Mahatma Jyotirao Phule
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Mahatma Jyotirao Phule (April 11, 1827 - November 28, 1890), also known as Mahatma Jyotiba Phule was an activist and social reformer from Maharashtra, critical of caste relations in Western India and noted for his work in the upliftment of widows and the lower castes in India.
Contents |
[edit] Early life
Jotirao Govindrao Phule was born in Pune to a family of the "Maali" caste. His father, Govindrao, was a vegetable-vendor, and his mother died when he was 9 months old. After completing his primary education, Jyotirao had to leave the school and help his father by working on the family's farm. He was married at the age of 12. His intelligence was recognised by a Muslim and a Christian neighbor, who persuaded his father to allow Jyotirao to attend the local Scottish Mission's High School, which he completed in 1847.
Influenced by Thomas Mann books 'The world is my country','My religion is to do good','My own mind is my own church'. Phule developed a keen sense of social justice, becoming passionately critical of the Indian caste system. He argued that education of women and the lower castes was a vital priority in addressing social inequalities.
[edit] Social activism
He was assisted in his work by his wife, Savitribai Phule, and together they started the first school for girls in India in 1848, for which he was forced to leave his home. He initiated widow-remarriage and started a home for upper caste widows in 1854, as well as a home for new-born infants to prevent female infanticide. Phule tried to eliminate the stigma of Hindu Untouchability surrounding the lower castes by opening his house and the use of his water-well to the members of the lower castes.
He formed Satya Shodhak Samaj (Truth Finding Community) on September 24, 1873, a group whose main aim was to liberate the Hindu Shudra and Untouchables castes from exploitation and oppression.
Phule was a member of Pune municipality from 1876 to 1882.
[edit] Connection with women activists
Some of India's first modern feminists were closely associated with Phule, including his wife Savitribai Phule; Pandita Ramabai, a brahmin woman who made waves in the atmosphere of liberal reformism when she converted to Christianity; Tarabai Shinde, the non-brahmin author of a fiery tract on gender inequality which was largely ignored at the time but has recently become well-known; and Muktabai, a fourteen-year-old pupil in Phule’s school, whose essay on the social oppression of the Mang and Mahar castes is also now justly famous.
According to Gail Omvedt, for Jyotiba Phule, "[t]he ‘double standard’ which oppressed women was not only as seen in the pitiable conditions of Brahman widows but also in the patriarchy of the Shudra household...".
[edit] Legacy
- The Crawford Market in Mumbai is officially named after him.
[edit] Published works
His famous published works are
- Shetkarayacha Aasud (Cultivator's Whipcord), July 1883
- Ishara, October 1885
- Sarvajanik Satya Dharma Poostak, April 1889
- Brahmana.nche Kasab
[edit] References
- Gender and Caste, edited by Anupama Rao; series Issues in Contemporary Feminism, Kali for Women, New Delhi, 2003
- Dalit Vision, Gail Omvedt, page 22, Orient Longman, 1995
