Gandhi’s Programme on Social Reforms: The Removal of Untouchability

For Gandhi, untouchability was not merely a social custom but a profound moral crisis that threatened the very soul of Hinduism and Indian society. While many leaders of his time debated political freedom, Gandhi saw the removal of untouchability as equally essential to India’s liberation. His approach to this centuries-old practice combined spiritual conviction with practical action, placing the burden of change squarely on the shoulders of caste Hindus rather than on those who suffered under the system.

Understanding the cruelty of untouchability 🔗

Gandhi recognized untouchability as a cruel and inhuman institution that violated fundamental human dignity. He argued that untouchability was a religious question that had become a blot on humanity and Hinduism itself, one that could not withstand the test of reason. The practice created severe economic hardships for the poorest sections of society, denying them access to education, employment, public wells, roads, and temples.

What made untouchability particularly insidious, according to Gandhi, was that it blinded both the oppressor and the oppressed. Caste Hindus became hardened to the suffering they inflicted, while those designated as untouchables internalized their stigmatization. This system contradicted the democratic principles Gandhi championed, creating hierarchies that had no place in a free and equal society. As early as 1917, he declared that this practice “stinks in my nostrils” and could not be the Hindu religion.

A call for penance and sacrifice from caste Hindus 🔗

Unlike many other social reformers of his time, Gandhi’s approach to removing untouchability was distinctive in that he primarily called upon caste Hindus to make sacrifices. He viewed the removal of untouchability not as charity toward the oppressed but as penance and purification for those who practiced it. This was a duty, a dharma, that caste Hindus owed for centuries of injustice.

Gandhi insisted that caste Hindus must do penance and make reparations to the untouchables, whom he later called Harijans, or children of God. His goal was to touch the hearts of millions of Hindus who believed untouchability was divinely ordained. He emphasized that the removal of untouchability was essential for the purification of Hinduism itself, stating famously that “Hinduism dies if untouchability lives, untouchability has to die if Hinduism is to live.”

This approach meant that Gandhi sought change through persuasion and appeal to conscience rather than through compulsion. He believed that only when caste Hindus experienced a genuine change of heart could the practice be truly eradicated. Between November 1933 and August 1934, Gandhi conducted an intensive nine-month campaign across India, traveling over 20,000 kilometers to spread this message and collect funds for the Harijan Sevak Sangh.

Temple entry as spiritual freedom 🔗

For Gandhi, temple entry for Harijans was not merely about physical access to religious spaces but about removing the religious sanction of their stigma. Temples represented spiritual authority in Hindu society, and denying entry to certain communities reinforced their social exclusion. Gandhi therefore made temple entry a crucial component of his anti-untouchability campaign.

He personally refused to enter any temple that was closed to Harijans, demonstrating his commitment through action. During his 1925 visit to Kerala during the Vaikom Satyagraha, Gandhi did not visit a single temple because they excluded untouchables. This movement, which sought to allow lower castes to use roads near the Vaikom temple, gained his support as part of the larger struggle for equal access to public spaces and religious sites.

The Harijan Sevak Sangh and temple entry movements 🔗

To systematize efforts toward temple entry and the overall uplift of Harijans, Gandhi established the All India Anti-Untouchability League in September 1932, which was later renamed the Harijan Sevak Sangh. This organization worked to secure access to temples, schools, roads, and water sources for the depressed classes. In Tamil Nadu, the Sangh led successful temple entry movements, with over 100 temples eventually opened to all sections of society.

The campaign saw both victories and fierce resistance. Orthodox Hindus opposed these efforts vehemently, sometimes resorting to violence. Yet Gandhi persisted, believing that spiritual freedom through temple entry would fundamentally challenge the hierarchical structure of Hindu society.

Personal commitment and symbolic action 🔗

Gandhi’s commitment to removing untouchability was deeply personal and went far beyond words. His actions in his daily life and within his ashrams demonstrated a radical rejection of caste-based discrimination that was revolutionary for a caste Hindu of his time.

