Monday, 16 December 2013

Socio-religious awakening in the 19th century (Part-I)

          In the 19th century Indian society was plagued by various social problems. Religious superstitions were prevalent and the priests exercised excessive and unhealthy influence on the people. Women were subject to control and hardly had any rights. Practices like sati, child infanticide, child marriage and ban on remarriage of widows compounded their problems. Persons from the lower castes were another harassed lot facing untouchability and discrimination in all spheres of life. It was in these social conditions that the colonial rule introduced modern education and western culture to Indian people. Advent of an alien culture necessitated an introspection of Indian social conditions as well as a comparison of Indian and Western societies and cultures. This was facilitated by the emergence of an educated middle class which was different from the traditional landed aristocracy and comprised of merchants, traders, industrialists and professional groups like teachers, lawyers, journalists and doctors. This class had received modern education and in its mindset was progressive and not so much bound to tradition.

           Thus, various socio-religious reform movements which came up in the nineteenth century were the immediate response of the section of Indian society to western ideas and culture. Intellectuals of the period did carry out an introspection of Indian society. While comparing the Indian society with the West they perceived many of the beliefs to be decadent and regressive and wanted the Indian society to be cleansed of such beliefs and practices. This started the demand for reforms. As religion held the most important place in Indian society, the reforms were also concentrated on religion but the approach of the reformers was not entirely religious. The approach was rather humanist and objective was to improve the condition of the people. The reformers worked for improving the condition of women by raising their voices for abolition of sati practice, allowing widow remarriage and stopping female infanticide. Caste discrimination was another aspect of the society which attracted attention of the reformers particularly those coming from these castes.  Finally, all the social reformers laid great stress on spread of education.

          Rationalism and Universalism were two important ideas on which these reformers based their thinking.  The reformers tried to develop a rational view of all socio-religious issues. At certain times some reformers did refer to scriptures for seeking religious sanctions. Raja Ram Mohan Roy went to scriptures for demonstrating that sati had no religious sanction and Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar invoked religious sanction for widow remarriage. However, in all such cases rationality was not compromised and religion was only invoked when it served the humanist purpose.  Some others like ‘Derozoins’ and ‘Young Bengal’ held a particularly highly rational attitude towards various issues. They rejected all authority and held the position that all things should be rationally analyzed. Akshay Kumar Dutt developed a rationalist critique of Indian philosophies and his influence resulted in Brahmo Samaj accepting the view that the Vedas are not infallible. Reformers from Maharashtra were less dependent on religion and Gopal Hari Deshmukh (Lokhitwadi) did not consider religious sanction necessary for social reforms. He held that if religion did not sanction reforms then religion has to be changed.

          Universalism was another aspect of the reform movements. Although reformers worked to bring social reforms in their particular sects or groups, their religious perspective was universalistic.  Brahmo Samaj founded by Raja Ram Mohan Roy was intended to be a Universalist creed. Ram Mohan Roy was a strong believer in monotheism. Keshab Chandra Sen was clearer when he said, “Our position is not that truths are to be found in all religions, but all established religions of the world are true.” Shree Narayan Guru, the reformer from Kerala who did most of his work among the backward classes of Kerala said, “One Caste, One religion and One God for all”.

Methods of Reform

          These movements adopted various methods for bringing changes in the society. First was the creation of awareness among people by publishing articles, journals and books as well as organizing debates and discussions on various issues.  Raja Ram Mohan Roy was a pioneer in this field. In 1818 and 1819 he published his famous pamphlets on sati which received widespread public attention. Originally written in Bengali, these were later translated into English under the title, “A Conference Between An Advocate For and An Opponent of, The Practice Of Burning Widows Alive” and “A Second Conference Between An Advocate For and An Opponent Of, the Practice of Burning Widows Alive”. “Sambad Kaumudi” was one of his notable journal.  Similarly, Ishwarchandra Vidyasagar also published pamphlets on widow remarriage which had profound impact on the Indian society.

           Second method was by seeking legislative intervention against prevalent social evils. Reformers like Keshab Chandra Sen in Bengal, Mahadev Govind Ranade in Maharashtra and Veersalingam in Andhra Pradesh believed that social reforms could be taken up only with the support of the state. These reformers appealed to the colonial rulers for enacting suitable legislations. Although they were successful in some cases and legislation banning sati and allowing widow remarriage were passed, these reformers failed to understand that primary intention of the British in India was not to reform or enlighten Indian society but to govern it for their own benefit and hence their support was likely to come only when it suited their own interests.

            Third method was that of representing themselves as symbols of change through non-conformist individual activity and an uncompromising attitude towards social evils. However, this group was limited only to ‘Derozions’ or ‘Young Bengal’. They were highly influenced by the West and stood for rejection of all tradition. One of them, Ram Gopal Ghose, while taking about rationality said, “He who will not reason is a bigot, he who cannot is a fool and he who does not is a slave.” However, their uncompromising attitude failed to impress people.   Last method adopted by some of the reformers was through social service.  Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar was one such reformist who did not feel contended by writing pamphlets and creating awareness. He devoted his entire life for the cause of widow remarriage. Arya Samaj and Ramakrishna Mission also tried to propagate ideas of social reform through social service.

Significance

           These reformers made significant contribution in evolution of modern India. These were the people who took the first step towards the formation of a modern society. They championed the cause of equality, criticized the social divisions of castes, tried to improve the conditions of women, worked against superstitions and also worked for the development of a modern and rational outlook. Efforts from these people resulted in the colonial Government bringing in a number of legislations which helped social reforms. In case of women, these movements led to passing of Bengal Sati Regulation Act of 1829, Hindu Widows Remarriage Act of 1856 and increasing the age of marriage of girls from 10 to 12 years in the year 1891. Later, Child Marriage Restraint Act was passed in 1929 in which the marriageable age was increased to 14 and by an amendment in 1940 to 15 years.  Another important subject of reforms was the caste system. All the reformers condemned caste system but biggest difference was made reformers coming from these communities like Jyotiba Phule in Maharashtra and Shree Narayan Guru in Kerala.  These movements made the lower classes conscious of their rights as human beings and citizens.  Reforms during the period are also important in the sense that these provided a platform on which the country could move forward for developing an egalitarian society in later years.

Limitations
           

           Despite significant contribution to the Indian society, these reformers suffered from some limitations. First and foremost was that the reformers failed to realise the true nature of colonial rule. They felt that colonial rule was beneficial for the country and new ideas from the West would regenerate Indian society. They failed to realise that British rule was essentially exploitative in nature and the colonial rule would support that social structure which it would consider beneficial for itself. Second limitation was that most of the reforms were essentially an educated urban middle class phenomenon.  Except movements of Jyotiba Phule and Shree Narayan Guru and to a certain extent Arya Samaj, the reform movements were limited to the upper class of the society. This restricted the effectiveness of these movements. 

No comments:

Post a Comment