Both Mang and Arya enhance the beauty of human beings. The behavior of both
of them is the same, yet why consider the distinction of high and low between
them. Self-knowledge is the best among all types of knowledge. By
understanding this superior philosophy, no one is corrupt, and it can be
understood. (Ref. Mahatma Jyotiba Phule- Akhandadi KavyarachanaIntrospection . Page no. 13 )
A prominent social reformer, a renowned activist, a great thinker, and a noble
‘Soul,’ Jyotirao Govindrao Phule did his best to bring positive changes in
education, agriculture, and the social caste system position of women etc. in the
19th century. He is admired and remembered for his selfless service to educate
women and low caste people. He led a movement against the existing caste
structure, revolted against the domination of the Brahmins, and fought for the
rights of the peasants and others belonging to low castes.
Born on April 11, 1827, in the Satara district of Maharashtra, his father,
Govindrao, was a vegetable vendor at Poona. He lost his mother when he was
only nine months old. Since his father and uncles were ‘Mali’ by caste, they were
known as ‘Phule.’ Because of their caste and profession; they were called “Phule”
(Florist).
He was admitted to the Scottish Mission’s High School, Poona, in 1841. There,
he met Sadashiv Ballal Govinda, a Brahmin who became one of his best friends
and remained close to him throughout his life. At the age of thirteen, he was
married to Savitribai. He completed his schooling in 1847.
In 1848 was a crucial year for him, a turning point in his life. An event relating
to his participation in his friend’s (a Brahmin) marriage function and the insult
and humiliation meted out to him by his friend’s family members profoundly
impacted his life. He joined the marriage procession as a member of the
bridegroom’s side. His friend’s father and others did not like it. Humiliated and
insulted, he left the procession. He took a vow to set right the caste structure,
which was ‘derailed’ because of the arrogance and complexity of a few upper
caste people. The event described above laid the foundation stone of a new eraan era free from caste prejudices and biases, social inequality, caste-based
exploitation and humiliation, untouchability, etc. He dedicated his life to the
cause of Dalits who were deprived of all their rights as human beings.
Thomas Paine’s book ‘The Rights of Man’ greatly influenced him. He strongly
felt that all the problems of Dalits could be solved if the right and proper
education was provided to them. Education was the key to their survival,
success, and enlightenment.
He also had a firm conviction that women should have a voice in society, a
power to influence the decision-making process, and revolt against injustice,
deprivation, and exploitation. His stress on women’s education propelled him to
establish in 1848 the first girls’ school in India. His wife, Savitribai Phule, who
he educated, played a crucial role.
Mahatma Jyotiba Phule and his wife Savitribai were remarkable personalities
for their times. He started women’s education by educating his wife and trained
her for school. Savitribai was the first women teacher in India. He started the
first school for girls at Pune, in the year 1848. He advocated education for female
students from the downtrodden (Shudras/ Atee Shudras) communities and
adults. He established institutes like the ‘Pune Female Native Schools’ and the
‘Society for Promoting Education for Mahar, Mangs’.
More importantly, he engaged in his education at home too. Jyotiba prepared
his wife, Savitribai, to teach in the girls’ school, to educate the women first to
bring in the value of equality at home. Savitribai had to face bitter opposition
from the orthodox society for teaching girls and people from the
underprivileged groups in the school. Despite
this bitter opposition, Jyotiba and Savitribai continued their work with sincerity.
Jyotiba stressed women’s education emancipation of women. He brought women
into public life. He said equality and oneness are necessary for the development
of the country. “To empower women, he opposed child marriage.
He initiated widow-remarriage and started a home for widows. At that time,
widow remarriage was banned, and child marriage was widespread among the
Hindu society. Many widows were young, and not all could live in a way the
orthodox people expected.
Some widows resorted to abortion or left their illegitimate children to their fate
by leaving them on the streets. Realizing the dangers of a widow giving birth to
the child conceived in unfortunate circumstances after her husband’s death, he
opened a home for newborn infants in 1863 to prevent infanticides and suicides.”
Phule vehemently advocated widow-remarriage and even got a house built for
upper-caste widows during 1854. He requested people send their children to
schools he opened for the oppressed and women.Phule suggested compulsory,
universal, and innovative education. Education of women and the lower caste,
he believed, deserved priority.
The Phule couple opened girl’s first school in India in August 1848. Only
eight girls were admitted on the first day. Steadily the number of students
increased. Jyotirao opened two more girls’ schools during 1851-52. He also
started a school for the lower classes, especially for Mahars and Mangs. Thus,
the pioneering work done by Phule in the field of female and lower
castes education was unparalleled in the history of education in India. Phule was
the first Indian social reformer who repeatedly urged the alien government to
pay attention to primary education which was neglected. All the time he was
making people aware of the education and compelling the British govt to
arrange education of all people of India. He fought for the right of
education equally for all the people regardless of their caste and class. He knew
once the people were educated, they would fight themselves for their rights
without any help and support. He said that progress of individuals was possible
only with education.
Jyotirao says in the introduction to the book “The whipcord of Cultivatos
(Shetkaryacha Asud”):
Without education, wisdom was lost;
Without wisdom, morals were lost;
Without morals, development was lost;
Without development, wealth was lost;
Without wealth, the Shudras were ruined;
So much has happened through lack of education.
He said, “Education is that which helps the ordinary people to prepare
themselves for the struggle of life, which brings the strength of character, the
spirit of benevolence and the courage of the lion brings proper education is
what enables it to stand on one’s own feet.Phule made a powerful plea to
abolish untouchability and the entire caste system. He revolted against the
unjust caste system under people who had suffered for centuries. The Dalit at
that time did not have any political, social, educational, or economic rights. He
condemned the dual morality of the Brahman system. He said equal
opportunity should be for all people. He said by birth; all are free and equal.
All human beings have natural rights. He was a militant advocate of human
rights to the oppressed.
He protested against man-made inequality, rooted in the Hindu caste system
and varna-vyavastha. He struggled fearlessly to implement the reforms in
the Hindu society. He tried to remove the inferiority complex from the minds
of the people. He made Shudras aware of it. He advised them to take education
and acquire power, and they are not slaves but human beings. Adv. T. L. Joshi
said, “Jyotiba Phule was one of the first persons to rebel against the traditional
social system in India. From where did he
find the inspiration for this revolt considering that the prevailing social laws
had taken a firm hold on the Indian mind for thousands of years? The answer
is that Jyotiba was a Satyashodhak—a seeker of truth—the moral truth of
human life. The manifestation of that perennial truth was his belief in man’s
freedom in the universe, as modern Western civilization.”
Mahatma Jyotiba Phule established the Satyashodhak Samaj, which sowed the
seeds of development of the masses and propounded the spread of rational
thinking. The movement carried on by the samaj was the first of its kind to
reach the remote villages. He carried on the social reform movements based on
social equality. Phule believed in the equality of men and women. For Phule,
equality in society was meaningless without the equality of men and women
in the family. He propagated universal humanism based on values of freedom,
equality, and universal brotherhood.
He criticized the caste system through the books “Gulamgiri” and
“Brahmanache Kasab”. He established the Satyashodhak Samaj. He sowed the
seeds of the development of the masses. He was bestowed with the title of
Mahatma on May 11, 1888, by a Maharashtrian social activist Vithalrao
Krishnaji Vandekar. Mahatma Phule died on November 28, 1890.
(The importance of the work of Mahatma Phuleji should be underlined, that is
why caste has been mentioned in the article as inevitable)
Ankita Khane
Ankita.khane@ssfoffice.in
Reference –
- Gulamgiri – by Mahatma Phule
- Setkaryacha Asud – by Mahatma Phule
- Brahmanache Kasab – by Mahatma Phule
- Mahatma Phule Samagra Vagmay