Mahatma Gandhi’s vision of Indian independence was inseparable from his crusade against untouchability. For Gandhi, political freedom meant nothing if millions of Indians remained socially enslaved within their own society. He saw untouchability not merely as a social problem but as a spiritual crisis that threatened the very foundation of Hinduism and India’s path to self-rule.
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Untouchability as a barrier to swaraj
Gandhi understood early in his public career that India’s freedom struggle could not succeed while a significant portion of its population remained oppressed by their own countrymen. At the 1920 Nagpur session of the Congress, he declared that the removal of untouchability was an essential condition for his concept of swaraj. For Gandhi, swaraj was not only about expelling the British from India but also about liberating society from its internal bondage.
Gandhi argued that attaining political freedom was inadequate without social freedom for the untouchables. He famously stated that Hinduism would perish if untouchability continued to exist. This conviction led him to make the removal of untouchability one of the three pillars of swaraj, alongside Hindu-Muslim unity and the propagation of khadi. He believed that Indians could not demand justice from the British while denying it to their own people.
The social and material upliftment of the Depressed Classes was, in Gandhi’s view, integral to national freedom and self-purification. He argued that caste Hindus must perform penance for the immense suffering inflicted upon untouchables across centuries. Without addressing this internal injustice, Gandhi believed, any freedom gained would be hollow and incomplete.
Coining the term ‘Harijan’
In his effort to restore dignity to the oppressed communities, Gandhi popularized the term ‘Harijan’, meaning ‘Children of God’. This was a deliberate attempt to replace derogatory terms like ‘untouchable’, ‘panchama’, and ‘antyaja’ that had been used for centuries. Gandhi believed that language shapes perception, and calling these communities ‘Children of God’ would instill a sense of divine worth in them while reminding caste Hindus of the spiritual equality of all human beings.
The term gained widespread usage after Gandhi founded the weekly publication Harijan in January 1933, while he was still in prison. This journal, published in English, Hindi (Harijan Sevak), and Gujarati (Harijan Bandhu), became a powerful tool for spreading awareness about untouchability and promoting social reforms. Through its pages, Gandhi reached millions of readers with his message of equality and human dignity.
In September 1932, Gandhi established the All India Anti-Untouchability League, which was later renamed Harijan Sevak Sangh. This organization worked tirelessly to help Depressed Classes access public places such as temples, schools, roads, and water resources. It also conducted inter-dining programs and promoted inter-caste marriages as practical steps toward social integration.
The nationwide Harijan Yatra
Between November 1933 and August 1934, Gandhi undertook an intensive nine-month crusade against untouchability, travelling over 20,000 kilometres across India. He moved by train, car, bullock cart, and on foot, visiting every province and princely state. During this historic tour, he collected funds for the Harijan Sevak Sangh, propagated the removal of untouchability in all its forms, and urged social workers to go to villages for the upliftment of the untouchables.
At public meetings during his tour, Gandhi would auction signed photographs of himself to raise funds for the cause. His message was consistent throughout: treating any human being as untouchable was a sin that violated the fundamental principles of Hinduism. He told audiences that Harijans had the same rights as any other Hindu and that customs supporting untouchability, however ancient, must be abandoned when found to be wrong.
Gandhi’s interpretation of varnashrama
While fiercely opposing untouchability, Gandhi’s position on the varna system was nuanced and often misunderstood. He did not reject the concept of varna outright but distinguished between what he saw as the original, non-hierarchical Varnadharma and its corrupted form manifested as the oppressive caste system.
Gandhi believed that Hindu society in its pristine Vedic state was based on varnashrama dharma as a purely functional classification without hierarchical implications. In his interpretation, the four varnas represented different vocations with equal dignity-no occupation was inherently superior or inferior. He argued that the original system eliminated unhealthy competition and promoted social harmony, with each group serving the common good according to their natural inclinations.
However, Gandhi was unequivocal that untouchability had no place in any legitimate interpretation of varna. He viewed untouchability as a later distortion, a cancer that had attached itself to Hindu society over centuries. By 1927, he declared openly that if varnashrama had to be destroyed to remove untouchability, he would not shed a tear. By 1933, he asserted that varna could not be determined by birth alone but by natural qualities and aptitudes-effectively rejecting the hereditary basis of caste distinctions.
Evolution of Gandhi’s views
Gandhi’s thinking on caste evolved considerably over his lifetime. In November 1935, he published an article titled ‘Caste Has to Go’ in Harijan-notably before Ambedkar’s famous ‘Annihilation of Caste’ appeared. Gandhi emphasized that the sooner public opinion abolished the caste system, the better. In his 1936 debate with Ambedkar, he stated explicitly that caste was harmful to both spiritual and national growth.
