HistoryModern India: Framing the Constitution

K.J. Khanderkar told the Constituent Assembly that the Depressed Cast…

K.J. Khanderkar told the Constituent Assembly that the Depressed Castes had been suppressed for thousands of years. Which effect of this suppression did he describe?

Answer & explanation

Correct answer: option 2

The correct answer is Option (2) → Their minds, bodies and even hearts no longer worked, so they could not march forward

Khanderkar said the long suppression had crushed the Depressed Castes so badly that <strong>neither their minds nor bodies nor even hearts worked</strong>, and they <strong>could not march forward</strong>.

NCERT (2026-27): “3.3 “We were suppressed for thousands of years” …
Nagappa pointed out that numerically the Depressed Castes were not a minority: they formed between 20 and 25 per cent of the total population. Their suffering was due to their systematic marginalisation, not their numerical insignificance. They had no access to education, no share in the administration. Addressing the assembly, K.J. Khanderkar of the Central Provinces said:”

“We were suppressed for thousands of years. ... suppressed... to such an extent that neither our minds nor our bodies and now even our hearts work, nor are we able to march forward. This is the position.”