Ambedkar excluded Adivasis from proportional representation because they lacked developed political sense

Evidence

In a 1945 address in Bombay (“The Communal Deadlock and a Way to Solve It”), discussing the issue of proportionate representation, Ambedkar brought up the issue of Adivasi rights once again. He said: My proposals do not cover the Aboriginal Tribes although they are larger in number than the Sikhs, Anglo-Indians, Indian Christians and Parsis … The Aboriginal Tribes have not as yet developed any political sense to make the best use of their political opportunities and they may easily become mere instruments in the hands either of a majority or a minority and thereby disturb the balance without doing any good to themselves. — Ambedkar, B R, Annihilation of Caste_ The Annotated…, 367

My proposals do not cover the Aboriginal Tribes although they are larger in number than the Sikhs, Anglo-Indians, Indian Christians and Parsis … The Aboriginal Tribes have not as yet developed any political sense to make the best use of their political opportunities and they may easily become mere instruments in the hands either of a majority or a minority and thereby disturb the balance without doing any good to themselves. — Ambedkar, B R, Annihilation of Caste_ The Annotated…, 367

Categorization

• QUESTION: This paternalistic framing echoes Gandhi’s framing of Untouchables—a striking convergence worth exploring.
• corroborated: 3 independent passages support this claim — Ambedkar, B R, Annihilation of Caste_ The Annotated…, 367
• XREF: connects to: India’s Constitution schedules for Adivasis perpetuate colonial exclusion logic; Gandhi showed Adivasis the same disdain he showed Black Africans — Ambedkar, B R, Annihilation of Caste_ The Annotated…, 360