Gandhi condemned the Untouchables’ own satyagraha against Hindu caste practices

Evidence

The Untouchables were not without hope of getting the moral support of Mr Gandhi. Indeed they had very good ground for getting it. For the weapon of satyagraha—the essence of which is to melt the heart of the opponent by suffering—was the weapon which was forged by Mr Gandhi, and who had led the Congress to practise it against the British Government for winning swaraj. Naturally the Untouchables expected full support from Mr Gandhi to their satyagraha against the Hindus the object of which was to establish their right to take water from public wells and to enter public Hindu temples. Mr Gandhi however did not give his support to the satyagraha. Not only did he not give his support, he condemned it in strong terms. — Ambedkar, B R, Annihilation of Caste_ The Annotated…, 335

Categorization

Category: Factual Claims

• XREF: Directly supports the book’s core theme that Ambedkar rejected Gandhi’s moral method — the very weapon Gandhi forged against the British he refused to endorse against Hindu caste oppression.
• ADDENDUM: Connects to my existing interest in sacrifice/suffering-as-political-method (On Sacrifice article): satyagraha makes the practitioner’s suffering the lever of social change.

Related

• Gandhi withheld support from Untouchable satyagraha despite having forged the weapon (similarity 0.93)
• Gandhi opposed forceful satyagraha by Untouchables, calling it devilish force (similarity 0.86)
• Gandhi’s purity politics derived directly from the caste system itself (similarity 0.82)
• Gandhi developed satyagraha to court the British, not overthrow them. (similarity 0.81)
• Gandhi saw Untouchables only as victims, not agents needing awakening (similarity 0.81)
• Gandhi and Patel blocked Untouchables from using law against caste violence. (similarity 0.80)
• Ambedkar insisted Untouchables would choose political power over Hindu faith (similarity 0.80)
• Gandhi opposed non-Hindu involvement in caste struggles as an internal Hindu matter (similarity 0.80)
• Gandhi framed Untouchables as politically immature needing Hindu service, not enfranchisement (similarity 0.80)
• Gandhi’s Vaikom compromise preserved the temple’s exclusion of Untouchables (similarity 0.79)
• Ambedkar’s anti-caste struggle lacked outside support because it opposed caste Hindus, not foreigners (similarity 0.79)
• Gandhi and Patel blocked Untouchables from seeking legal redress (similarity 0.79)
• Gandhi’s demeaning views of Untouchables remained consistent across his adult life. (similarity 0.79)
• Gandhi sought abolition of untouchability but retention of the caste system (similarity 0.79)
• Gandhi’s anti-untouchability campaign functioned as symbolic theater, not lasting cure. (similarity 0.79)