Q. Consider the following statements regarding the historic Mahad Satyagraha:
1.It was launched in 1927 under the leadership of Dr. B.R. Ambedkar to claim the rights of Dalits to collect water from the public Chawdar Tank.
2.The non-violent public protest was operationally organized by the Bahishkrit Hitakarini Sabha.
3.The second phase of the satyagraha was immediately called off because Mahatma Gandhi publicly opposed the movement in his journal Young India.
4.A legal decree by the Bombay High Court in 1937 ultimately affirmed that the Chawdar Tank was public property.
Which of the statements given above are correct?
Answer: A
Notes:
Detailed Explanation:
- Statement 1 is correct: The 1927 Mahad Satyagraha was a watershed moment in the Indian social reform movement. Dr. Ambedkar led a peaceful march to exercise the right to access water from the publicly funded Chawdar Tank in Mahad, Maharashtra.
- Statement 2 is correct: The logistical organization of this protest was managed by the Bahishkrit Hitakarini Sabha, an organization founded by Dr. Ambedkar in 1924 to champion the rights of marginalized classes.
- Statement 3 is incorrect: The second march planned for December 1927 was not stopped by Gandhi. It was postponed by Dr. Ambedkar himself out of respect for a temporary court injunction obtained by caste Hindus claiming the tank was private property. Gandhi actually supported the satyagraha in his writings.
- Statement 4 is correct: This is a pivotal legal fact. Ten years after the event, on March 17, 1937, the Bombay High Court delivered a landmark ruling in favor of the Depressed Classes, formally declaring the Chawdar Tank open to all as public property.
