awareness w ith in them and the entire untouchable com m u nity w ill becom e prepared to sacrifice anyth in g for a life o f self-respect. They w ould be liberated from centuries o f bone-crushing servitude. W hen G a n d h iji realized that in a ll the m eetings o f m in o ritie s he was not able to m uster support fo r his opp osition to the dem ands m ade by Am bedkar, he called D r. A m bedkar to m eet h im and to ld h im , A re you w illin g to revise the dem ands that you have m ade fo r the safeguarding o f the interests o f the untouchables?5 Babasaheb said, ‘W e are ce rta in ly in favour o f appropriate revisions.，Then G andhi put forw ard his p ro p o sitio n as follow s: If, in p u b lic elections held on the p rin cip le or jo in t electorates, a candidate from the untouchable com m u nity rails to get elected, he should lodge a legal com plaint and prove before the cou rt that, even though he and the caste H in d u candidate w ho got elected were in a ll other respects equally capable, he d id not get elected o n ly because o f his untouchable caste. If the cou rt is convinced and rules a cco rd in g ly the caste H in d u candidates election w ill be declared n u ll and vo id and the untouchable candidate w ill stand elected. B y proposing this scheme G a n d h iji was try in g to get the untouchables caught up in legal proceedings. D r. A m bedkar to ld G a n d h iji then and there that he considered th is plan to be im p ractical and found it com pletely unacceptable. A t the end o f the discussions in the second R ound Table Conference, the

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[com position of] upper and low er houses o f the C entral legislative b od y had been decided, as w ell as the P ro vin cia l Legislative C ou n cils. F or th is, the census o f 1931 was taken as the basis. The S outhborough C om m ittee and the Sim on C om m ission had granted a handful o f seats to the untouchables, and those too were on the basis o f n om in ation . D r. A m bedkar b rou gh t about a m o d ifica tio n in these p rovisions so that the representatives w ould be elected on the basis o f adult franchise, and he also secured a substantial increase in the num ber o f seats (to be reserved for untouchables). In the C entral Legislative C o u n cil, in the upper house, out o f 200 seats 101 were fo r H indu s, 20 fo r untouchables and the rest fo r other m in o ritie s. S im ila rly, in the low er house, out o f 300 seats the num bers were 123 and 45 respectively, and in the Bom bay P ro vin cia l C o u n cil they were 88 fo r H indu s and 28 fo r untouchables out o f a total o f 200. The num ber o f seats fo r untouchables were also increased in the councils fo r the Provinces o f C.P., M adras, Punjab, U nited P rovinces, Assam , Bengal, B ih ar and O rissa. So th is second R ound Table C onference proved to be ve ry favourable fro m the p o in t o f view o f D alits p o litic a l righ ts. It cannot be denied that the untouchable community had reached such a

plane for the first time in history, because they had an independent organization. The thinking put forward by the Communists that the Congress could take care of everything had been proved wrong by history. W hen D r. A m bedkar left fo r the R ound Table C onference in O ctober 1930, M ore and the leaders o f the M ahar Seva Sangh arranged a p u b lic fe licita tio n in Bom bay. M ore also brought out the first issue o f the w eekly Avhan devoted to the R ound Table Conference and dedicated it to D r. Babasaheb A m bedkar. A t the tim e M ore agreed w ith the p ositio n taken b y D r. A m bedkar in the R ound Table C onference, and that was w hy he to o k the lead in o rg a n izin g th is fe licita tio n .

P o o n a Pa c t A fte r 1927-28 the w orkers m ovem ent and the influence o f the C om m unists was grow in g. That was w hy, in 1929, C om m unists were arrested in the 'M eerut C on sp iracy case. O n the other hand, the Congress had em barked on th e ir p o lic y o f non-cooperation from 1930. It was to d u ll the edge o f this strategy that G a n d h iji carried out his salt satyagraha as a personal act. But in the end it spread a ll over the n ation .32 G andhi d id not agree to the dem and fo r an agitation against the salt 32 G andhi had called o ff the first non-cooperation m ovem ent w hich had been launched in 1920, after the C hauri C haura incident o f 1922. C hauri C haura was the infam ous incident where Congress volunteers in G orakh pur d istrict set fire to a police post leading to the death o f 22 policem en in response to police firin g on a dem onstration organized by Congress volunteers d u rin g the N on-C ooperation M ovem ent. C iv il Disobedience was taken up b y the CongrevSS again in 1930. Some critics have argued that G andhi started the Salt Satyagraha, where prote,sters made their own salt and refused to pay the Salt Tax im posed by the B ritish, to restore his personal image. Satyendra M ore is referring to this view here.

