Ambedkar argued Untouchable emancipation must precede rather than await majority rule.

Evidence

Under “Condition No. 1: Equal Citizenship”, it says: … The Depressed Classes cannot consent to subject themselves to majority rule in their present state of hereditary bondsmen. Before majority rule is established, their emancipation from the system of untouchability must be an accomplished fact. It must not be left to the will of the majority. The Depressed Classes must be made free citizens entitled to all the rights of citizenship in common with other citizens of the State. — Ambedkar, B R, Annihilation of Caste_ The Annotated…, 375

Categorization

  • DEFINE: This is the unconditional bottom line—mere constitution-making for self-rule was unacceptable while hereditary bondage persisted; emancipation is the precondition for legitimate majority rule.
  • SEED: An essay angle: Ambedkar’s sequencing demand—liberation before franchise—as the core logic he later embedded in the Constitution.