Mahatma Gandhi's First Visitor at Segaon

Dr. Ambedkar's discussion with Mahatma  on the Question of Conversion on May 1, 1936 at Segaon

 

Mahatma Gandhi left Satyagraha Ashram, Ahmedabad  in  March 1930 in the wake of Salt March with a solemn vow that he will return to the Ashram only when India gets independence from  British rule. Gandhi came to Wardha on September 23, 1933 and started his Harijan tour from here on November 7. Gandhi returned to Wardha again on August 7 and stayed in Satyagraha Ashram of Vinoba Bhave at Wardha, which is presently known as Mahila Ashram. It was during this period Gandhi decided to retire from the Indian National Congress. On December 15, 1934, the All India Village Industries Association was formed at Wardha.  Jamnalal Bajaj had donated twenty acres of land and a house to Gandhi which was later renamed as Maganwadi in the memory of Maganlal Gandhi, which became the headquarters of All India Village Industries Association. By March 1936 Gandhi decided to live in a remote village viz. Segaon about four miles to the east of Wardha town. Leaders including Sardar  Vallabhai Patel were not happy about Gandhi’s shifting of place of residence  from Wardha to remote village without having any basic facilities.  However, Gandhi made a visit to the village in the second half of April  and explained to the villagers his purpose of settling down in this village. Gandhi was firm in his decision and  finally walked to   Segaon  from Maganvadi on   April 30, 1936 to settle down there . Miraben made a makeshift arrangement for his stay, “a hut out of bamboo mats; a moveable latrine; a provisional bathroom” near the well in Guva garden in Segaon.

 The very next day of his arrival he had a visitor of national importance Dr. B. R. Ambedkar. It is an irony there is hardly mention of this important meeting by popular biographers of Gandhi . It is interesting to note that Joseph Lelyved discusses it in his book in one of its  chapters . Gandhi himself mentioned this meeting in his letter of May 1, 1936 addressed to Sardar  Vallabhai Patel  “Doctor (Ambedkar) and Walchand met me in Segaon. They are coming again”

 

Here is the description of Joseph Lelyved

 

 

On May 1, 1936, the day after Gandhi landed at Segaon, he received his first visitor there—none other than Babasaheb Ambedkar, who six months earlier had further estranged himself from the Mahatma by renouncing Hinduism and proclaiming his intention to convert to another religion. Ambedkar had just come from a conference of Sikhs in Amritsar where he’d openly flirted with the possibility of becoming a Sikh, praising the religion for regarding all its adherents as equals. The two leaders sat on the ground, under the guava tree where Gandhi had slept, debating the principles and politics of conversion. Neither one got much satisfaction from the encounter, but they agreed to meet again in Segaon. The inconclusive meeting seems to have been instigated by wealthy supporters of Gandhi who still hoped to keep Ambedkar and his followers in what the Mahatma called “the Hindu fold.”

 To read more .....

 https://erenow.org/biographies/mahatma-gandhi-and-his-struggle-with-india/10.php