Take Fatima Sheikh, India’s first Muslim woman teacher. Her life and work alongside Savitribai and Jyotirao Phule embody the very essence of solidarity and resistance. Together, they challenged Brahmanical patriarchy and caste exclusion, striving for an inclusive education system that empowered the most marginalised. Yet there is an ongoing attempt to erase Fatima Sheikh from mainstream history, her legacy buried under layers of casteist and communal erasure. Her erasure is not a mere oversight but a calculated act, one that seeks to deny the very existence of intersectional struggles against oppression.

This politics of erasure is not isolated; it is part of a broader project to sanitise history, neutralise dissent, and normalise inequalities. By excluding figures like Fatima Sheikh, Dalits, Muslims, Adivasis, women, and persons with disabilities are systematically pushed to the margins of public memory and denied their rightful place in the nation’s narrative.

Historical Revisionism: Sanitising the Past for Oppression

The deliberate erasure of figures like Fatima Sheikh reveals a pattern of historical revisionism designed to sustain existing hierarchies. History is manipulated to present reform movements as caste-neutral, male-driven, and Hindu-led, obscuring the intersectional struggles that shaped them. By erasing Fatima Sheikh, the radical solidarity between Dalits, Muslims, and women is invisibilised, and the convenient, dominant narrative of typical prototype reformers as saviours is reinforced.

B.R. Ambedkar, for instance, is sanitised into a token figure, hailed as the architect of the Constitution but stripped of his scathing critique of caste and his revolutionary vision for an egalitarian society. His advocacy for reservations, a lifeline for educational equity, is sidelined even as these policies are viciously attacked today. Ambedkar’s fiery critique of Hinduism’s role in upholding caste oppression is deliberately erased from school curricula and public discourse, making it easier to appropriate him while gutting his radical ideas.

Similarly, the contributions of Muslim freedom fighters like Ashfaqulla Khan and Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan are systematically downplayed to sustain communal stereotypes. Women like Jhalkaribai, the Dalit warrior who fought alongside Rani Lakshmibai, and Begum Rokeya, a Muslim reformer who championed women’s education, are excluded to uphold patriarchal and casteist narratives. Even Adivasi leaders like Birsa Munda, who fought against colonial exploitation and for Adivasi rights, are reduced to hollow symbols, their histories carefully erased to sustain their marginalisation.

But the silence is uneasy most of all when it comes to disabled individuals. Their absence from historical narratives is not just glaring but insidious. It reflects the deeply entrenched ableism in Indian society, which sees disability not as a social issue but as a private affliction to be ignored. This erasure denies disabled people even the most token representation, ensuring they remain outside the frameworks of education, policy, and society itself.

The Violent Silence of Ableism

The absence of discourse on disability in historical narratives is perhaps the most violent form of erasure. It is not just a denial of disabled lives but a refusal to even acknowledge their struggles and contributions. Ableist attitudes perpetuate the idea that disabled people are incapable of agency or participation in society, reinforcing their marginalisation.

Statements like “the deaf and blind do not go to school with others” go unchallenged, as though their exclusion is natural. This systematic exclusion reinforces invisibility of disabled, creating a narrative of othering and leaving a place only at the bottom of the social hierarchy, with no place in history and no claim to justice.

Ableism is a tool of domination, one that intersects with caste, gender, and religion to maintain systems of oppression. By refusing to document the lives and struggles of disabled people, society ensures an easy othering where disabled are invisible, unaccounted for, and unrepresented. This silence is not benign, it is violent.

Education: A Weapon of Exclusion

The erasure of marginalised voices from history is deeply tied to the politics of education. Education is not merely a tool for liberation; it has also been weaponised to exclude. By controlling whose stories are taught, dominant groups perpetuate the myth that Dalits, Muslims, Adivasis, women, and disabled people are undeserving of knowledge, power, or leadership.

This exclusion is evident in the privatisation of education, which transforms a fundamental right into an elitist privilege. Marginalised communities, already struggling under systemic oppression, are locked out of educational spaces, ensuring a continued cycle of poverty and exclusion. Reservation policies, which aim to provide equitable access, are constantly undermined. Their necessity is questioned as the struggles that birthed them are erased from public memory.

For disabled people, the exclusion is even starker. Accessible education systems and infrastructure are virtually non-existent, leaving them reliant on charity rather than rights-based systems. The very idea of education for the disabled is treated as an afterthought, ensuring they remain on the margins, locked out of opportunities for participation in society.

Reclaiming Radical Histories

To resist the politics of erasure, we must reclaim the radical histories of marginalised communities. Fatima Sheikh’s story must be restored not simply as a tribute to her legacy but as a weapon against the narratives that erase the struggles of Dalits, Muslims, Adivasis, women, and disabled people. The histories of Ambedkar, Jhalkaribai, Ashfaqulla Khan, Birsa Munda, and countless others must be told in their entirety, with their radical critiques and intersectional struggles at the forefront.

The absence of disability discourse must also be addressed. Disabled people’s lives and struggles must be documented, acknowledged, and integrated into mainstream narratives. This requires dismantling ableist attitudes and creating systems that recognise disability as a social and political issue, and not a personal battle.

The Politics of Memory and Justice

The politics of historical erasure is not just about the past, it is about controlling the present and foreclosing the future. By denying Fatima Sheikh and others like her their rightful place in history, the ruling elite seeks to sustain a system of exclusion that privileges dominant castes, religions, and abilities.

Fatima Sheikh’s legacy reminds us that education is not a privilege for the few but a right for all. Her work challenges the casteist, communal, patriarchal, and ableist narratives that underpin Indian society, offering a vision of education as a tool for liberation and solidarity. To honour her is to fight against the forces that erase her.

The fight against historical erasure is, ultimately, a fight for justice. It is a fight to ensure that history reflects the struggles and contributions of all communities, and that education becomes a tool to dismantle hierarchies rather than perpetuate them. This fight demands that we challenge the dominant narratives, expose their silences, and reclaim the radical potential of memory to inspire resistance and solidarity. Let us carry forward this fight, with the legacy of all those erased from history as our guide; while it remains important to ask ‘who benefits from these erasures?’

Shirin Akhter is Associate Professor, Department of Economics, Zakir Husain Delhi College, University of Delhi. Sharamisthaa Atreja is Assistant Professor at the Department of Philosophy, University of Delhi. The views are personal.

Courtesy: Newsclick

The post Fatima Sheikh: Politics of Historical Erasure, Exclusion appeared first on SabrangIndia.

On January 3, 1831, 176 years ago Savitribai Phule, arguably India’s first woman teacher and forgotten liberator was born. With the first school for girls from different castes that she set up in Bhidewada, Pune (the seat of Brahmanism) Krantijyoti Savitribai as she is reverentially known, by the Indian Bahujan movement, blazed a revolutionary trial. There have been consistent demands to observe January 3 as Teachers Day. Without her, Indian women would not have had the benefits of education.

To mark the memory of this remarkable woman we bring to you her letters to life partner Jyotiba. Jyotiba and Savitribai were Comrades in Arms in their struggle against the emancipation of India’s disenfranchised people.

Translated from the Original Marathi with an introduction Sunil Sardar Reproduced here are the English translation of three important Letters – (originally in Marathi and published in MG Mali’s edition of her collected works, Savitribai Phule Samagra Wangmaya) – that Savitribai wrote to her husband Jyotiba in a span of 20 years.