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tax. He gave an assurance o f p rotection to the zamindars. The people d id not like this decision, and the fe rvo u r o f the peoples m ovem ent intensified. The B ritish regim e was shaken. A n d yet G a n d h iji was p ursu in g a p o lic y o f cooperation w ith the B ritish , and that was w hy he attended the second R ound Table Conference. The B ritish drew up a strategy o f e xp lo itin g the weakness that had becom e apparent w ith in the C ongress. H ere in In d ia the agitations that had begun in 1930 were spreading. G andh i, by sign in g the G a n d h i-Irw in pact, was in fact takin g up a stand o f cooperating w ith the B ritish . But the fu ry and discontent w ith in the co u n try was catching fire against the B ritish . G andhi returned to In d ia at the end o f 1931, having concluded the second R ound Table C onference. O n 4 January 1932 the B ritish m ade a sudden forceful attack, arrested G a n d h iji, and outlaw ed all associations. In 1930 the Congress was takin g an aggressive stance. N ow it was being com pelled to figh t a defensive struggle. G a n d h iji put ou t a com m and that the struggle against the B ritish shom d be continued w ith ou t b u ild in g underground organizations, and that such an und ergrou n d struggle was against Congress p o licy. F urther, keeping in m in d tue experience o f C h a u ri c,haura, w here the farm ers had launched an agitation against the zamindars and the governm ent, a resolution was passed that the landow ners w ould be given p rotection . A ccord in gly, it was announced that the Congress w ould not support any struggle that opposed the interests o f the landlords. Tiius, he (G andhi) crushed the peoples m ovem ents and adopted a p o lic y o f cooperating w ith the B ritish . G a n d h iji announced th is p o lic y w hile he was s till in ja il, s im ila rly, in the sum m er o f 1932 he put the nationalist m ovem ent on h old and concentrated a ll his attention on the u p lift o f the H arijans. It was as a p a rt o f this that he raised a new question: that o f re visin g the agreem ent reached in the R ound Table C onference that had granted some concessions to D a lits, and he declared that he w ould go on a fast unto death fo r th is. In this w ay he succeeded m d ive rtin g the peoples attention fro m the external struggle. He p ut forw ard a p o lic y negating reserved seats fo r D alits in the C entral and P ro vin cia l Legislative C ou n cils. H e stu b b o rn ly insisted that the B ritish should p rovid e for jo in t electorates in w hich the untouchables were treated as H indu s. A t this tim e, G a n d h iji was im p risoned in Yerawada ja il in Pune. M ahatm a G andhi in the m onth o f M arch im m ediately sent a notice by w ay o f w ritin g a letter to S ir Sam uel H oare, Secretary o f State for In d ia , stating that the untouchables should n ot be given separate electorates; else he w ould go on an in d efin ite fast. In the end, on 17 A ugust 1932，the B ritish announced th e ir decision.33 A ccord in g to th is, the untouchables were treated as p art o f the H in d u com m u nity 33 Ramsay M acDonald's C om m unal Aw ard allowed the Depressed Classes a double vote, as members o f an excluded m in o rity and as members o f the general H in d u electorate. G andhi^ fast-unto-death was in response to the principle o f separation. The Poona Pact com prom ise granted extra seats (and reserved constituencies) fo r the Depressed Classes.

THE

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RAMCHANDRA

BABAJI

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and w ould be able to cast votes on an equal basis as p art o f the H in d u electorate. Besides th is, the untouchables, w hile rem ainin g p a rt o f the H in d u com m unity, could protect th e ir rights and interests by w ay o f a separate constituency. In the present situ ation , this com m u nity required an independent constituency. W herever backw ard coinm unities had been granted separate electorates, the com m on H in d u voter w ould not. be deprived o f his franchise. Besides, since the untouchable castes w ould be included in the H in d u constituencies, a caste H in d u candidate w ould also require the votes o f untouchables in ord er to get elected. S im ila rly, an untouchable candidate w ould need the votes o f caste H indus. O n the other hand, because o f the com m unal separate electorates granted to the M uslim s, a M uslim w ou ld not have the rig h t to vote or to stand fo r election in a general constituency. But any eligib le untouchable voter w ould be able to cast his vote o r even stand as a candidate in a general constituency. A fte r th is, on 18 A ugust 1932, M ahatm a G andhi w rote to the B ritish P rim e M in iste r J. Ram say M acD onald fro m Yerawada ja il, expressing his o p p osition to the vo tin g righ ts granted to the vuitouchables, and dem anding that the scheme of com m u nally determ ined separate electorates be w ithdraw n. The representatives o f the untouchables should be elected from the general constituencies, and equal vo tin g righ ts should be granted to a ll. If the decision was not changed in th is way, he (G an dh i) w ould em bark on a fast unto death from the 20th o f Septem ber. D r. A m bedkar felt that G a n d h iji d id not re a lly w ant to end u n to u ch a b ility; he just w anted to pose h im self as saviour o f the untouchables. A cco rd in g to h im the social system based on chaturvarna, o r the h ie rarch ical ord er o f fou r castevs (w ith untouchables outside and in fe rio r to th is ord er) was an ideal system . D r. A m bedkar was a sharp c ritic o f th is social order, w hile G andhi supported it. A ll the H indu s w ho claim ed to be progressive also view ed this o rd e r as ideal; th ey o n ly said that u n tou ch a b ility should not be practised. That is w hy social tran sform ation is im possible w ith in the H in d u re lig io n based on caste d iscrim in a tio n . That is w hy it was D r. Babasaheb A m b edkar s dem and that o n ly if the system o f chaturvarna were dem olished could u n tou ch a b ility be rem oved. That is w hy [D r. A m bedkar] d id not accept G a n d h iji s p ity fo r the untouchables, his advocacy o f a change o f heart1 am ong caste H indus and his praise fo r the efforts m ade b y H in d u s. [Babasaheb] w anted to jo in [the cause o f the untouchables] to the p o litic a l righ ts ethic b rought b y the changed capitalist order. That is w hy he w anted separate electorates and reserved seats. This was unacceptable to G a n d h iji. G a n d h iji stuck to his p osition and in the end he announced the start o f his fast unto death. The nation was aroused and everyone started to curse D r. A m bedkar. H e received death threats. S enior Congress leaders lin e d up to press upon A m bedkar. As decided, G andm ji began his fast in Yerawada p riso n on 20 Septem ber, M alaviyaj Jayakar, Sapru and other leaders w ent at once to Yerawada to m eet h im . T lie y sought guidance from h im as to w hat righ ts should be granted to

