Elite Hindu reformers courted Untouchables politically in 1917

Evidence

In 1917, Hindu reformers were wooing Untouchables with an edge of desperation. The Congress had passed its resolution against untouchability. Both Gandhi and Tilak called untouchability a ‘disease’ that was antithetical to Hinduism. The first All-India Depressed Classes Conference was held in Bombay, presided over by Ambedkar’s patron and mentor, Maharaja Sayajirao Gaekwad, and attended by several luminaries of the time, including Tilak. They passed the All-India Anti-Untouchability Manifesto, which was signed by all of them (except Tilak, who managed to find a way around it). — Ambedkar, B R, Annihilation of Caste_ The Annotated…, 300

Categorization

• QUESTION: Tilak’s dodging of the Anti-Untouchability Manifesto against his public anti-untouchability rhetoric is a telling gap worth tracing — what was his ‘way around it’?
• XREF: connects to: Congress’s 1917 anti-untouchability resolution coexisted with its leader endorsing caste segregation — Ambedkar, B R, Annihilation of Caste_ The Annotated…, 161; Caste Hindu reformers sought assimilation without equality for Untouchables — Ambedkar, B R, Annihilation of Caste_ The Annotated…, 152; Caste Hindu reform organizations expected untouchables to accept subordinate roles (+8 more)
• yield-rescued: below the book’s yield-target cutoff, included anyway for connecting to: Congress’s 1917 anti-untouchability resolution coexisted with its leader endorsing caste segregation — Ambedkar, B R, Annihilation of Caste_ The Annotated…, 161; Caste Hindu reformers sought assimilation without equality for Untouchables — Ambedkar, B R, Annihilation of Caste_ The Annotated…, 152; Caste Hindu reform organizations expected untouchables to accept subordinate roles (+8 more)

Broader Connections

• Untouchables demanded a religion granting equal status, not reform of Hinduism #complicates (0.75) — Ambedkar, B R, Annihilation of Caste_ The Annotated…, 406
• Hindu reformers reframed caste as untouchability to avoid addressing economic exploitation. #complicates (0.74)