The Vaikom Satyagraha

The demand for social and religious reforms was slowly gaining ground in Travancore
State in the Nineteen Twenties. In 1918, the Exhale caste had already appealed to the
Government to open out. The temples in the State to all Hindus, They late followed up
with a threat to convert themselves to Christianity if the Government did not act
decisively. It was in this climate that the Vaikom Satyagraha (1924-25) took place.

The issue concerned the use of a road which ran beside the temple at Vaikom.
Untouchables and other low castes were not permitted to use this road. A few followers
of Sri. Narayana Guru, several caste Hindus and a Syrian Orthodox Christian began a
Satyagraha to open out the road to the untouchable castes Gandhi visited the area and
began a negotiation with a Nambudri Brahman trustee of the temple. Mahadev Desais
notes of that negotiation reveal Gandhi’s reformist approach to the problem:

Gandhiji: Is it fair to exclude a whole section of Hindus, because of their supposed low
birth, from public roads which can be used by non-Hindus, by criminals and bad
characters, and even by dogs and cattle?

Nambudri Trustee: But how can it be helped? They are reaping the reward of their
Karma.

Gandhiji: No doubly they are suffering for their Karma by being born as Untouchables.
But why must you add to the punishment? Are they worse than even criminals and
beasts?

Nambudri Trustee: They must be so, for otherwise God would not condemn them to be
born Untouchables.

From the discussion quoted above we get some idea of the traditional understanding of
the position of the Untouchable castes and Gandhi’sdivergence from this position. For
the Nambudiri Trustee the notion of Untouchablity could not be separated from the being
of the Untouchable, which was a result of his Karma. it is clear from this discussion that
while Gandhi’s espousal of the cause against Untouchability is of great social importance,
his reasoning appeared self-contradictory. The position taken by the Nambudiri Trustee
was nearer the traditional understanding of Karma. Gandhi made a departure from
tradition by rejecting the practice of Untouchability without giving up the system of caste.

Ambedkar’s reaction to Gandhi’s action at Vaikom was qualified. While he felt that the
latter was not going far enough in his crusade against Untouchability, he nevertheless
admitted that ‘when one is spurned by everyone, even the sympathy shown by Mahatama
Gandhi is of no little importance’. (On another occasion Ambedkar stated that Gandhi
supported the temple entry movement becasue he wanted to weaken the distinction
between Hindus and Untouchables, thereby hoping to deny the lathers demand for
political rights.) Nothing that the Brahmans at Vaikam had used scripture to justify
untouchability, Ambedkar said, `This clearly indicated that either we should burn all
these scriptures or verfy and examine the validityof their rules regarding untouchability..
and if we are unable to prove their falseness or invalidity, are we to suffer Untouchability
till the end of time!...Truly these scriptures are an issue to people. The Government
should have confiscated them long ago.”