Determined to undo the divisive intentions of the Government’s divide and rule policy, Gandhi gave up all his other preoccupations and launched a whirlwind campaign against untouchability— first from jail and after his release in August 1933 from the outside. While in jail, he had set up the All India Anti Untouchability League in September 1932 and had started the weekly Harijan in January 1933.
He urged political workers to go to villages and work for social, economic, political and cultural upliftment of the Harijan. He undertook two fasts— on May 8 and August 16, 1934—to convince his followers of the seriousness of his effort and the importance of the issue. Throughout his Harijan tour, social work and fasts, Gandhi stressed on certain themes: He put forward a damning indictment of Hindu society for the kind of oppression practised on Harijans.