Issue and Opponent: This protest was against the segregation politics of the British rulers in India, whose motto has been to divide and rule. After the Round Table Conference of 1930-32, the British PM Ramsay McDonald announced that the Indian depressed classes would have a separate electorate for the next 70 years. This was the McDonald’s Communal Award. Since Gandhi belonged to an upper trading class and did not face marginalization due to his caste identity, his efforts had always been to end caste segregation and disenfranchisement. Gandhi began this hunger strike to protest against the British support of a new Indian constitution, which gave the country’s lowest classes, known as “untouchables,” their separate political representation for 70 years. The grievance was that a separate electorate for the lower castes would further deepen the caste system instead of eradicating it and further dividing the Indian population. At the time of this hunger strike, Gandhi was already a well-known Indian political leader, and his doctrine of “passive resistance,” or “Satyagraha,” had already gained popularity among followers in India and South Africa. Gandhi belonged to the Indian trader caste, or the Vaisyas, an upper caste in the Indian caste hierarchy. Dilemma Action: Despite being an upper caste member, Gandhi strongly opposed the marginalization of the “untouchables,” or as he called them, “the Harijans,” meaning children of God, and worked hard for the betterment of the lowest caste. However, Gandhi realized that the British proposal of a new constitution giving the “untroubled” a separate political representation for the next 70 years was an extension of the British strategy of “divide and rule.” He raised his voice against this divisive conspiracy of the British to further factionalize the Indian society and embarked on his “fast unto death.” According to news reports and historical chronicles, Gandhi declared that his hunger strike was a divine opportunity to sacrifice his life for the depressed and downtrodden population (presently referred to in the Indian Constitution as the Scheduled Castes). Gandhi announced a fast unto death and began an indefinite hunger strike in Yerovda prison, Pune. Gandhi’s fast unto death at Yerwada was a part of India’s freedom movement. Outcome: He ended his fast only after the British colonial government reversed the separation decision. Although some minority Dalit leaders, such as Ambedkar welcomed the Communal Award, they could not match Gandhi’s stature in Indian politics. Gandhi was already an internationally acclaimed political leader and freedom fighter, and his death would have landed the British in trouble. Finally, the British government agreed to Gandhi’s demands, and he broke his fast after six days.