How did gandhi ji view the dalits? what role did he play to uplift them?
Answers
1.Giving them a name Harijan to replace the Bhangi, choora, chamar, chandal and achoot etc which are synonym to abuse.
2.Getting them into main stream of society and politics.
3.He identified the talent likes of Baba Saheb Ambedkar who was not with him on his views on Harijans. Got him as Law Minister in the first Cabinet and also in getting the constitution of India to be made in his leadership.
Answer:
i. For a long time the Congress had ignored the dalits, for fear of offending the conservative high-caste Hindus. So it was difficult for the dalits to be moved by the abstract idea of swaraj.
ii. But Mahatma Gandhi declared that swaraj would not come for hundred years if untouchability was not eliminated. He persuaded the upper castes to change their heart and give up the sin of untouchability.
iii. But many dalit leaders were keen on a different political solution to the problems of the community. They began organising themselves demanding reserved seats in educational institutions and a separate electorate that would choose dalit members for legislative councils. They believed that political empowerment would resolve the problems of their social disabilities.
iv. Though according to the Poona-Pact the dalits got reserved seats in provincial elections, the dalit movement however continued to be apprehensive of the Congress-led national movement.
Explanation: