While the nation is celebrating the newly passed Women’s Reservation Bill, surely the father of Indian Renaissance would be rejoicing somewhere in heaven. The social reformer Raja Ram Mohan Roy, is renowned for his struggle for women’s rights during a period when Sati was still practised and the nation was still burdened by strict social conventions and customs.
His Beginnings
Born (1772) to a Brahmin family in Radhanagar at Bengal Presidency, Raja Ram Mohan Roy had left home and abandoned various traditional customs as well as the widespread idol worship that was then practised. He left his family and travelled across the Himalayas and Tibet while studying Sanskrit, Persian, and Arabic. In the latter stages of his life, he began translating Vedic texts into English and preached about the oneness of deity.
Social Reforms
Roy founded the Brahmo Samaj in 1828, a reformist Hindu religious organisation that intended to combat social ills that were pervasive in society. He campaigned for women’s property inheritance rights and fought superstitious practises, such as Sati, polygamy, child marriage, and the strict caste system and its excesses.
Consider these headlines from recent years:
- The never-ending fight of Kinnaur women for property rights (The Pioneer: June 7, 2023)
- Polygamy: Muslim women in India fight ‘abhorrent’ practice (BBC: May 10, 2022)
- About 50% rise in child marriage cases in 2020 (India Today: September 18, 2021)
- From Access To Water To Caste On Campus, Equality Is Still Distant For Dalits In Everyday Life (Outlook: April 18, 2023)
- Engineer, 28, kills self over pressure to become a Sati (TOI: May 20, 2023)
Journalism
The first weekly newspaper in Bengali and the first newspaper published in an Indian language were both launched by Raja Rammohan Roy. His innovative journalistic ventures attempted to inform Indians on a variety of topics. People in British India were able to express opinions about the issues impacting their everyday lives because to his newspaper Sambad Koumudi. Roy released the Persian edition of Mirat-ul-Akbar in 1822.
Consider these headlines from recent years:
- Paid News, Ads and the Question of Priorities in Non-English Indian Journalism (The Wire: February 19, 2023)
- Paid news in India disrupts press freedom and ethical conduct (Gale Academic Research)
- Promoting Its Own Products, a Magazine Labels an Ad as News (CNN: March 24, 2022)
- Fooling the reader: How Indian papers and magazines disguise ads as news (Newslaundry: August 27, 2021)
Education
Roy founded the Vedanta College to disseminate his Hindu monotheistic ideas. He supported the Vedanta school of pure ethics. His initiative, which came at a time when the government had started Sanskrit schools, was also intended to promote courses like mathematics, geography, and Latin, which, in his opinion, were essential to help Indians stay up with the rest of the world.
Consider these headlines from recent years:
- Politics of Deletion: Revising Textbooks or Rewriting History? (Outlook: April 9, 2023)
- Bhagavad Gita in schools: HC refuses to stay resolution, issues notice to government (Indian Express: July 12, 2022)
- CBSE asks schools to consider Indian languages as teaching medium (Hindustan Times: July 22, 2023)
A law cannot be effective until society as a whole is ready to accept it. Because of this, India’s social problems still continue to cause chaos despite the existence of a law. How can we get rid of this? High time that we step into the shoes of Raja Ram Mohan Roy to resolve these issues.