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the untouchables so that he w ould be satisfied and D r. A m bedkar too w ou ld be agreeaWe. A cco rd in g ly，they placed before A m b edkar a w ritten form u la tio n o f suggestions from G a n d h iji. A fte r th is, on 22 Septem ber, they to o k h im along w ith them to m eet G a n d h iji. D u rin g this m eeting A m bedkar suggested that the untouchables should be given 197 seats in a ll in the P ro vin cia l legislatures and that a referendum o f the untouchables be held every ten years. U pon w hich G a n d h iji re p lie d , 'W hat you say is reasonable, b ut do n ot dem and anyth in g that w ill separate the untouchables from H in d u society.1 O n the next day, w hen talks resum ed, G a n d h iji said, 'Take w hat you w ill: either a five-year v a lid ity fo r the pact, o r m y life." A fte r th is the tim e fo r the m eeting was up. It was decided that talks w ould be continued w ith [C.] R ajagopalachari, M alaviya and others. It was agreed b y all that th is issue o f a p e rio d o f five o r ten years should be decided m u tu ally in a m eeting am ong the parties. This decision was conveyed to G a n d h iji, and he accepted it. F ollow in g th is, im m ediately on 25 Septem ber 1932, the draft o f the Pact was draw n up. R ajagopalachari, along w ith B irla Shetji and D r, A m bedkar, went to meet G a n d h iji in Yerawada ja il and placed the draft before h im . D r. A m bedkar then asked, ‘A re you satisfied now at least? ， A fte r the pact had been signed, Babasaheb w ent to the Assem bly H a ll in Pune. There he m et R aobahadur C h itale from A hm ednagar, w ho rem arked jo k in g ly to A m bedkar that after m aking so m any objections» in the end he had reached a com prom ise w ith G a n d h iji. Babasaheb answered, cW hat cou ld I do? Jayakar was standing behind me h o ld in g a dagger and Sapru before me p istol in hand. I had no choice .， The num ber o f seats granted (to the untouchables) in the Poona Pact was greater than in the com m unal accord in the R ound Table Conference. Instead o f separate electorates th ey had been given jo in t electorates. In fact, in the first R ound Table C onference, Babasaheb had not asked fo r separate electorates. 111at was a dem and m ade by the untouchable com m u n ity and com m unicated to Babasaheb through telegram s sent to London. Thus, rig h t from the start A m bedkar had adopted a p ositio n o f readiness to m ake concessions. A n d now he was confronted w ith the grievous choice posed by the staking o f G andm jis life . T lia t was how the h isto ric Poona Pact was concluded. A fte r the Poona Pact» the Congress took the lead in setting up an organization dedicated to the a ll-rou n d progress o f the untouchables. A t firs t this organ ization was nam ed 'In d ia A n ti-U n to u ch a b ility League. Later, it became 'Servants o f A n ti-U n to u ch a b ility S ociety' In the end, G a n d h iji gave it the nam e o f Harijan Sevak Sangh ['Association fo r Service to Untouchables/ach ild ren o f G o d 5,,j. Its central com m ittee had nine m em bers fro m the Congress, w hile three persons in c lu d in g D r. A m bedkar were from the untouchable com m unity. Babasaheb decided to place before G andhi his ideas on how this association should fu n ctio n . Just then, D r. A m bedkar s nam e was includ ed am ong the selected representatives chOvSen to take p art in the th ird R ound Table Conference, w hich

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was to deliberate on the con stitu tion (o f the In d ia n R epublic) to be im plem ented in 1935. So on 7 N ovem ber 1932 he left fo r L ond on . U sing the tim e at his disposal in the jou rn ey, on 14 N ovem ber 1932 he w rote a letter con taining detailed suggestions on how the H a rija n Sevalc Sangh should do its w ork, and posted it from P ort Said to T hakkar Bappa. In this letter he expressed the sentim ent that the alienation between caste H indus and untouchables should end and that th ey should jo in together. F u rth erm ore, in this letter he conveyed his suggestions as to how the Sangh should w o rk so that H in d u society m ight becom e m ore integrated and strong. "Ilia k ka r Bappa and the Congress threw th is letter in to the waste basket, and d id not even send an acknow ledgem ent. O n the con trary, the Congress tu rn ed a b lin d eye to a ll o f these suggestions and em barked on its ow n, independent program m e o f service. A s a result, relations between the Sangh and Babasaheb d id n ot rem ain co rd ia l, and Babasaheb tendered his resignation from the Sangh. A few days later, the three other m em bers from the untouchable com m unity, [Rettam alai] Srinivasan, P. B aloo and [M .C .] Rajah also resigned. Because they had w ithdraw n th e ir support, the Congress labelled them as tra ito rs to the nation and the faith. N ot o n ly this; they were called puppets o f the im p erialists. Because I

D r. A m bedkar sought to dem and from the B ritish the p o litic a l righ ts that the

j

untouchables had been denied fo r thousands o f years, and to secure these righ ts before independence, he was p ortrayed as bein g opposed to the independence struggle. In short, the Congress too did not understand Babasaheb and did not allow

him to come near it politically. The Congress continued w ith its p o litics o f betrayal o f the untouchables, and Babasaheb had b itter experience o f th is in the years that follow ed, so that he was forced to launch a satyagraha to oppose the Poona Pact in 1946. D u rin g the elections to the B om bay P ro vin cia l Legislative C o u n cil and the B erar P ro vin cia l Legislative C o u n cil, D r. Babasaheb A m b edkars Independent Labour P arty had m ade some gains. This was because the Congress had not put up its ow n candidates fo r the reserved seats w ith fu ll preparation. Later, w hen the elections fo r representatives to be sent to the P ro vin cia l C ou n cils to o k place in M arch 1946, the non-untouchable voters under Congress influence d id not vote fo r candidates from the Scheduled Castes Federation, and the Federation suffered a h u m ilia tin g defeat. For the 151 seats reserved (fo r untouchables) th rough ou t the n ation , o n ly Babasaheb was elected fro m Bengal, and that too fro m w hat was then a M uslim constituency. Thus, he cou ld not go as a representative on the com m ittee fra m in g the In d ia n co n stitu tio n ，because the co n d itio n was that a representative should be elected n ot b y the untouchable voters {

alone, but also b y the non-untouchables. H ie caste H in d u voters gave th e ir votes to the Congress, and so o n ly Congress p a rty m em bers were elected.

I

Babasahebs p osition was that b y means o f the Poona Pact, G a n d h iji had so

]

cheated the untouchables that they had been deprived o f th e ir rig h t o f vote. The

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Congress should now declare the Pact in va lid as the B ritish were about to leave. D r. A m bedkar now launched a nationw ide satyagraha m ovem ent dem anding that the Congress itse lf should declare the Poona Pact in va lid , and he also dem anded separate electorates. The satyagraha began on 14 Ju ly 1946. A s a part o f th is, there was a 'Ja il Bharo5agitation in Pune w hich the C om m unist P arty then supported; m any C om m unist P arty m em bers and P arty sym pathizers from the D a lit com m u n ity took p art in the and w ent to ja il on this occasion ， M ores b rother-in-law C om rade V itth a l Tukaram H ate, w ho was then a Partym em ber, was arrested in the satyagraha and im prisoned in the Yerawada ja il. There the sat夕carafe's received ill-treatm en t: since they were bein g served p o o r food, the ja ile d satyagrahis, fo llo w in g the C om m unist P artys p o licy, launched an agitation inside the ja il. As a result, Hate was transferred to V isap u r ja il as a punishm ent. He and several others spent some tim e in p rison there.

C o m ra d e M o re' s Wo rk

in t h e

T r a d e U n io n M o v e m e n t

Even though M ore had w orked w ith the peasants, he was liv in g in Bom bay and his real area o f w o rk was w ith the Bom bay w orkin g class. A t the tim e the C om m unist P arty d id n ot have any organizational w ork am ong the farm ers anyw here in M aharashtra. W hatever organ ization the P arty had b u ilt was all am ong the w orkers. Thus, the P arty gave p rio rity to org a n izin g the w orkers, and the P arty cadre had been train ed w here there were in d u stria l w orkers. A ll the C om m unist activists in B om bay were w o rkin g am ong the m ill w orkers and railw ay w orkm en. So, M ore also began his C om m unist life org a n izin g these w orkers. But he also w orked w ith other w orkers such as con stru ction w orkers, press w orkm en, goldsm iths, lift operators and sanitation w orkers, setting up several sm all trade unions. In a ll th is w o rk his objective was to arouse the id e ology o f social pow er am ong the w orkers. H e constantly discussed p o litica l issues w ith the w orkers. H is association w ith them was not confined to the w orkplace and the u nion office, as is the case w ith todays leaders, b ut he visite d th e ir hom es and shared in th e ir joys and sorrow s. They becam e his rnends, and he b rought m any o f them in to the Party, as com rades. C om rade Lenin used to say cthe C om m unist is a ta lk in g m achine, that th is was how a C om m unist should be. M ore was know n fo r this; he was one o f the few in the P arty to practise th is. H is habit o f ta lkin g constantly drew variou s other people to h im besides w orkers: he was aware that it was not possible to b rin g professors, teachers, governm ent servants, insurance em ployees and m iddle-class em ployees o f private firm s in to the C om m unist trade unions, and so he b u ilt groups that could fo rm th e ir ow n independent u nions, m C om m unist parlance this is called T raction work^ and he carried this out. O n the basis o f th is w o rk by the C om m unists o f the tim e, em ployees o f insurance com panies, banks, private com panies and governm ent

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servants as w ell as m iddle school teachers were form ed in to associations that were I

later led b y em ployees w ith C om m unist leanings. A longside this w ork, M ore was also engaged in p a rty-b u ild in g . The P arty

I

in several places in M aharashtra was at the tim e organized around in d ivid u a ls.

I

O rgan iza tion a l w ork b y the P arty existed o n ly in Bom bay. The Bom bay o f the tim e

i

extended o n ly up to M ahim and M atunga. A il areas beyond this were regarded as

I

the suburbs. In order to spread its w ork to these areas, the P arty on 1 and 2 A p ril

I

1932 organized a Suburban Youth C onference. M ore played a m ajor role in this.

I

A fte r th is, C om m unist activists were organized in m any different suburban areas,

j

In those days C om rade Jagannath A d h ik a ri (Jaggu) live d in B andra. So his hom e becam e a de facto P arty office. M ore had a dose bond w ith A d h ik a ri. In those days the process o f b u ild in g the C om m unist P arty had o n ly just begun. Even though the I

M eerut C on sp iracy Case was in the past, the P arty was s till in its infancy. The Partyhad tw o central com m ittees, fo r Bom bay and the rest o f the cou ntry. H ie group led by C om rade S.V. Deshpande was know n as Deshpande M asters central com m ittee,

j

and the m a jo rity o f its m em bers were w oi'ldng-class C om m unists. The p a rty w o rk o f

i

this group was m a in ly confined to Bom bay. C om rade B.T. Ranadive and C om rade

