ABSTRACT
The chapter recapitulates the central differences between Ambedkar and Gandhi. It makes no effort to reconcile the positions of Gandhi and Ambedkar. It argues instead that the differences between them were based on more fundamental issues than might appear from the immediate terms of the exchange. The paper argues that the debate arose on account of the fact that Gandhi and Ambedkar had very different understandings of self-identity and of the relationship between an individual’s sense of self and the structure of her memories. It extends the study exploring the conflict between Gandhi and Ambedkar centred around three central lines of divergence: differences in approach to the eradication of untouchability; different responses to modernity and different reactions to political segregation and separate electorates for the depressed classes.
