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Chap 3.4 How Participants saw CDM & LImits of CDM (Role of Women…
Chap 3.4 How Participants saw CDM & LImits of CDM
Role of Women
There was large scale participation of women in CDM
They took part in protest marches, boycotted foreign cloth, picketed liquor shops, manufactured salt - many went to jail
During the salt march, thousands of women came out of their homes to listen to Gandhiji
In urban areas, they were from high caste families & in rural areas they were from rich peasant families
Inspired by Gandhiji, they felt that service to the nation was their sacred duty
But this did not improve women's role in public life
Gandhiji himself thought that the duty of women is to look after the home, be good wives & mothers
For a long time, the Congress did not allow women to hold any high post in the organization - it only wanted a symbolic presence
Limitation 5 of CDM
The Congress ignored the "untouchbles"/dalits/ the oppressed for fear of offending the high caste Hindus
But Gandhiji declared that swaraj would not come to India for a hundred years if untouchability is not eliminated
He called the untouchables, "harijans" or children of God
He organized satyagraha to get them entry into temples, access to public wells, tanks, roads & schools
He cleaned toilets to demonstrate dignity of labour
He appealed to the upper castes to give up the "sin of untouchability"
But many dalit leaders demanded reserved seats in educational institutions & a separate electorate for dalits
Dalit participation in CDM was limited
Clashes between Gandhiji & Ambedkar
Dr B R Ambedkar
organized dalits into "
Depressed Class Association
"
He clashed with Gandhiji in the Second Round Table Conference by demanding a separate electorate for Dalits
When the British government agreed to this demand, Gandhiji started fast unto death
Gandhiji felt that separate electorates would slow down the integration of Dalits into the society
Ambedkar finally accepted Gandhiji's position & the result was the Poona Pact
It gave the
Depressed Classes
(later known as
scheduled class
) reserved seats in state & central legislative assemblies but they were to be voted by the general electorate
Limitation 6 - Muslim Participation
Some Muslim political organizations did not participate in CDM
After the decline of NC-Khilafat movement, Muslims felt alienated from the Congress
Congress started associating openly with Hindu religious nationalist groups like the Hinudu Mahasabha
Hindus & Muslim clashed in many cities & each clash deepened the distance between the two communities
Many Muslim leaders were concerned about the status of Muslims as a minority in India
Differences - Jinnah & Jayakar
The Congress & the Muslim League made efforts to be united
Muhammad Ali Jinnah
, a leader of Muslim league was willing to give up separate Muslim electorates
But at the
All Parties Conference
, this was opposed strongly by
M R Jayakar
of the Hindu Mahasabha
They mainly disagreed on seat reservation in state & central legislativeassemblies
But he wanted Muslim representation in the central legislative assembly in proportion to the population of Muslim dominated states such as Punjab & Bengal