By 1946, Gandhi had moved so far in his anti-caste position that he announced couples in his Sevagram Ashram could marry only if one party was a Harijan. This remarkable rule demonstrated that Gandhi’s commitment to ending caste barriers extended to the most intimate sphere of family life.
Condemning scriptural sanction
Gandhi confronted head-on those who defended untouchability by citing Hindu scriptures. He argued vehemently that untouchability had no valid sanction in authentic Hindu texts. In his writings and speeches, he repeatedly emphasized that the Bhagavad Gita nowhere taught that a Chandala was inferior to a Brahmin.
Gandhi’s approach to scripture was to prioritize spirit over letter. He advocated that the spirit of the shastras, which speaks of universal humanism, should govern social relations rather than isolated verses that might be misinterpreted. He argued that isolated texts torn from their context could be used to support any evil, but taking the scriptures as a whole, untouchability found no support.
His position was uncompromising: if Hindu scriptures truly sanctioned untouchability as practiced, he would renounce Hinduism itself. He declared that any religion that called itself Hindu but justified treating humans as untouchable stank in his nostrils. This was not genuine Hinduism-it was an evil accretion that needed to be excised for the faith to survive.
Appealing to universal humanism
Gandhi drew upon the Advaita philosophy to attack untouchability, arguing that since all beings were part of the same cosmic unity, all humans were equal. He invoked the Ramayana, questioning how a scripture in which an ‘untouchable’ boatman carried Lord Rama across the Ganges could countenance treating humans as polluted by birth. This appeal to the universalist strands within Hindu tradition was central to his reform strategy.
A change of heart, not just rules
Perhaps the most distinctive aspect of Gandhi’s approach to removing untouchability was his emphasis on inner transformation rather than external compulsion. He believed that lasting change required a fundamental shift in the attitudes and daily conduct of caste Hindus. Legal prohibitions alone could not eradicate a practice rooted in centuries of conditioning.
Gandhi’s goal was to touch the hearts of millions of Hindus who believed in untouchability as a divinely ordained institution. He sought not merely to make every Hindu touch an untouchable, but to make every caste Hindu drive untouchability from their heart through a complete change of heart. This approach drew criticism from leaders like Ambedkar, who saw it as too slow and too dependent on the goodwill of oppressors.
Practical steps toward integration
While emphasizing inner transformation, Gandhi also advocated concrete actions. He urged Hindus to open temples, wells, and schools to Harijans as proof of their changed attitudes. He supported the Vaikom Satyagraha in Kerala, which sought to open roads near temples to untouchables. He also called upon caste Hindus to boycott temples that barred Harijans-a radical demand that challenged religious orthodoxy at its core.
Gandhi’s ashrams served as laboratories for social reform. From the earliest days of his Satyagraha Ashram, he welcomed untouchable families as members, causing significant controversy even within his own household. His willingness to face social ostracism and financial hardship rather than exclude an untouchable family demonstrated his conviction that personal example must accompany public advocacy.
The movement also included programs for internal reform within Harijan communities-promoting education, hygiene, abstaining from alcohol, and eliminating untouchability among themselves. Gandhi believed that self-improvement would strengthen the moral case for equality and prepare communities to claim their rightful place in society.
Gandhi’s approach achieved significant legislative victories. In 1938, the Madras legislature passed the Removal of Civil Disabilities Act and the Malabar Temple Entry Act, opening numerous temples to all Hindus regardless of caste. After independence, untouchability was constitutionally abolished-though the struggle for genuine equality continues to this day.
What do you think? Was Gandhi’s emphasis on changing hearts rather than forcing legal compliance the most effective strategy for such a deeply entrenched social evil? Can fundamental social change occur without both internal transformation and external pressure working together?
References
- https://www.nationalheraldindia.com/opinion/gandhi-denounced-caste-and-untouchability
- https://pwonlyias.com/udaan/gandhis-harijan-campaign-and-thoughts-on-caste/
- https://gandhistory.in/relevance-untouchability.php
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harijan_Sevak_Sangh
- https://scroll.in/article/892922/shaming-the-hindus-gandhis-anti-untouchability-tour-of-1933-34
- https://www.yourarticlelibrary.com/caste/mahatma-gandhi-views-on-caste-system/38494
- https://www.mkgandhi.org/articles/Gandhi-Ambedkar-and-eradication-of-Untouchability.html
- https://compass.rauias.com/modern-history/harijan-campaign-gandhi/
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