Question

What is meant by Separate (Communal) Electorate?

Answer 1

Hint:
The British Prime Minister, Ramsay MacDonald, declared the Communal Award on August 16, 1932, which gave the 'Depressed Classes', the Muslims, the Europeans, the Sikhs, the Anglo-Indians and the Indian-based Christians separate electorate.

Complete answer:

- Minorities who believe it would otherwise be impossible for them to achieve equal representation in government, typically required a separate electorate. Separate electorate for Muslims, for instance, means that Muslims can select their separate leader through separate Muslim elections.

- By embracing the idea of 'separate electorate,' it introduced a system of communal representation for Muslims. Under this, only Muslim voters should elect Muslim members. Therefore, the 'legalized communalism' Act and Lord Minto became known as the Communal Electorate Father.

- The separate electorate was introduced by the Government of India Act 1909 for Muslims and expanded by the Government of India Act 1919 to Sikhs, Indian Christians, Anglo-Indians and Europeans. The award has now provided the Scheduled Castes with separate representation.

- The members of only one specific party contest the elections in different constituencies. Only members of the specific group participate in such elections.

- For example, the seats in a constituency are reserved for a specific group 'A' in the Separate Electorate System. The voters are only from community 'A'. The applicants are only from community 'A'. The winners are only from community 'A'. Other groups in that particular constituency do not engage in elections at all.

- During British rule, the Muslims, Sikhs and the Anglo Indians were granted separate or communal voters.

Poona pact –
In 1932, The Poona Agreement with Mahatma Gandhi was negotiated by B.R Ambedkar. The history of the Poona Pact was the August 1932 Communal Award, which provided depressed groups with a separate electorate. The pact reflects a solution arising from the amalgamation of two distinct philosophies (Ambedkar: Political Approach and Gandhi: Social Approach), aiming to achieve a shared aim of uplifting one of the most marginalised parts of Indian society


Note:
Gandhi was prepared, according to Ambedkar, to grant separate electors to Muslims and Sikhs. But Gandhi was reluctant to give scheduled castes to separate constituencies. Due to separate scheduled caste representations, he was scared of division between Congress and Hindu society.