Why was Dalit participation limited in …

Dalit participation was limited to the Civil Disobedience Movement because of the following reasons:

1. The Congress did not want to offend to ‘Sanatanis’ the upper caste Hindus by including the Dalits.
2. The Dalits believed that political empowerment would solve all the problems of their social disabilities.
3. Many Dalit leaders were keen on a different political solution to their problems. They organised themselves and demanded reserved seats in educational institutions and separate electorate that would choose Dalit members for councils.
4. Dr. B.R. Ambedkar, who organized the Dalits into the Depressed Classes Association in 1930, clashed with Mahatma Gandhi at the Second Round Table Conference by demanding separate electorates for Dalits.
5. When the British government conceded Dr. B. R. Ambedkar's demand, Gandhiji began a fast unto death.
6. Gandhiji believed that separate electorates for Dalits would slow down the process of their integration into society.
7. Dr. Ambedkar ultimately accepted Gandhiji's position and the result was the Poona Pact of September 1932.
8. It gave the Depressed Classes (later to be known as the Scheduled Castes) reserved seats in Provincial and Central Legislative Councils, but they were to be voted in by the general electorate.