Welcoming untouchables into his ashram 🔗

In 1915, when Gandhi established the Satyagraha Ashram in Ahmedabad, he welcomed an untouchable family as members. This decision caused immediate controversy. Several ashram members, including his wife Kasturba and close associates, objected and even threatened to leave. The Vaishnavs of Ahmedabad withdrew all financial support, bringing the ashram to the brink of closure. Gandhi remained firm, prepared to relocate the entire ashram to an untouchable settlement rather than ask the family to leave.

Adopting and marrying off an untouchable daughter 🔗

Gandhi’s personal example extended to his family. He adopted a young untouchable girl named Lakshmi as his daughter, raising her in his ashram. In an even more radical step, he married her off to a Brahmin boy in 1933, deliberately creating an inter-caste marriage that challenged the very foundation of caste hierarchy. He also allowed his son Devadas to marry across varna lines, showing that his commitment to breaking caste barriers extended to his own children.

By 1946, Gandhi’s position had evolved further. He announced that in his Sevagram Ashram, couples could only marry if one party was a Harijan, making inter-caste marriage a requirement rather than an exception. Throughout his life, Gandhi performed tasks considered polluting by caste standards, including cleaning toilets, work he insisted all ashram members do regardless of their caste background.

Political action and the Poona Pact 🔗

Gandhi’s most dramatic political intervention on untouchability came in 1932, when the British government announced separate electorates for the depressed classes under the Communal Award. This decision, supported by Dr. B.R. Ambedkar, would have given untouchables their own electoral constituencies, similar to those granted to Muslims and Sikhs.

The fast unto death 🔗

Gandhi vehemently opposed separate electorates, fearing they would permanently divide Hindu society and treat untouchables as a separate community rather than as an integral part of Hinduism. On September 20, 1932, while imprisoned in Yerwada Jail, Gandhi began a fast unto death to protest the Communal Award. This dramatic action put immense pressure on all parties to find a solution.

The compromise and its impact 🔗

After intense negotiations between Gandhi and Ambedkar, the Poona Pact was signed on September 24, 1932. The agreement maintained joint electorates but significantly increased reserved seats for the depressed classes from 71 to 148 in provincial legislatures. While it kept Harijans within the Hindu electoral fold, it ensured greater political representation than the original British proposal.

The Poona Pact had an immediate social impact beyond its political provisions. Gandhi’s fast stirred the conscience of many caste Hindus. Hundreds of temples across India opened their doors to untouchables, public wells became accessible, and caste Hindus publicly embraced Harijans in shows of solidarity. Though much of this enthusiasm was temporary, the Pact established reserved seats and affirmative action principles that would later be incorporated into independent India’s Constitution.

The enduring legacy of Gandhi’s approach 🔗

Gandhi’s programme on the removal of untouchability combined moral persuasion with practical action, spiritual conviction with political strategy. His insistence that caste Hindus must reform themselves, his personal example of breaking caste barriers, his championing of temple entry, and his political negotiation of the Poona Pact all contributed to weakening the practice of untouchability. While the evil was not eradicated in his lifetime, Gandhi’s work laid the foundation for the constitutional abolition of untouchability in 1950 and the ongoing struggle for Dalit rights in India.

What do you think? How relevant is Gandhi’s emphasis on changing the hearts of the oppressor community in today’s social justice movements? Can Gandhi’s approach of working within a tradition to reform it be reconciled with more radical calls for systemic transformation?

References

1. https://www.mkgandhi.org/articles/Gandhi-Ambedkar-and-eradication-of-Untouchability.html
2. https://www.nationalheraldindia.com/opinion/gandhi-denounced-caste-and-untouchability
3. https://pwonlyias.com/gandhis-harijan-campaign-and-thoughts-on-caste/
4. https://scroll.in/article/892922/shaming-the-hindus-gandhis-anti-untouchability-tour-of-1933-34
5. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vaikom_Satyagraha
6. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harijan_Sevak_Sangh
7. https://wagingnonviolence.org/2019/10/can-we-celebrate-gandhis-achievements-while-also-learning-from-his-errors/
8. https://janataweekly.org/gandhis-approach-to-caste-and-untouchability-a-reappraisal/
9. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poona_Pact