I

G angadhar A d h ik a ri were also w o rkin g to b u ild the P arty in Bom bay. M ore carried

j

on his p a rty-b u ild in g w ork under the leadership o f R anaaive and A d h ik a ri. I f th is was the situation in B om bay and M aharashtra, on the national level a co o rd in a tio n com m ittee had been form ed. This com m ittee had also form ed its ow n central com m ittee, w hich was know n as the C entral C om m ittee o f the C om m unist Party. It was after the m eeting o f this C en tral C om m ittee neld in November™ D ecem ber that the C om m unist P arty began o rg a n izin g as a p a rty on a nationw ide scale. T lie resolutions adopted at th is m eeting o f the P arty C en tral C om m ittee were published in the first issue o f the Communist as a p o litic a l m anifesto. A fte r th is, on 11 M ay, a draft o f the P arty con stitu tion was also published. M ore took p art in the in te rn a l P arty debates that follow ed. He p ut forw ard the view that the independent struggle o f the untouchables against u n to u ch a b ility was also a p art o f the re vo lu tio n a ry lib e ra tio n m ovem ent o f the w o rkin g class and that it was necessary to m ake efforts tow ards th is end; that the C om m unist P arty needed to w ork am ong the untouchable people and take up th e ir problem s. Even after he jo in e d the C om m unist Party, M ore continued to fight against the injustice suffered by the untouchables. In 1932, w hile M ore was in the C om m unist Party, the A ll In d ia Trade U n ion Congress was dom inated b y w orking-class leaders. To break up th is influence the 'R ed Trade U n ion Congress5 was form ed u nd er the leadership o f B.T. Ranadive j

and S.V. Deshpande. In the w orkin g com m ittee o f the m ill w orkers5u n io n that was form ed u nd er this banner, R .M . Jam bhekar and R.B. M ore were also elected. In the office o f the m ill w orkers u n io n , there wei'e b y tra d itio n tw o matkas

]

(mud vessels) o f d rin k in g water. O ne was fo r the caste H in d u w orkers and the

18ó

M E M O IR S

OF A D A U T C O M M U N IS T

other fo r the D a lit w orkers. Those were tim es w hen such practices were com m on everyw here. Society was so num b lo such th ings that nobody was m uch trou bled by it. In the office o f the m ill w orkers5u n io n , the C om m unist leaders w ould d rin k from the vessel m eant fo r D alits, but other caste H in d u w orkers d id not do so. Even a D a lit leader like Bhise, w ho was the president o f the m ill w orkers5 u n io n had to d rin k w ater fro m the matka m eant fo r D alits. A s M ore had com e from Babasaheb A m bedkar s independent m ovem ent w hich taught values o f self-respect and a sense o f id e n tity, he was disturbed by th is. A lso , the D a lit com rades from D elisle Road w ho had jo in e d the P arty were disturbed, and the raised the issue in the Party. W hen M ore in fo rm e d Ranadive o f the m atter he too was perplexed. U pon w hich M ore said, 'Keep o n ly one matka o f w ater in the office, so anyone w ho is p ollu ted by caste considerations can go out and d rin k w ater from the hotel. This w ill b rin g out to people how strict we C om m unists are in the m atter o f caste d iscrim in a tio n . It is because we do not fearlessly take such a stand that the D alits had to raise an independent struggled Ranadive and the other P arty leaders felt that M ores criticism was ju stifie d , and from then on the separate

matka for D alits in the m ill w orkers' u n io n office was relegated to history. In fact, it w ould not be inappropriate to say that this was a co n trib u tio n m ade by D r. Babasaheb s independent m ovem ent to the C om m unist m ovem ent. In those days, in the B D D chawls, the Cem ent chawls and the B IT chawls in Bom bay, there were separate taps fo r D alits in the w orking-class colony. M ore also took the lead in an agitation to dem and that th is practice o f separate taps should end, and a ll w orkers should be given equal treatm ent. W h ile M ores struggle on these various issues was going on, in 1933 the m ill ow ners drew up a plan to in stal new m achin ery and to dism iss w orkers. The C om m unist leaders organized protest m arches against th is, and w hen these dem onstrations were banned, they defied the ban and had to lite ra lly engage in hand-to-hand com bat w ith the police. It was in one such battle that M ore was arrested fo r the first tim e. It is probable that C om rade S rinivas Sardesai was w ith h im on this occasion. M ore broke the law. Because he had entered in to a fig h t w ith the police, the cou rt sentenced h im to rigorou s im prisonm ent and sent h im to the A rth u r Road ja il. A t the tim e, the present author was fo u r o r five years o ld . He had gone w ith his m other to m eet M ore (his father) in p riso n . M ore was brought to the place o f m eeting in handcuffs; o u r m eeting to o k place w ith h im in that co n d itio n . In 1933, after he was released from p riso n , M ore resum ed his w ork w ith the m ill w orkers. Later, in the A ll In d ia M ill W orkers' C on ven tion held in Bom bay on 29 January 1934, a call was given for a nationw ide strike o f m ill w orkers. It was decided to form strike com m ittees under the leadership o f the Red Flag M ill W orkers5 U n ion o f Bom bay, to prepare fo r the strike a ll over In d ia . M ore played a leading role in org a n izin g th is strike. The police kept a watch on h im . Even so, M ore b rought together the w orkers and held a dem onstration in G irangaon w here

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it was announced that a m eeting w ould be held in K om badi G a lli in Lai Bagh. The police banned the dem onstration, and the m eeting, but the w orkers under M ores leadership defied the ban. IT ie police in a lathi charge on the dem onstration and m eeting held in defiance o f the ban, beat up the w orkers severely. M ore was in the

1

vanguard o f the m arch, A gun -w ieldin g policem an trie d to push h im back, and

1

h it h im hard on the chest w ith the butt o f his rifle . M ore collapsed on the ground.

