Social reforms in eighteenth century-II

Do you know that nearly all religious reformers contributed to the social reform movement too? This was because the backward features of Indian Society, such as casteism and inequality of sexes, had religious sanctions in the past. There were two main objectives of the social reform movements.

These were: (a) emancipation of women and giving them equality with men, (b) removal of caste rigidities, especially the abolition of untouchability and the upliftment of the depressed classes.

Emancipation of Women

The most striking change in the Indian social life of today is that in the position of women. Attempts have been made by the State and reformers to do away with the practice of early marriage by legislation. The women themselves have been zealous in making attempts to improve their lot in all possible ways, like better facilities regarding education and social abuses.

There is now a growth of political consciousness among women. In 1930 the Sharda Act was passed fixing the minimum age for marriage for boys at 18 and girls at 14. Do you know that Maharishi Karve was awarded the Bharat Ratna for his great work in the field of women’s education? He started schools for girls, as well as working houses for widows and destitutes. Soon this movement gained momentum and many schools and colleges were opened for women.

Struggle against Caste System

Immense work has been done in this field by the Ramakrishn Mission and the Arya Samaj. The Arya Samaj especially has contributed a lot towards it by their Shuddhi Movement, that is, a form of purification by which those Hindus who had converted to Islam or Christianity could come back to their own religion. Champions of the backward classes were B.R. Ambedkar and Mahatma Gandhi. Ambedkar opened many schools and colleges for their benefit.

Mahatma Gandhi, on the other hand, championed the cause of untouchables whom he called Harijans. He asked for temples to be thrown open to them as well as for equal treatment to them. Even the Constitution of Free India has given the legal and constitutional support to this movement.

Untouchability was declared a punishable offence. But we still have a long way to go to achieve our cherished goal of a society based on complete equality and equity, a society where all the members—men or women coming from any social or economic background—are happy and their needs fulfilled. And we will all have to work together to bring about such a situation.

Swami Dayanand

Swami Dayanand’s greatest asset was his mastery over the Sanskrit language and the Vedas. He felt that the myriad social and religious evils which had crept into the Hindu society over the centuries were due to the lack of true knowledge of the Vedas. Therefore, he challenged the Hindu society on the issues of idolatry and women education.

In 1875, he founded the Arya Samaj. Its main aim was to propagate the true knowledge of the Vedas and discard all evils that had crept into the Hindu society later in its name. He opposed untouchability. He was similarly opposed to polytheism, avataravada and ritualism. His slogan was ‘go back to the Vedas’ whose authority he accepted. For the first time in the history of India, the Vedas were printed in India under his patronage.

Personally, his most important work was Satyartha Prakasha (The Light of Truth). In 1883, Swami Dayanand left his body after an eventful life. His followers started a Dayanand Anglo-Vedic (DAV) School and College in Lahore (now in Pakistan) in 1886. This DAV movement has carried forward his work since then and now has over 750 institutions under one umbrella.

As a result of the works of these two pioneers and other equally well-known personalities and organizations like Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar, Radhakanta Deb, the Theosophical Society and the Arya Samaj, a large number of people in eastern and north-eastern India were substantially awakened and many of the social evils were banned with the help of the Britishers.

Jyotirao Govindrao Phule (1827-90)

Known popularly as ‘Jyotiba’, Jyotirao Govindrao Phule was born in Pune (1827) in a lower caste family of malis. According to him the only way to improve the lot of the lower castes and women was through education. So he opened a school especially for the lower castes and also started the Satya Shodhak Samaj in 1873.

His main aim was to seek social justice for the people belonging to the so-called untouchable and backward classes. Recognition for this work came to him in later years and he was elected to the Poona Municipality as a member.

Pandita Rama Bai (1858-1922)

One of the most important names among women social reformers of this time in India and more so, in Maharashtra, is that of Pandita Rama Bai. After her parents died, she along with her brother continued to travel from place to place, giving discourses on the Puranas.

Consequently, her reputation as a scholar and religious speaker spread far and wide that the pundits of Kolkata also invited her to address the people of the city. Everyone was astounded by her knowledge and elocution. So people began calling her pandita, a title bestowed on the learned women. In 1882, Rama Bai moved back to Pune.

Naturally, she was drawn to the Prarthana Samaj, a reformation society which was propagating the message of the Brahmo Samaj in Maharashtra. Here, she also concentrated on improving the condition of women. In 1890, she started Sharda Sadan, a home for widows. Mahadev Govid Ranade, R.G. Bhadarkar, Dadabhai Naoroji, Behramji Malbari were other well known personalities, who worked for social reforms in Western India.