Communal Award 1932

History glossary

Topic: The National Movement: Gandhian Era · NCERT: Beyond NCERT

Meaning

The Communal Award was a British decision, announced by Prime Minister Ramsay MacDonald on 4 August 1932, that divided seats in the provincial legislatures between communities. It gave separate electorates to minorities such as Muslims, Sikhs, Indian Christians, Anglo-Indians and Europeans, and also to the Depressed Classes (dalits). [1]

It matters because it caused the biggest clash between Gandhi and Ambedkar. Gandhi went on a fast unto death against it, and this led to the Poona Pact (1932). The Pact created the system of reserved seats for dalits that still exists in India's Constitution today.

Explanation

Background: why the British stepped in

  • The minority question was unsolved. Indian leaders could not agree on how many seats each community should get in a future legislature.
  • In 1927, Muslim leader Muhammad Ali Jinnah offered to give up separate electorates in return for guaranteed seats. The offer failed at the All Parties Conference of 1928, because M.R. Jayakar of the Hindu Mahasabha strongly opposed it.

  • In 1930, Muhammad Iqbal again asked for separate electorates.

  • Dalits made their own claim. In 1930 Dr B.R. Ambedkar organised dalits into the Depressed Classes Association.

  • He asked for separate electorates. These are seats where only dalit voters choose dalit candidates.

  • He said that without them, dalit members would just be men picked by caste Hindu voters.

  • The Second Round Table Conference (London, 1931) ended without agreement. Gandhi and Ambedkar clashed there. The British then decided the question themselves.

Main features of the Award

  • The British accepted the separate-electorate demands and set out how legislature seats would be shared among communities. [1]
  • Separate electorates already existed for Muslims and some other minorities. The Award continued them and extended them to the Depressed Classes.
  • Dalits were counted as a separate group for voting, apart from Hindus.
  • Ambedkar supported the Award. [1]

Gandhi's fast and how the deadlock ended

  • 4 August 1932: the Award is announced. [1]
  • Gandhi was in prison (Yerawada jail, Poona) and announced a fast unto death. He began it on 18 September 1932. [1]
  • The two sides argued as follows:
  • Gandhi: separate electorates would cut dalits off from Hindu society and "ensure their bondage in perpetuity" (keep them trapped forever).

  • Ambedkar: "some share of political power… is a paramount necessity" for the depressed classes.

  • Ambedkar held his ground until Gandhi was near death, and then he accepted a compromise. [1]

  • 24 September 1932: the Poona Pact is signed. [1]

Results

  • The Poona Pact changed the dalit part of the Award:
  • Separate electorates for dalits were dropped.
  • Dalits got reserved seats in the provincial and central legislative councils.
  • These seats were filled by the general electorate, which means all voters chose the candidate, not only dalits.

  • The extra representation was fixed for ten years. [1]

  • The Award stayed in force for the other communities. Separate electorates for Muslims and the other minorities were not changed.

  • Ambedkar called the Pact blackmail. Even so, it started a movement against untouchability inside the national movement. [1]
  • Dalits stayed cautious about Congress. The dalit movement remained suspicious of Congress for years afterwards.

Time, place and evidence

  • Period: the Gandhian phase of the national movement. It came during the Civil Disobedience Movement, after the Second Round Table Conference (1931).
  • Places: London (the Round Table Conference and the British government's decision) and Poona, where Gandhi was jailed and fasted and where the Pact was signed.
  • Key people:
  • Ramsay MacDonald, the British Prime Minister who announced the Award
  • Gandhi

  • B.R. Ambedkar

  • Date caution: our study note and Britannica give 4 August 1932. [1] Some Indian textbooks give 16 August 1932. In the exam, read the options carefully.

  • How we know:
  • the Award itself, an official British announcement
  • the text of the Poona Pact
  • the recorded statements of Gandhi and Ambedkar, quoted above
  • the NCERT Class 12 chapter on Gandhi and the national movement, plus Britannica's account of the Poona Pact [1]

Don't confuse with

  • Poona Pact (24 September 1932): the Award came from the British and gave dalits separate electorates. The Pact was an agreement between Indian leaders (Gandhi and Ambedkar). It replaced separate electorates with reserved seats chosen by the general electorate. [1]
  • Morley–Minto Reforms (1909): these first gave separate electorates to Muslims. The Communal Award of 1932 extended separate electorates to the Depressed Classes.
  • Lucknow Pact (1916): under this pact, Congress accepted separate electorates for Muslims. That was an agreement between Congress and the Muslim League, not a British decision.
  • Jinnah's 1927 proposals: Jinnah was ready to give up separate electorates in return for reserved seats. The Award went the other way and widened separate electorates.

Prelims Hooks

  • The Communal Award was announced by British PM Ramsay MacDonald on 4 August 1932. [1]
  • Gandhi began his fast unto death in prison on 18 September 1932. [1]
  • The Poona Pact was signed on 24 September 1932. It dropped separate electorates and gave reserved seats filled by the general electorate, for ten years. [1]
  • Ambedkar founded the Depressed Classes Association in 1930. He backed the Award and clashed with Gandhi at the Second Round Table Conference (1931).

  • Chronology: 1. All Parties Conference (1928) 2. Iqbal's address (1930) 3. Second Round Table Conference (1931) 4. Communal Award (August 1932) 5. Poona Pact (September 1932)

  • Trap: the Poona Pact did not cancel the whole Award. It only changed the part about the Depressed Classes.

Mains Points

  • Two ideas of how to free dalits. Gandhi saw untouchability as a sin inside Hinduism, to be removed by changing the hearts of caste Hindus. Ambedkar saw it as a problem of power, to be fixed by guaranteed political representation. The Pact gave up Ambedkar's method (separate electorates) but kept his main point (a guaranteed share of seats). Reserved seats later went into the Constitution, and so did the dalit movement's distrust of Congress. [1]
  • The communal question was about seats, not only religion. The Award came because Indian leaders kept failing to agree on minority safeguards: the Jinnah formula failed in 1928, and Iqbal demanded separate electorates in 1930. Both the dalit and the Muslim questions were fights over electorates and seats. The dalit question ended in a pact, while the Muslim question ended in partition.
  • Colonial "divide and rule" or genuine protection for minorities? Nationalists said the Award split Indian society along community lines, and Gandhi said it split Hindu society itself. Ambedkar said it was the only real protection for a powerless group. A good answer should give both views. It should also note that the Award, as changed by the Poona Pact, became part of the Government of India Act, 1935.

Related concepts

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Sources

  1. 1Poona Pact | History, Significance, & Factsbritannica.com · tier 3