1

The police put h im in th e ir van, to o k h im to the K .E .M . H ospital and once there, to ld h im that he had been arrested. The police m ounted a standing guard around M ores hospital cot on that occasion. But even in this situation M ore evaded the police guard and escaped from the hospital to go underground, and continued to prepare fo r the strike. The m ain dem ands o f the strike were: a m in im u m wage o f 45 rupees, 25 rupees a m onth as unem ploym ent benefit, free housing and an eigh t-hou r w orkin g day. T lie strike took place in Bom bay, N agpur and Solapur. In Bom bay the strike was one hundred per cent successful. Even though m eetings and dem onstrations were banned, the strike lasted fo r tw o m onths. A fte r the strike ended, the m ill ow ners m ade an across-the-board cut o f 25 per cent in the w orkers dearness allow ance, But the ten-hour w orkin g day was b rou gh t dow n to nin e hours. A fte r the success o f the strike M ore came up from his und ergrou n d sojou rn . But the police s till kept a watch on his m ovem ents. The C om m unist P arty had also been banned. rrhe police suspected that the C om m unist P arty was h anding o u t ille ga l secret pam phlets in c itin g the people to fig h t against the B ritish governm ent. They put forw ard th is ju stification fo r acting under the Trade D isputes A ct to surround the hom es or B. i\ Ranadive and six other C om m unist leaders and ra id them . M ore was liv in g in the B IT C haw l in B yculla, The police launched a ra id there too at 2 to 3 a.m . M o u n tin g a strong police guard around the chawl, they proceeded to search the w hole house. They left no corn er o f the house untouched; they even overtu rn ed the coal b in . But th ey d id not fin d any secret pam phlets. So they confiscated a ll the pam phlets and C om m unist literatu re they cou ld fin d and left the house at seven o r eight in the m o rn in g . W hen M ore started his w ork in the trade u n io n , his ea rlie r h is to ry in the A m bedkar m ovem ent came in ve ry u se fu l The D a lit people looked to h im w ith respect as the m ain organizer o f the M ahad satyagraha. A lso , even th ou gh the D a lit people were p o litic a lly aligned w ith D r. A m bedkar, as m em bers o f a class they had no alternative to the trade unions ru n b y the C om m unist Party. They felt close to M ore because he was o f th e ir caste and also p rou d o f h im because he had been one

； o f those w ho helped to establish Babasahebs independent m ovem ent. T iiis was M ores strongest p o in t in those days. M ore had also taken on h im se lf the task o f spreading the ideas o f M arxism 丨

Leninism am ong the D alits. U p to that tim e the C om m unist P arty d id not have

! any organ izatio n al w o rk am ong the D alits, n o r d id th e y have a presence in any

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D a lit neighb ou rh ood. It was alm ost as if the P artys im age was that o f being a party o f caste H indus. U n til he started the Independent Labour Party, D r. A m bedkar had no w ork the area o f trade u n io n s.34 So the field was w ide open fo r M ore. This benefited M ore in his p arty w ork; w herever he w ent am ong D a lit w orkers o r in D a lit colonies, he was always looked to w ith respect. There was no resistance to hearing w hat he and his C om m im ist P arty had to say. F or those w ho showed greater keenness, M ore held study cam ps to exp lain and m ake them understand w hat M arxism m eant. M ore was also a leader o f the railw ay w orkers. He was secretary in w hat was then know n as the G .I.P . (G reater In d ia n P eninsular) R ailw ay U n ion and is n 〇w called the N ation al R ailw ay W orkers U n ion in the C en tral Railw ay. A m ong the railw ay w orkers there were a large num ber o i D alits. The typ ical D a lit railw ay w orker was a m em ber o f the C om m unist-led A IT U C , but w ould steer clear 〇f the C om m unist Party. H is p o litics was that o f the A m bedkar m ovem ent. But, seeing M ore, m any D a lit w orker-activists were draw n tow ards h im . M ore then bonded them w ith the Party, A m o n g those w hom M ore b rought in to the Party were railw ay w orkers fro m M atunga C om . K .M . P atil, K achru G angurde, J.G . M ore (Sayagaonkar), H a ri Sakpal and K .D . K havale, engine d riv e r T .A . G aikw ad from Daund> Baburao Jadhav (son o f D r. A m bedkar's secu rity ch ie f), w orker leader from Badnera, C om . M eshram , and m any D a lit railw ay w orkers from M anm ad, Ig a tp u ri, D aund and N ashik Road. M ore also brought C om . G o vin d M ahadik from the W estern R ailw ay and the fam ous N o rth In d ia n D a lit com poser and poet C om . Shankar Shailendra, w ho w orked in the Low er Parel R a il W orkshop, in to the Party. Fie also brought the Rolcade brothers, Bhole and G aikw ad o f the N ashik Security Press in to the Party. M any o f these had to serve term s in ja il after they jo in e d the P arty and to o k up orga n iza tio n a l and agitational w ork. C om . D .B . aka D in k a r Bhosle o f the B om bay E le ctric S upply and Transport C om pany (BEST, the com pany ru n n in g B om bays bus service) came into the Party. Later he becam e a m em ber o f the Bom bay C om m ittee o f the C om m unist Party. 3

l he Independent Labour Party (ILP) was a p o litical organization form ed under the leadership o f B.R. A m bedkar on 15 August 1936. The form ation o f the IL P was not welcom ed o r supported by C om m unist leaders, w ho argued that it w ould lead to a split in the working-clavSS votes. A m bedkar replied that C om m unist leaders were w o rking for w oda'rs’ rights but. not fo r the hum an rights o f D a lit workers. The ILP secured 14 o f the 1フ seats they contested in the 193/ P rovincial elections. This included 11 o f the 13 contested seats in reserved constituencies for the Scheduled Castes. In 1938, the ILP organized a m arch o f 20,000 tenant,s from Bom bays Konkan region w ith the support o f the Congress Socialists and some C om m unist Party members dem anding the abolition o f the khoti system. This was the largest pre-independence peasant m ob iliza tio n in the region, and included D alits and other low er castes. In the same year, the ILP joined w ith CommunivSts to organize Bom bay textile labourers in opposition to a b ill intended to control strikes. The ILP also opposed this B ill in the Bom bay Legislative Assembly.

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H e and his w ife V im a lta i, together w ith th e ir one-year-old daughter, spent some days in ja il. M ill w orkers G .T. Suryavanshi and Baburao G arud, and activists like D alpat K o li w ho organized the sanitation w orkers in M azgaon, also jo in e d the P arty because o f M ore, A ll these came from D r. A m bedkars independent D a lit m ovem ent, and not o n ly d id they attain P arty m em bership, b ut th ey also m ade trem endous sacrifices fo r the Party. It was a notable characteristic o f M ores w ork that he rem ained in the back­ grou n d p la yin g an im p ortan t role in b u ild in g P arty branches and independent trade associations o f teachers in B om bay^ m u n icip a l schools, and sanitation w orkers in the m u n icip a l corp ora tion . In th is he was greatly helped by U ddhav Lakshm an K arand ikar G u ru ji, father-in-law o f author A rju n D angle, A nkush G u ru ji and others. It w ould not be inappropriate to say that am ong the few P arty com rades w ho to o k the in itia tive in m any such endeavours and also kept up live associations w ith people from different sections o f society, M ore was one o f the forem ost. M ore organized the sanitation w orkers in M atunga Labour C am p, M azgaon, M a h a la ksh m i-A rth a r Road and K har. A n d so in the conventions o f sanitation w orkers organized under P arty leadership in N agpur, Jhansi and V ija p u r, M ore was present as ch ie f guest o r chairm an. D u rin g these conventions, he drew connections betw een the social issues o f the D a lit people and th e ir class righ ts as w orkers, and to o k the lead in b u ild in g a strong w orking-class m ovem ent In th is w ay he jo in e d the class a rte ry o f the P arty w ith the social m ovem ent. Thus, he had attained a p ro x im ity to the D a lit people and the A m b edkar m ovem ent. The C om m unist P arty considered trade unions to be schools fo r n u rtu rin g class consciousness, and M ore, HKe the other cadres, carrie d out his w o rk from th is p o in t o f view . That was the s p irit o f the tim es. The op p ortu n ist trade unions o f today that have fallen p rey to econom ism d id not exist in that situ ation . Todays u n io n leaders treat the w orkers to cups o f tea; in those days a w orker w ou ld in vite a u n io n leader fo r tea and. give h im one o r tw o rupees extra fo r his tra ve llin g expenses. The u n io n leaders o f those days, fo r th e ir p a rt, w ould not accept m oney just because a w orker was p ro ffe rin g it, and if he d id accept, it w ould be o n ly to the tune o f his actual tare. The leaders were honest and dedicated; th ey w ou ld have thought it w rong to travel by firs t class w hen the w orkers w ent th ird class. Those tim es were different; trade u n io n activists were fire d w ith in te g rity and re vo lu tio n a ry to the core. M ore was a trade u n io n activist, but no one had appointed h im . He w ould just go w here the w orkers w ere and organize them ；this was the nature and d ire ctio n o f the P artys w ork. Thus, M ore b u ilt trade unions o f a ll the kinds o f w orkers he came across: liftm e n , pressm en, w atchm en. In those days one d id not b u ild a u n io n b y sittin g at a table in the u nion office. The u n io n leaders w ould m eet the w orkers not o n ly in the factory, but also at hom e. They w ould share m eals w ith them and becom e a p art o f th e ir joys and sorrow s. In th is way, w hen the Reserve B ank o f In d ia b u ild in g was being constructed

190

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K.M. Salvi, to whom R,B. More dedicated his autobiography. Courtesy of Subodh More. in 1933, M ore out o f his ow n awareness and on his ow n in itia tive organized the construction w orkers w o rkin g on that site. In th is he m et a m ilita n t activist nam ed C om rade K .M . S alvi, w ho later came to prom inence as a leader o f the construction w orkers5u n io n . The su rp risin g th in g was that, nice M ore, he was a product o f the A m bedkar m ovem ent but in its second stage; he was one o f the forem ost leaders in o rg a n izin g the K alaram M anclir satyagraha in N ashik. A fte r the satyagraha began and the D is tric t C o lle cto r ordered all fo u r doors to the tem ple to be closed, K achru M athuji S alvi o r C om rade K .M . Salvi was one o f the leaders o f the squad o f satyagrahis that stood firm before a ll the doors. H e was ch ie f o f the team o f

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satyagrahis at the eastern d o o r o f the K alaram Tem ple. Babasaheb h im self and the m ain organizer o f the satyagraha, Bhaurao aka Dadasaheb Gaikwacl> selected Salvi fo r th is role. S alvi, lik e M ore, was honest to the bone, and he also had the cap ab ility o f th in id n g independently. M ore gave h im The Communist Manifesto and other available literatu re to read. A fte r som e discussion, he too was convinced that the C om m unist m ovem ent was, indeed, com plem entary to the A m b edkar m ovem ent. A fte r this he developed a strong attachm ent to M ore. M ore then, after D elisle R oad, began to vis it the lab o u r cam p at the site o f the Lokm anya T ila k H ospital. This was the labour cam p now know n as the M atunga Labour Cam p, w hich was later transferred to D haravi.

T h e K a l a r a m M a n d ir S a t y a g r a h a

at

N a s h ik

Even though the tem ple e n try satyagraha at A m aravati (in 1927) had not opened the doors o f the o rth o d o x H indus m inds, the untoucnables organized a

satyagraha at the P arvati Tem ple in 1929. H ere, too, the experience o f A m aravati was repeated. Even so, the D alits and the progressive-m inded n on -D alits decided to continue the tem ple e n try m ovem ent. The untouchables o f N ashik d istrict accord in gly w ent to Bom bay in O ctober 1929 to discuss the m atter w ith D r. A m bedkar. They decided to enter the K alaram M an dir and stage a satyagraha if they were opposed. Babasaheb to o k up this decision fo r action. W h ile the decision about the N ashik K alaram M a n d ir satyagraha was being taken, the activists from Bom bay felt that if this tem ple e n try agitation was to succeed, the Bom bay cadre should take the lead since B om bay was a large developed capitalist c ity in w hich u n to u ch a b ility had been som ew hat dilu ted . But since it w ould have been d iffic u lt to sustain the m ovem ent in Bom bay and N ashik at the same tim e, D r. A m bedkar decided that they w ould concentrate on N ashik alone. A cco rd in gly, the N ashik K alaram M a n d ir satyagraha com m ittee was set up under the chairm anship o f Bhaurao K rish n a ji G aikw ad aka K arm aveer Dadasaheb G aikw ad. Dadasaheb was also elected secretary o f this com m ittee, and it was he w ho issued a notice to the tem ple punch. But the K alaram M a n d ir panch proved that it was no different from those at the A m aravati and P arvati tem ples b y not re p lyin g to the notice. A fte r w aitin g five m onths fo r a reply, it was announced on 3 M arch 1930 that the

satyagraha w ould continue u n til e n try to the tem ple was obtained. To lead th is satyagraha, it was decided that fou r persons w ould be stationed at the fo u r doors o f the tem ple. H ie leader chosen fo r the east d o o r was K achru M athuji S alvi, at the n o rth it was Patit Pavandas, at the south d o or Pandurang N athuji R ajbhoj, and at the west d o o r Shankardas N arayan Das was the chosen leader. W hen the N ashik tem ple e n try satyagraha began, M ore was c a rryin g on his w ork as a C om m unist a ctivist, b u ild in g the P arty organ ization and w orkers

192

M E M O IR S OF A D ALIT C O M M U N IS T

associations. But even though M ore had join ed the C om m unist P arty he had not separated from the struggle o f the D alits fo r dem ocratic righ ts. In those days M ore had started a new spaper nam ed Avhan w hich he edited him self, and w hich took up the cause o f w orkers, peasants and untouchables. He held several m eetings in support o f the N ashik tem ple satyagraha, using this new spaper as a propaganda sheet. H e also collected funds to help the cause o f the satyagraha, and sent a group o f com rades from the D elisle R oad P arty u n it to take p art in the satyagraha. T ills group was led b y C om rade Baburao G arud. In ord er to defeat the satyagraha, the tem ple punch at first closed a ll the doors to the tem ple, den ying e n try to everyone in clu d in g H indu s. But later they began to allow e n try to caste H indu s using a hidden door. W hen the untouchables opposed th is, th ey stopped it, and in an attem pt to end the satyagraha, the governm ent im posed Section 144 o f the In d ia n Penal C ode, w hereby a m agistrate can declare any assem bly o f five o r m ore persons as unlaw ful. W hat is m ore, the police showed th e ir casteist face by beating up several untouchable dem onstrators and sending them to ja il. But the satyagrahis d id not budge. The D alits kept up the satycigraha fo r five and a h a lf years. W hen the D a lit leaders sent a letter to Babasaheb seeking guidance on how lon g to continue the satyagraha, he replied as follow s in a letter to Dadasaheb G aikw ad w ritte n on 3 M arch 1934: The objective o f th is tem ple e n try satyagraha w hich I in itia te d was not that after the untouchables attain e n try io the tem ple, they sit around d o in g puja in the b elie f that this w ill b rin g them moksha. This was never m y understanding. N either do I believe that tem ple entxy w ill secure a place, a respected place, in H in d u society fo r the untouchables. M y in te n tio n was that the untouchables should becom e aware o f th e ir hum an righ ts and there should arise in them a readiness to fig h t constantly against those w ho oppose them in th is. I have achieved this objective. Because o f this satyagraha, the confidence and the tendency to figh t fo r th e ir hum an righ ts has been awakened in the untouchables o f M aharashtra and H industan. The next step is to make a ll efforts fo r the education o f the untouchables and fo r th e ir p o litic a l rights; and w hen the untouchables have been enriched b y education and em pow ered w ith p o litic a l righ ts, then they w ill becom e an excellent p art o f H in d u society. But to achieve th is fin a l objective, the H in d u society, H in d u re lig io n and H in d u religious texts w ill have to be revised from top to bottom , and the untouchables w ill have to go on stru g glin g to induce the caste H indus to do this. A fte r th is, there was no organized m ovem ent fo r tem ple e n try anyw here in In d ia . This satyagraha too was called o ff by D r. A m bedkar in 1935. A n d it was in 1935 that he m ade the p ub lic statem ent at Yeola in N ashik d istric t: 'A lth ou gh I was

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