The letters are significant as they write of the wider concerns that drove this couple, the emancipation of the most deprived segments of society and the struggle to attain for them, full human dignity and freedom.

This vision for a new and liberated society – free from ignorance, bigotry, deprivation, and hunger – was the thread that bonded the couple, arching from the private to the personal.

Theirs was a relationship of deep and shared concerns, each providing strength to the other. When large sections of 19^th century Maharashtrian society was ranged against Phule’s reconstructive radicalism, it was the unfailing and shared vision and dedication of his life partner that needs have been emotionally sustaining.  In our tribute to this couple and the tradition of radical questioning that they harboured, we bring to our readers these letters.

1856. The first letter, written in 1856, speaks about the core issue: education and its transformative possibilities in a society where learning, had for centuries been the monopoly of the Brahmins; who, in turn, used this exclusive privilege to enclave, demoralize and oppress. Away at her parental home to recuperate from an illness, Savitri describes in the letter a conversation with her brother, who is uncomfortable with the couple’s radicalism.

October 1856
The Embodiment of Truth, My Lord Jyotiba,
Savitri salutes you!

After so many vicissitudes, now it seems my health has been fully restored. My brother worked so hard and nursed me so well through my sickness. His service and devotion shows how loving he really is! I will come to Pune as soon as I get perfectly well. Please do not worry about me. I know my absence causes Fatima so much trouble but I am sure she will understand and won’t grumble.

As we were talking one day, my brother said, “You and your husband have rightly been excommunicated because both of you serve the untouchables (Mahars and Mangs). The untouchables are fallen people and by helping them you are bringing a bad name to our family. That is why, I tell you to behave according to the customs of our caste and obey the dictates of the Brahmans.” Mother was so disturbed by this brash talk of my brother.

Though my brother is a good soul he is extremely narrow-minded and so he did not hesitate to bitterly criticize and reproach us. My mother did not reprimand him but tried instead to bring him to his senses, “God has given you a beautiful tongue but it is no good to misuse it so!” I defended our social work and tried to dispel his misgivings. I told him, “Brother, your mind is narrow, and the Brahmans’ teaching has made it worse. Animals like goats and cows are not untouchable for you, you lovingly touch them. You catch poisonous snakes on the day of the snake-festival and feed them milk. But you consider Mahars and Mangs, who are as human as you and I, untouchables. Can you give me any reason for this? When the Brahmans perform their religious duties in their holy clothes, they consider you also impure and untouchable, they are afraid that your touch will pollute them. They don’t treat you differently than the Mahars.” When my brother heard this, he turned red in the face, but then he asked me, “Why do you teach those Mahars and Mangs? People abuse you because you teach the untouchables. I cannot bear it when people abuse and create trouble for you for doing that. I cannot tolerate such insults.” I told him what the (teaching of) English had been doing for the people. I said, “The lack of learning is nothing but gross bestiality. It is through the acquisition of knowledge that (he) loses his lower status and achieves the higher one. My husband is a god-like man. He is beyond comparison in this world, nobody can equal him. He thinks the Untouchables must learn and attain freedom. He confronts the Brahmans and fights with them to ensure Teaching and Learning for the Untouchables because he believes that they are human beings like other and they should live as dignified humans. For this they must be educated. I also teach them for the same reason. What is wrong with that? Yes, we both teach girls, women, Mangs and Mahars. The Brahmans are upset because they believe this will create problems for them. That is why they oppose us and chant the mantra that it is against our religion. They revile and castigate us and poison the minds of even good people like you.

“You surely remember that the British Government had organised a function to honour my husband for his great work. His felicitation caused these vile people much heartburn. Let me tell you that my husband does not merely invoke God’s name and participate in pilgrimages like you. He is actually doing God’s own work. And I assist him in that. I enjoy doing this work. I get immeasurable joy by doing such service. Moreover, it also shows the heights and horizons to which a human being can reach out.”

Mother and brother were listening to me intently. My brother finally came around, repented for what he had said and asked for forgiveness. Mother said, “Savitri, your tongue must be speaking God’s own words. We are blessed by your words of wisdom.” Such appreciation from my mother and brother gladdened my heart. From this you can imagine that there are many idiots here, as in Pune, who poison people’s minds and spread canards against us. But why should we fear them and leave this noble cause that we have undertaken? It would be better to engage with the work instead. We shall overcome and success will be ours in the future. The future belongs to us.

What more could I write?

With humble regards,

Yours,

Savitri

The Poetess in Savitribai

The year 1854 was important as Savitribai published her collection of poems, called Kabya Phule (Poetry’s Blossoms).
Bavan Kashi Subodh Ratnakar (The Ocean of Pure Gems), another collection of what has come to be highly regarded in the world of Marathi poetry was published in 1891. (The Phules had developed a devastating critique of the Brahman interpretation of Marathi history in the ancient and medieval periods. He portrayed the Peshwa rulers, later overthrown by the British, as decadent and oppressive, and Savitribai reiterates those themes in her biography.)
Apart from these two collections, four of Jyotiba’s speeches on Indian History were edited for publication by Savitribai. A few of her own speeches were also published in 1892. Savitribai’s correspondence is also remarkable because they give us an insight into her own life and into the life and lived experiences of women of the time.

1868. The Second letter is about a great social taboo – a love affair between a Brahman boy and an Untouchable girl; the cruel behavior of the ‘enraged’ villagers and how Savitribai stepped in. This intervention saves the lives of the lovers and she sends them away to the safety and caring support of her husband, Jyotiba. With the malevolent reality of honour killings in the India of 2016 and the hate-driven propaganda around ‘love jehad’ this letter is ever so relevant today.

29 August 1868
Naigaon, Peta Khandala
Satara
The Embodiment of Truth, My Lord Jotiba,
Savitri salutes you!
I received your letter. We are fine here. I will come by the fifth of next month. Do not worry on this count. Meanwhile, a strange thing happened here. The story goes like this. One Ganesh, a Brahman, would go around villages, performing religious rites and telling people their fortunes. This was his bread and butter. Ganesh and a teenage girl named Sharja who is from the Mahar (untouchable) community fell in love. She was six months pregnant when people came to know about this affair. The enraged people caught them, and paraded them through the village, threatening to bump them off.

I came to know about their murderous plan. I rushed to the spot and scared them away, pointing out the grave consequences of killing the lovers under the British law. They changed their mind after listening to me.

Sadubhau angrily said that the wily Brahman boy and the untouchable girl should leave the village. Both the victims agreed to this. My intervention saved the couple who gratefully fell at my feet and started crying. Somehow I consoled and pacified them. Now I am sending both of them to you. What else to write?
Yours
Savitri

1877. The last letter, written in 1877, is a heart-rending account of a famine that devastated western Maharashtra. People and animals were dying. Savitri and other Satyashodhak volunteers were doing their best to help. The letter brings out an intrepid Savitri leading a team of dedicated Satyashodhaks striving to overcome a further exacerbation of the tragedy by moneylenders’ trying to benefit.  She meets the local District administration. The letter ends on a poignant note where Savitribai reiterates her total commitment to her the humanitarian work pioneered by the Phules.

20 April, 1877
Otur, Junner
The Embodiment of Truth, My Lord Jyotiba,
Savitri salutes you!
The year 1876 has gone, but the famine has not – it stays in most horrendous forms here. The people are dying. The animals are dying, falling on the ground. There is severe scarcity of food. No fodder for animals. The people are forced to leave their villages. Some are selling their children, their young girls, and leaving the villages. Rivers, brooks and tanks have completely dried up – no water to drink. Trees are dying – no leaves on trees. Barren land is cracked everywhere. The sun is scorching – blistering. The people crying for food and water are falling on the ground to die. Some are eating poisonous fruits, and drinking their own urine to quench their thirst. They cry for food and drink, and then they die.

Our Satyashodhak volunteers have formed committees to provide food and other life-saving material to the people in need. They have formed relief squads.
Brother Kondaj and his wife Umabai are taking good care of me. Otur’s Shastri, Ganapati Sakharan, Dumbare Patil, and others are planning to visit you. It would be better if you come from Satara to Otur and then go to Ahmednagar.

You may remember R.B. Krishnaji Pant and Laxman Shastri. They travelled with me to the affected area and gave some monetary help to the victims.

The moneylenders are viciously exploiting the situation. Bad things are taking place as a result of this famine. Riots are breaking out. The Collector heard of this and came to ease the situation. He deployed the white police officers, and tried to bring the situation under control. Fifty Satyasholdhaks were rounded up. The Collector invited me for a talk. I asked the Collector why the good volunteers had been framed with false charges and arrested without any rhyme or reason. I asked him to release them immediately. The Collector was quite decent and unbiased. He shouted at the white soldiers, “Do the Patil farmers rob? Set them free.” The Collector was moved by the people’s plights. He immediately sent four bullock cartloads of (jowar) food.

You have started the benevolent and welfare work for the poor and the needy. I also want to carry my share of the responsibility. I assure you I will always help you. I wish the godly work will be helped by more people.

I do not want to write more.
Yours,
Savitri

(These letters have been excerpted with grateful thanks from A Forgotten Liberator, The Life and Struggle of Savitrabai Phule, Edited by Braj Ranjan Mani, Pamela Sardar)

Bibliography:

Krantijyoti : Revolutionary flame
Brahmans: Priestly “upper” caste with a powerful hold on all fairs of society and state including access to education, resources and mobility (spelt interchangeably as Brahmins)
Mahars:The Mahar is an Indian Caste, found largely in the state of Maharashtra, where they compromise 10% of the population, and neighboring areas. Most of the Mahar community followed social reformer B. R. Ambedkar in converting to Buddhism in the middle of the 20th century.
Mangs: The Mang (or Matang -Minimadig in Gujarat and Rajasthan) community is an Indian caste historically associated with low-status or ritually impure professions such as village musicians, cattle castraters, leather curers, midwives, hangmen, undertakers. Today they are listed as a Scheduled Castes a term which has replaced the former the derogatory ‘Untouchable’
Satyashodhak Samaj:  A society established by Jyotirao Phule on September 24, 1873. This was started as a group whose main aim was to liberate the shudra and untouchable castes from exploitation and oppression
Shudra: The fourth caste under the rigid caste Hindu system; these were further made more rigid in the Manu Smruti
Ati Shudra: Most of the groups listed under this category come under the untouchables who were used for the most venal tasks in caste ridden Hindu society but not treated as part of the caste system.
Jowar: The Indian name for sorghum

How the Education for girls was pioneered

The Phule couple decided to start schools for girls, especially from the shudra and atishudra castes but also including others so that social cohesion of sorts could be attempted in the classroom. Bhidewada in Pune was the chosen site, a bank stands there today. There is a movement among Bahujans to reclaim this historic building. When the Phules faced stiff resistance and a boycott, a Pune-based businessman Usman Shaikh gave them shelter. Fatima Shaikh Usman’s sister was the first teacher colleague of Savitribai and the two trained teachers who ran the school. The school started with nine girl students in 1848.

Sadashiv Govande contributed books from Ahmednagar. It functioned for about six months and then had to be closed down. Another building was found and the school reopened a few months later. The young couple faced severe opposition from almost all sections. Savitribai was subject to intense harassment everyday as she walked to school. Stones, mud and dirt were flung at her as she passed. She was often abused by groups of men with orthodox beliefs who opposed the education for women. Filth including cow dung was flung on her. Phule gave her hope, love and encouragement. She went to school wearing an old sari, and carried an extra sari with her to change into after she reached the school. The sheer daring and doggedness of the couple and their comrades in arms broke the resistance. Finally, the pressure on her eased when she was compelled to slap one of her tormentors on the street!

Once the caste Hindu Brahmanical hierarchy who were the main opponents of female education realized that the Phule couple would not easily give in, they arm-twisted Jyotiba’s father. Intense pressure was brought by the Brahmins on Phule’s father, Govindrao, to convince him that his son was on the wrong track, that what he was doing was against the Dharma. Finally, things came to a head when Phule’s father told him to leave home in 1849. Savitri preferred to stay by her husband’s side, braving the opposition and difficulties, and encouraging Phule to continue their educational work.

However, their pioneering move had won some support. Necessities like books were supplied through well wishers; a bigger house, owned by a Muslim, was found for a second school which was started in 1851. Moro Vithal Walvekar and Deorao Thosar assisted the school. Major Candy, an educationalist of Pune, sent books. Jyotirao worked here without any salary and later Savitribai was put in charge. The school committee, in a report, noted, “The state of the school funds has compelled the committee to appoint teachers on small salaries, who soon give up when they find better appointment…Savitribai, the school headmistress, has nobly volunteered to devote herself to the improvement of female education without remuneration. We hope that as knowledge advances, the people of this country will be awakened to the advantages of female education and will cordially assist in all such plans calculated to improve the conditions of those girls.”

On November 16, 1852, the education department of the government organised a public felicitation of the Phule couple, where they were honoured with shawls.
On February 12, 1853, the school was publicly examined. The report of the event state: “The prejudice against teaching girls to read and write began to give way…the good conduct and honesty of the peons in conveying the girls to and from school and parental treatment and indulgent attention of the teachers made the girls love the schools and literally run to them with alacrity and joy.”

A Dalit student of Savitribai, Muktabai, wrote a remarkable essay which was published in the paper Dyanodaya, in the year 1855. In her essay, Muktabai poignantly describes the wretchedness of the so-called untouchables and severely criticizes the Brahmanical religion for degrading and dehumanizing her people.

The post Love-Letters like no other appeared first on SabrangIndia.

Similarly, Hindu Post, in an article dated January 5 questioned whether Savitribai Phule was indeed the first female teacher in India! The article attributed this credit to Hotee Vidyalankar, a Bengali Hindu widow (of privileged caste origin) who, according to the publication, was a scholar proficient in Sanskrit poetry, law, mathematics, and Ayurveda. The article further alleged that Savitribai Phule had written poems glorifying British colonial rule and Christianity.

The issue drew widespread outrage after senior leaders of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), supported by various social outfits, staged protests, urging the government to take immediate action against the websites and their authors.

On July 27, four days ago, there was once again an uproar due to the delay in action being taken against the publishers. Thus in response to mounting opposition pressure, Maharashtra Home Minister Devendra Fadnavis pledged that those responsible for disseminating allegedly derogatory content against the renowned 19th-century educationalist Savitribai Phule would face the consequences of their actions. “Police are in touch with Twitter India to identify persons behind a handle that posted derogatory remarks against Savitribai Phule,” said the Home Minister.

The matter was raised by Jitendra Awhad, an MLA from the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and leader of the Sharad Pawar faction, who questioned the delay in investigating two controversial websites – Indic Tales and Hindu Post.

Responding to Jitendra Awhad’s concerns, Deputy Chief Minister Fadnavis, disclosed that the state police were actively coordinating with Twitter India to identify the people operating the handle that had posted objectionable remarks about Savitribai Phule.

Fadnavis confirmed that cases had already been filed against the Twitter handle in question, @bharadwajspeaks, as well as the digital platforms Indic Tales and Hindu Post. These platforms allegedly published defamatory posts against the revered figure. The police are currently awaiting a response from Twitter India and plan to take appropriate action once the identities of those behind the handle are established, the State Home Minister assured.

Despite Mr. Fadnavis’ statement the opposition was unsatisfied with the government’s response, and this led to the Opposition to stage a walkout in the Maharashtra legislative assembly, Balasaheb Thorat expressed strong disapproval of the government’s perceived inaction and drew a comparison to a recent incident involving Congress leader Rahul Gandhi. Thorat pointed out that swift action was taken against Rahul Gandhi, who faced a two-year jail sentence and disqualification as a Member of Parliament over his “Modi surname” remark. In contrast, the investigation into the websites allegedly defaming Savitribai Phule seemed to be dragging on with no resolution in sight.

Earlier this year itself, Chief Minister Eknath Shinde had ordered senior authorities to initiate a thorough investigation into the contents of Indic Tales and take decisive action if the allegations were found to be true.

The government’s assurance to take action against those responsible for defaming Savitribai Phule reflects its commitment to uphold the legacy of the esteemed social reformer. As the police continue their investigations in collaboration with Twitter India, the spotlight remains on the importance of protecting historical figures’ reputations and preserving the integrity of their contributions to society.

On the website of Indic Tales, there is a disclaimer stating that they have withdrawn their article on Savitribai Phule. “IndicTales, a platform dedicated to fostering academic discourse and promoting public dialogue, hereby announces the withdrawal of an article re-published on its website on 4 January 2023, authored by the Twitter Handle – @BharadwajSpeaks.”

The Azad Maidan police, meanwhile, has registered an FIR on June 1 against websites IndicTales, HinduPost, and Twitter account BharadwajSpeaks for publishing and spreading false content against social reformer Savitribai Phule. The FIR was filed under sections 505 and 505(II) of the Indian Penal Code after NCP leaders protested against the articles and tweets, citing hurt sentiments and enmity incited between communities.

Senior leader Chhagan Bhujbal condemned the portals’ portrayal of Savitribai Phule and demanded action against them. Despite the FIR and wide outrage, no arrests have been made so far despite the fact that it seems these online portals are repeat offenders. CJP has previously busted fake news, in one of their Hate-Buster segments, which featured fake news that Hindu Post was spreading as well.

Related:

Struggle of women social reformers, Savitribai Phule, Fatima Shaikh recalled:  International Women’s Day

Love-Letters like no other

Maharashtra: D’ty CM Devendra Fadnavis alleges ‘Love jihad’ to be cause of rising numbers of missing girls

Remembering Fatima Sheikh, the first Muslim teacher who laid the foundation of Dalit-Muslim unity

The post Derogatory Article on Savitribai Phule: No Arrests So Far  appeared first on SabrangIndia.

First Published on: 11 Apr 2016
 
On his 189^th Birth Anniversary, April 11, we bring to you excerpts from Jyotiba Phule’s path breaking work, severely criticising Brahminism and the Caste System

Jyotiba Phule was born on April 11, 1827

If a Bhat happened to pass by a river where a Shudra as washing his clothes, the Shudra had to collect all his clothes and proceed to a far distant spot, lest some drops of the (contaminated) water should be sprayed on the Bhat. Even then, if a drop of water were to touch the body of the Bhat from there, or even if the Bhat so imagined it, the Bhat did not hesitate to fling his utensil angrily at the head of the Shudra who would collapse to the ground, his head bleeding profusely.

On recovering from the swoon the Shudra would collect his blood- stained clothes and wend his way home silently. He could not complain to the Government Officials, as the administration was dominated by the Bhats. More often than not he would be punished stringently for complaining against the Bhats. This was the height of injustice!

It was difficult for the Shudras to move about freely in the streets for their daily routine, most of all in the mornings when persons and things cast long shadows about them. If a `Bhat Saheb’ were to come along from the opposite direction, the Shudra had to stop by the road until such time as the `Bhat Saheb’ passed by – for fear of casting his polluting shadow on him. He was free to proceed further only after the `Bhat Saheb’ had passed by him.

Should a Shudra be unlucky enough to cast his polluting shadow on a Bhat inadvertently, the Bhat used to belabour him mercilessly and would go to bathe at the river to wash off the pollution. The Shudras were forbidden even to spit in the streets. Should he happen to pass through a Brahmin (Bhat) locality he had to carry an earthen-pot slung about his neck to collect his spittle. (Should a Bhat Officer find a spittle from a Shudra’s mouth on the road, woe betide the Shudra!)…….

[[The Shudra suffered many such indignities and disabilities and were looking forward to their release from their persecutors as prisoners fondly do. The all-merciful Providence took pity on the Shudras and brought about the British raj to India by its divine dispensation which emancipated the Shudras from the physical (bodily) thraldom (slavery). We are much beholden to the British rulers. We shall never forget their kindness to us. It was the British rulers who freed us from the centuries-old oppression of the Bhat and assured a hopeful future for our children. Had the British not come on the scene (in India) (as our rulers) the Bhat would surely have crushed us in no time (long ago.)]]

Some may well wonder as to how the Bhats managed to crush the depressed and down-trodden people here even though they (the Shudras) outnumbered them tenfold. It was well-known that one clever person can master ten ignorant persons
(e.g. a shepherd and his flock). Should the ten ignorant men be united (be of one mind), they would surely prevail over that clever one. But if the ten are disunited they would easily be duped by that clever one. The Bhats have invented a very cunning method to sow seeds of dissension among the Shudras. The Bhats were naturally apprehensive of the growing numbers of the depressed and down- trodden people. They knew that keeping them disunited alone ensured their (the Bhats’) continued mastery ever them. It was the only way of keeping them as abject slaves indefinitely, and only thus would they be able to indulge in a life of gross indulgence and luxury ensured by the `sweat of the Shudras’ brows. To that end in view, the Bhats invented the pernicious fiction of the caste-system, compiled (learned) treatises to serve their own self-interest and indoctrinated the pliable minds of the ignorant Shudras (masses) accordingly.

Some of the Shudras put up a gallant fight against this blatant injustice. They were segregated into a separate category (class). In order to wreak vengeance on them (for their temerity) the Bhats persuaded those whom we today term as Malis (gardeners), Kunbis (tillers, peasants) etc. not to stigmatise them as untouchables.

Being deprived of their means of livelihood, they were driven to the extremity of eating the flesh of dead animals. Some of the members of the Shudras community today proudly call themselves as Malis (gardeners), Kunbis (peasants), gold-smiths, tailors, iron smiths, carpenters etc, on the basis of the avocation (trade) they pursued (practised), Little do they know that our ancestors and those of the so¬called untouchables (Mahars, Mangs etc.) were blood-brothers (traced their lineage to the same family stock).

Their ancestors fought bravely in defence of their motherland against the invading usurpers (the Bhats) and hence, the wily Bhats reduced them to penury and misery. It is a thousand pities that being unmindful of this state of affairs, the Shudras began to hate their own kith and kin.

The Bhats invented an elaborate system of caste-distinction based on the way the other Shudras behaved towards them, condemning some to the lowest rung and some to a slightly higher rung. Thus they permanently made them into their proteges and by means of the powerful weapon of the `iniquitous caste system,’ drove a permanent wedge among the Shudras.

It was a classic case of the cats who went to law! The Bhats created dissensions among the depressed and the down- trodden masses and are battening on the differences (are leading luxurious lives thereby).

The depressed and down­trodden masses in India were freed from the physical bodily) slavery of the Bhats as a result of the advent of the British raj here. But we are sorry to state that the benevolent British Government have not addressed themselves to the important task of providing education to the said masses. That is why the Shudras continue to be ignorant, and hence, their ‘mental slavery’ regarding the spurious religious tracts of the Bhats continues unabated. They cannot even appeal to the Government for the redressal of their wrongs. The Government is not yet aware of the way the Bhats exploit the masses in their day to day problems as also in the administrative machinery. We pray to the Almighty to enable the Government to kindly pay attention to this urgent task and to free the masses from their mental slavery to the machinations of the Bhats.

I am deeply beholden to Shri Vinayak Babji Bhandarkar and Rao Saheb Shri Rajanna Lingu for their continued encouragement to me in the writing of this treatise.

(From the Introduction to ‘Slavery’ by Mahatma Jyotiba Phule)
­­­­­­­

The post Jyotiba Phule’s Trenchant Critique of Caste: Gulamgiri appeared first on SabrangIndia.

Women and men have equal contribution in the formation and upliftment of society. The contribution of men is often discussed, but the social work done by women is less  discussed. Two and a half centuries ago, Savitribai Phule and Fatima Sheikh, who worked in the field of education for women and Dalits, were revolutionary women of their time. Together they worked for education and social reform. Savitribai Phule’s contribution is familiar to us. But not much information is available about Fatima Sheikh. From the letters of Savitri Bai we get information about Fatima Sheikh.

Savitribai Phule was born on January 3, 1831 at Naigaon in Satara district of Maharashtra. Savitribai was married to Jotiba Phule in 1840. Jotiba lived with his cousin Sagunabai. After marriage, Jotiba Phule continued his education. Along with his own studies, Jotiba also started teaching Savitribai at home. Soon Savitribai learned to read and write Marathi and English. After this, Savitribai passed the school examination. Savatribai knew the importance of education. Savitribai and Jotiba wanted that like them, backward class women in the society should also get the opportunity to read and write. At that time there was no system of education for Dalits and backward castes.

Jotiba and Savitribai decided to open a school for girls. But the problem was where to get female teachers to teach the girls? Where there’s a will there’s a way. Savitribai took the responsibility of this great work. She completed a teacher training course from Missionary College. She became  a trained teacher. Thus Jotiba and Savitribai laid the foundation of the first women’s school in Pune in 1848. Running a school for women was not an easy task. Initially, parents were not ready to send their daughters to school. People were not in favour of educating girls. They had an ignorant belief that if girls were taught, seven generations of them would go to hell. It becomes very difficult to explain to people in such a situation.Despite this, Savitribai did not lose heart. She used to go to people’s houses, understand and discuss them with love and compassion. She told people the importance of education.

Fatima Shaikh belonged to an ordinary Muslim family. She was born on January 9, 1831. She was the first educated woman from the Muslim Community at that time. Fatima Sheikh used to live in Pune with her elder brother Usman Sheikh. Osman Sheikh was a childhood friend of Mahatma Phule. Like Mahatma Phule, he was open minded. Due to their efforts, Fatima was also able to read and write. Inspired by Savitribai’s work, Fatima Shaikh also came forward with courage. After coming with Fatima Sheikh, Savitribai’s courage doubled. Fatima Shaikh’s association brought life to the girls’ school.

Now the girls’ school work started with great enthusiasm. Both Fatima and Savitribai used to get up early in the morning. After completing the housework, they used to devote full time to school. They have had equal support from Jotiba and Usman Shaikh. Initially there were only six girls in the school. Gradually this number started increasing. Everything was going according to plan. But the upper caste community of the city did not like this girls education movement. They opposed the Phule family saying that this work was anti-scriptural. Despite this, Savitribai and Fatima Shaikh continued their efforts. The protesters put pressure on Jotiba’s father Govindrao. Govindrao was threatened with ostracism from the society. Due to this opposition, Govindrao forced Jotiba to close the school or leave the house. Jotiba and Savitribai wanted to continue their mission at any cost. He did not listen to his father. Finally they had to leave their home.

No one in Pune city was willing to support them at the time. Savitribai was being persecuted for the education of more girls. Here, the ‘boycott gang’ of the elite cast a social boycott on the Phule couple. No one came to their aid due to the fear of social ostracism. The Phule family was labeled traitors and heretics. In such a crisis, Mahatma Phule’s childhood friend Usman Sheikh came forward as an angel. Usman Sheikh opened his private farm to the Phule family. The Shaikh family not only supported Savitribai and Jotiba but also gave a part of their house to run the school. In this way, a girls’ school was started from the house of Fatima Sheikh. Usman Shaikh and Fatima faced constant opposition in their own community.

Like Savitribai, Fatima Sheikh was also called evil. They were taunted, abused. Mud, dung was thrown on them. Both Fatima Shaikh and Savitribai were very fearless and brave women, they bore the torture silently. Both did not give up, and continued to improve the future of girls with double dedication and hard work. In 1850, he established an institution called ‘The Native Female School, Pune’. Total 18 schools were opened around Pune city under this organization. At that time there was no education system for Dalit children like women. To overcome this problem, Mahatma Phule founded an organization called ‘Society for the Promoting Education of Mahar and Mang’, thus starting a school for women as well as children from underprivileged communities.

Fatima Shaikh emerged as the first Muslim woman who worked for the education of Muslim women as well as for the education of the Bahujan community. We can understand that two hundred years ago, it must have been an act of courage for a Muslim woman to step out of the four walls of the house and do such social work. Fatima Shaikh not only carried forward Savitribai’s mission but also stood by her side in times of crisis. In the absence of Savitri Bai, Fatima Shaikh used to take care of all the responsibilities of the school administration. The number of female students in the school started to increase. After completing their education, her students also started playing the role of teacher.

Gradually, Savitri Bai expanded her social work. Child marriage was a practice in the society at that time. Many girls became widows at an early age. Besides, single mothers who were completely ostracized by the society had no other option but to commit suicide. On January 28, 1853, Mahatma Phule and Savitribai opened an ashram named ‘Bal Hatya Pratibandhak Griha’ for such victimized women. This was the first such ashram for women in the country. In this ashram, women were taught small jobs and their children were taken care of. When they grew up, they were admitted to school. One day an unmarried pregnant woman named Kashibai came to the ashram. Savitribai supported her, later the Phule couple adopted and socially rejected Kashibai’s new born male child, his name was Dr. Yashwant. Savitribai made him a successful doctor by educating him.

It is the story of 1896, during that time plague was spread in Mumbai and Pune. Savitribai was engaged in the service of people. In the meantime, she was stricken with plague and on 10 March 1897, this great social reformer sacrificed her life. Sawatribai and Fatima Shaikh ignited the flame of education and knowledge in the lives of hundreds of women. Shudras and women were shown the way to live with self-respect through education. Women today are on the path of progress, more independent than ever before. The struggles and sacrifices of great people like Mahatma Phule, Savitribai, Fatima Sheikh are hidden in the upliftment of women. It is a matter of pride for all of us to remember the contribution of great women like Savitribai and Fatima Shaikh on 8th March International Women’s Day.

( The author is with Janavadi Lekhak Sangh, Maharashtra)

Related:

Remembering Fatima Sheikh, the first Muslim teacher who laid the foundation of Dalit-Muslim unity

The post Struggle of women social reformers, Savitribai Phule, Fatima Shaikh recalled:  International Women’s Day appeared first on SabrangIndia.

The Mali community of Thane, will, for the first time organise a ‘Savitri Rally’ in Thane city on Tuesday, January 3 reported The Free Press Journal. The rally will start at 10 am in front of the statue of Babasaheb Ambedkar at the Thane railway station. The statue is located at Thane market via Shivaji market and will end at Court Naka in front of Babasaheb Ambedkar statue in Thane.

Speaking about the rally the Mali Samaj Sangh president Navneet Sinalkar said, ” The main idea behind the ‘Savitri Rally’ is that the ideas of Savitribai Phule who was the pioneer of women’s education will be promoted and disseminated through this rally. 

“More than 2000 people from Mali Samaj will be a part of the rally.”

For years now, Dalit communities and several women’s organisations, January 3 is a crucial day that has been celebrated as Education for All Day, Savitribai Phule, along with Jyotiba pioneered education for girls of all castes, classes and communities in the state. In 1848, the school at Bhidewada, Pune saw a historic first: girls from various caste groups sittinh together to learn. When the couple were ostracised for their radical and transformative actions, Usman Shaikh a Pune based businessman gave them shelter. Fatima Shaikh was a fellow teacher with Savitribai Phule in the school.

Related:

Love-Letters like no other

Savitribai Phule: The Mother Of Modern Education

The post Savitri rally to be held in Thane on January 3 for the first time  appeared first on SabrangIndia.

Remembering Jyotiba Phule, on His 189th Birth Anniversary Today, April 11

Jyotiba Phule was born on April 11, 1827. He along with his wife, Savitribai Phule are known as the Pioneers of Women’s Education in India. Articulation of structured Caste Oppressions and Denials also came to the fore with the sharp intellectual activism of the Phules

Reading Phule – No More Silences Now !

“Lack of education lead to lack of wisdom,
Which leads to lack of morals,
Which leads to lack  of progress,
Which leads to lack of money,
Which leads to the oppression of the lower classes,
See what state of the society one lack of education can cause!”
– Jyotiba Phule
 
..Most people do not realize that society can practise tyranny and oppression against an individual in a far greater degree than a Government can. The means and scope that are open to society for oppression are more extensive than those that are open to Government; also they are far more effective. What punishment in the penal code is comparable in its magnitude and its severity to excommunication? Who has greater courage—the Social Reformer who challenges society and invites upon himself excommunication or the political prisoner who challenges Government and incurs sentence of a few months or a few years imprisonment?

(Ranade, Gandhi and Jinnah, Address delivered by Dr Ambedkar on the 101st birthday celebration of M G Ranade, 18th January, 1943)
 
 
Introduction
Understanding or rereading a historical figure, whose life and times have impacted generations of scholars and activists, who has been subjected to praise as well scrutiny by the best brains of our times, becomes a challenging task.  One gets a feeling that whatever has to be said has already been said and perhaps there is not much novelty left. An added challenge comes when you are face to face with scholars/activists who could be considered experts on the issue having done more detailed and thorough work on the subject.
Today when I begin my presentation I find myself in a similar quandary.

Would it be a repetition of what the earlier scholar just said? Or a glimpse of what the coming activist is going to present? And to avoid the possible monotony of any such ensuing discussion – where all of us would be doing ‘kadam tal‘ (a lexicon used in NCC parades) around similar arguments and similar insights and would be lamenting in similar voices, I have decided to flag off few queries which have been bothering my mind since quite some time. It is possible that it would be considered rather blasphemous to raise such questions, or maybe they will be considered so mundane that participants can just exchange smiles about their content. Anyway, whatever might be the outcome I would like to raise them with a sincere hope that they would possibly generate a conversation.

1. 1848 happens to be a year of historic importance for the exploited and oppressed of the world, as it was the year when Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels – young German revolutionaries – published ‘The Communist Manifesto’. “Workers of the world, unite! You have nothing to lose but your chains!” still reverberates around the world.

For all those radicals and revolutionaries – individuals, formations, organisations – who yearn for a fundamental social transformation in this part of the earth, 1848 has an added significance. It was this year when another young man – Jyotiba Phule along with his wife Savitribai and a family friend/fellow traveller Fatima Sheikh – opened the first school for the socially discriminated and historically despised ‘untouchable’ community’s girls in Pune. And things were never the same for the Shudras-Atishudras and women.

Today when we look back at the more than four decade journey of this young man, who was given the honorific ‘Mahatma’ in the presence of thousands of people, a few years before he breathed his last in 1890, we are amazed to learn the expanse of his vision and the tremendous innovativeness and creativity which was exhibited in his actions. Miles ahead of his own contemporaries, he had the courage to raise his finger at the pressing problems of his time and had no qualms in attacking internal asymmetries of our society and no illusion about the ‘great traditions’. There was no hiatus between what he spoke and  what he practised in his personal as well as his social-political life.

Apart from teaching his wife Savitribai – who became a close comrade of the work he had initiated and later metamorphosed into a writer as well as an independent activist ( a rarity in those days), or opening the doors of his own house for those considered lowest among the low, or coming to the defence of the scholar-activist Pandita Ramabai about her right to convert when she embraced Christianity and had to singlehandedly face the conservative onslaught , one comes across many instances in his life, which are worth emulating in today’s times.

In fact when the moments of crisis came, he had the courage to question and challenge the wrong understanding of his own colleagues. For instance, in his devastating critique of another comrade Bhalerao, when he attacked the important monograph ‘Stree-Pusush Tulana’ by Tarabai Shinde ( who herself was a product of the Satyashodhak movement) as it raised questions of gender equality and patriarchal oppression. Or the manner in which he went ahead with the publication of ‘Cultivators whipcord’ independently when his colleague in the movement – Lokhande (another legendary figure who was a pioneer in building the first union of workers in Bombay named ‘Bombay Millhands Association) along with others found it too radical to be given space in the organisation’s publication after just two instalments.

Modern India cannot be imagined without the path breaking contributions of Phule and other social reformers/ revolutionaries who came after him, who fought against heavy odds to convince the people about challenging existing social practices and questioning old modes of thinking and exposing millennial old oppressions which had religious sanctions and encouraging them to look beyond.

In his introduction to ‘Selected Writings of Jotirao Phule’ G.P Deshpande tells us
‘Phule’s canvas was broad, his sweep majestic. He identified and theorised the most important questions of his time – religion, Varna System, ritualism, language, literature, British rule, mythology, gender question, conditions of production in agriculture, the lot of peasantry etc….Was Phule then a social reformer ? The answer will be ‘no’. A social reformer is a liberal humanist. Phule was more of a revolutionary. He had a complete system of ideas, and was amongst the early thinkers to have identified, in a manner of speaking, classes in Indian society. He analysed the dvaivarnik structure of Indian society, and identified the shudra/atishudras as the leading agency of a social revolution.’ [i]

2. It has been exactly 125 years since Mahatma Jyotiba Phule died. (28th November 1890).
If one goes by the mainstream media one learns that barring some stray programmes not many celebrations/programmes were held in his commemoration. Was it unintentional or inadvertent?  Or part of fatigue being experienced by people active in transformatory (revolutionary) movements?

And the lack of action on the  part of the state, should it be interpreted as a rather crude manifestation of identity politics –  when great leaders, especially those belonging to the oppressed communities have been reduced to becoming ‘Heroes’ only of their respective castes/communities. And in such an ‘identity loaded’ ambience perhaps Phule – who was born into the numerically not very strong Mali (gardener) caste, did not have much chance to be ‘remembered’ by the wider populace. Or should it be considered part of deliberate silencing of all such voices whose agenda is found to be inconvenient or subversive by the ruling classes?

Anyway, the apparent amnesia around his name does not reduce the importance of the path breaking work he did. It was an interesting coincidence that Phule’s anniversary was around the same time that the august parliament of the country was holding a special two day session focussing on ‘Constitution day’ and acknowledging the seminal role played by Dr Ambedkar in its making. History bears witness to the fact that Dr Ambedkar had called Phule the ‘Greatest Shudra’ and openly admitted that Buddha, Kabir and Phule constituted the triumvirate which was the source of his inspiration. People who are always in search of silver linings can also say that the august parliament was in this way indirectly appreciating the historic contribution made by Jyotiba Phule as well.

Modern India, cannot be imagined without the path breaking contributions of Phule and other social reformers/ revolutionaries who came after him, who fought against heavy odds to convince the people about challenging existing social practices and questioning old modes of thinking and exposing millennial old oppressions which had religious sanctions and encouraging them to look beyond.”

Silence around Phule and year long celebrations around Ambedkar can be considered two sides  of the same coin – tactics that the ruling elite use with ease.

Whether you celebrate Ambedkar or maintain a silence about Phule, one thing can be easily discerned – that the ruling classes are not bothered about the real concerns of Phule, Ambedkar or other social revolutionaries. Perhaps they do not want people to remember that both Phule and Ambedkar had raised destabilising questions about nation, nationalism, culture, and challenged the ‘tremendous fascination among the elite of their times about our great civilisation’. One of their key posers which still rings true, which focuses on our caste ridden society – based on privileges for a few and disabilities for the broader masses – suggests  the near impossibility of the emergence of ‘a nation’ from amongst its midst.

The ruling elite are more keen to carve out a ‘suitable’ Ambedkar or a ‘convenient’ Phule to further their agenda. The present ruling dispensation at the centre led by the BJP – part of the broader Hindutva family – especially seems to be only too eager to lay claim over his legacy. They want people to forget the fact that when Ambedkar was alive they had been in the forefront to oppose him on every count.

Any student of the politics of the oppressed would vouch that there comes a time when the many, or most of the leaders of the exploited and oppressed can no more be ignored by the dominant forces in any society. In fact, we have been witness to a similar process which unfolded in the USA where a very sanitised image of Martin Luther King, has been made popular. Instead of the King who opposed the Vietnam War, looked at capitalism as the source of all evil, who  struggled for workers’ rights, we have before us an image of King which seems more amenable to the ruling classes there.

There is an interesting commonality on how ruling classes try to co-opt/appropriate images of leaders of the oppressed. It is a three step process: First, they try to ignore them ; second, when this tactic fails they grudgingly acknowledge them ; third, they try to carve out a ‘suitable’ revolutionary for their own ‘use’. They are adept at what a scholar describes as a deliberate process of ‘mythologising the (great) wo/men and marginalising their meanings.’

3.  It is really easy to blame the cunning of the ruling classes for this state of affairs – which in fact can create lot of heat but does not throw any light on the matter. The most difficult part of the whole exercise is  first of all to see how we – who claim to be the radical inheritors of their legacy – let it happen and second, whether there are any elements in the world view of these greats themselves which have made their ‘appropriation’ easier.

It is possible that few amongst us would ‘appreciate’ the fact that the ‘powers that be’ talk about these greats, organise celebrations around them, are keen to publish their collected works or even ready to make them part of curriculum.  It may also give them satisfaction that they claim to be walking in their footsteps or fulfilling their dreams. But in fact, one should be wary of all such claims and should look at the hiatus between what they claim and what is the actual situation on the ground.

Should not this question really bother us,  that is, how the official incorporation of these greats could be done so easily or how these revolutionaries – which were of a different kind and who could have been part of our arsenal in our fight against inequality and discriminations of various kinds today –  seem to be ‘sitting cosily’ with our adversaries.

Coming back to the original focus, the question remains as to why and how the radical agenda of Phule which had a very broad canvas could not be taken further with the same vigour, zeal and focus, and how it metamorphosed first into the non-Brahmin movement and later got submerged easily into the national movement.

Dr Ambedkar offers an explanation while discussing Justice M G Ranade, who was a contemporary of Phule.

The decline of Social Reform was quite natural. The odium of Social Reform was too great. The appeal of political power too alluring. The result was that social reform found fewer and fewer adherents. In course of time the platform of the Social Reform Conference was deserted, and men flocked to the Indian National Congress. The politicians triumphed over the Social Reformers. I am sure that nobody will now allow that their triumph was a matter for pride. It is certainly a matter of sorrow. Ranade may not have been altogether on the winning side, but he was not on the wrong side and certainly never on the side of the wrong as some of his opponents were[ii].

While it seems apt in the case of Justice Ranade, one definitely needs to go deeper to understand the later metamorphosis of the Phulevian movement.

4.  History bears witness to the fact that Jawalkar, (1902-1932) a leading champion of the non-Brahmin movement – who was no less a radical – had called Gandhi a ‘Satyashodhak’  when the non-Brahmin movement decided to ‘merge’ itself with the national movement.

Was it just part of political expediency or did he really believe that Gandhi who called himself a sanatani (orthodox) Hindu and firmly believed in Varnashram Dharma was really taking forward Phule’s mission.? And this despite the fact that by the time this stream had joined the Congress it was very clear that it was careful enough to sideline all those issues pertaining to the internal asymmetries of Indian society, scuttle all such attempts which challenge them – which were the ‘key concerns of the Satyashodhak movement –  under the grand slogan of ‘fighting the British’. In fact, Phule had rather prophesied this state of affairs when he had raised very important questions about the nature of the Congress party which was founded in 1885.

There cannot be a ‘nation’ worth the name until and unless all the people of the land of King Bali – such as Shudras and Ati-shudras, Bhils (tribals) and fishermen etc, become truly educated, and are able to think independently for themselves and are uniformly unified and emotionally integrated. If a tiny section of the population like the upstart Aryan Brahmins alone were to found the ‘National Congress’ who will take any notice of it ?[iii]

A critical look at Gandhi is important because it was in this period  that the mixing of religion with politics gained a new legitimacy, despite his avowed respect for all religions. Under his leadership the task of reforming Hinduism was brushed aside and Ambedkar, a consistent modernist and a relentless critic of Hinduism, was pushed to the wall.

Looking back it becomes clear the side-lining of voices of internal reform in Indian society had started during Phule’s time itself.

In its early stirrings, Lokmanya Tilak, who happened to be a key leader of the Congress movement then, had vehemently led the Conservative reaction against all those concerns which Phule stood for. It is widely known how it was because of Tilak’s insistence – or should we say threat – that the Pandal holding the Social Conference would be burnt down, and the tradition of holding the Social Conference after the Congress Conference – which was initiated by the likes of Ranade etc. was discontinued. His opposition to the Sarda Act is also known, where he opposed any British intervention in deciding the age at which girl can be married.

To say the least, it is rather baffling that the other face of Tilak’s work – where he firmly opposed the spread of education among girls, where he opposed moves by social reformers/revolutionaries which challenged age old traditions/customs of Indian society or where he exhibited clear cut Brahminical bias, has not received the attention that it deserves.

Whether you celebrate Ambedkar or maintain a silence about Phule, one thing can be easily discerned – that the ruling classes are not bothered about the real concerns of Phule, Ambedkar or other social revolutionaries. Perhaps they do not want people to remember that both Phule and Ambedkar had raised destabilising questions about nation, nationalism, culture, and challenged the ‘tremendous fascination among the elite of their times about our great civilisation

In a voluminous work titled ‘Foundations of Tilak’s Nationalism’ – Parimala Rao who has based her work mainly on ‘The Mahratta’ the newspaper brought out by Tilak – raises many important questions, which exhibit a great hiatus between his image and reality. Two of the questions which she raises in the Introductory chapter ‘Encountering the Myth’ are worth quoting here :

Why did Tilak’s 25 year long anti-peasant struggle fail to enter the pages of history while his token no-tax campaign in ryotwari areas has been extolled ? Why is his 40 yearlong effort to stop women and non-Brahmin from receiving education is pushed under the carpet ?’[iv]

In fact, Tilak’s ideological opposition to Phule went to the extent that the newspapers which he brought out then – namely ‘Kesari’ and ‘Mahratta’ – did not even publish the news about his death in 1890. He even preferred to gloss over the fact that when young Tilak and Agarkar were jailed for the first time, it was Phule who had organised a public felicitation programme for both of them when they were released in1881.

Ranging from the Left on the one hand to the other end of the spectrum, Tilak’s image as a ‘militant’ face of the nationalist movement as opposed to the ‘moderates’ has been glorified, but his ideas and actions which clearly present an anti-dalit, anti-women, anti-Muslim bias and a voice which is consistently against social reform, has never come under the scanner. 

5.  Coming back to the on-going debate a very valid question at this juncture could be why does one want to ‘excavate’ old history? It can be said that it is better to let bygones be bygones.

The fact is that many questions regarding one of the most tumultuous periods in India’s history still linger on and we are yet to reach any definitive conclusion about them.

For example, one is always amazed by the pioneering work which broke new grounds on the road to emancipation for the broad masses of the country done by the social revolutionaries, in this part of Western India, but always baffled by the simultaneous/ staggered emergence of reactionary/status quoist movements which also became a ‘light house of a different kind’ to the right-wingers elsewhere.

As an aside one may note that the leading ideologue of the Islamist Right – Maulana  Maududi, whose influence extends to the wider Muslim world, also had his beginning in this region . Maulana Maududi who founded the Jamaat-e-Islami, was born in Aurangabad and had his initial forays into social-political life here only. As rightly said Abul Ala Maududi is to ‘Political Islam’ what Karl Marx was to Communism.

Perhaps this query regarding the not so silent emergence of social revolutionary and social reactionary trends from the same part of Western India can be further probed if we revisit this period.

We need to revisit it not only to scrutinise the image of Lokmanya and how skilfully the grand agenda of social transformation put forward by Phule was side-lined (which helps us  understand the resistance to social change encountered by Phule) but also to revisit nationalist movement post-Tilak which could not make a radical rupture with the overwhelming Hindu discourse – despite the fact that two of its senior-most leaders, Gandhi as well as Nehru were die hard seculars.

Revisiting Tilak is important in order to understand  the genesis of Hindutva Right today because under the name of opposing the Britishers he inadvertently helped strengthen status quoist forces in Indian society and helped to further a very regressive social agenda. In fact his imaginary vis-a-vis the Hindu Nation or his mobilising a  Hindu constituency through the organisation of festivals or his extolling of the Manusmriti in ‘Gita Rahsya’ (his critique of the Bhagwad Gita which he penned down during his prison days), or the fact that a section of the Hindu Right took inspiration from him has largely remained unaddressed.

While the triumvirate of Savarkar, Hedgewar and Golwalkar is rightly pointed out for their ‘leading role’ in Hindutva politics, we should not forget two things: one, that the ‘pioneers’ of Hindutva also claimed Tilak’s legacy. Dr Munje, who was one of the founders of RSS and a key leader of the Hindu Mahasabha, was considered a staunch Tilakite and dissociated himself from the Congress after the death of Tilak as he was not convinced about the idea of secularism as proposed by Gandhi and supposedly abhorred his politics of non-violence.

An added complexity about the unfolding situation is the wide acceptance of an illusion packaged as truth which veers around what people call ‘Purogami  Maharashtra’- Progressive Maharashtra.

You mention assassination of activists, scholars – who were working within the bounds of the Constitution, you mention ascendance of Hindutva rightwingers in all their ferocity today, or their growing ‘normalisation’ in the society, you mention the rise in Dalit atrocities or the growing legitimacy of caste councils and all such talk can bounce back upon you by calling them ‘aberrations’ and the ‘great tradition of Phule-Ambedkar’ would be invoked to blunt your argument. (Perhaps it can be reminded here that Com Govind Pansare, who was assassinated by Sanatan Sanstha terrorists had rightly called upon people to come out of this illusion.)

6.   Looking back is important also to revisit the controversy which is often raked up to denigrate Phule’s contribution which veers around his approach towards British rule. And disturbingly, the traditional Left which upholds Karl Marx’s dialectical assessment of the British rule where he talks about its ‘crimes’ as well as its ‘causing a social revolution’,  also seems to follow the same track.

A representative sample of the Left’s criticism of Phule can be had from G P Deshpande’s introduction to ‘Selected Works of Jyotirao Phule’.  (We should not forget how in the same Introduction Deshpande praises Phule in glowing terms, a glimpse of it can be seen in section 1) which is basically a masterly translation of Phule’s selected writings in English. Deshpande writes

Phule did not see imperialism dialectically. He did not see that the British ruling classes were not kind to the lower classes in Britain. The British legal system, in which he had invested his faith, was no less exploitative and unjust when it had to deal with the British peasantry and the working class. His enthusiasm for British rule made him sceptical of even the shudra/atishudra uprisings against British rule in his own time, for instance the uprising led by Umaji Naik. It also prevented him from seeing the material basis of what he would brand as ‘Brahman’ nationalism….Phule did not see, for instance, the significance of Vasudev Phadke, a brahman, working with the ramoshis. The result was that Phule and his comrades and followers ended up taking softer and softer positions on British imperialism and ultimately lost ground to the nationalist movement.[v]

Perhaps a more nuanced understanding of Phule’s more than four decade old social-political journey – which should include his exposure of the British government’s policies from time to time or his assessment of the Congress Party’s then brand of nationalism, or his envisioning an alternate conception of nationalism – is in order to put things in proper perspective.

And before coming to discuss Phule, it is also important to comprehend what Marx meant by ‘social revolution’ in India. Could it be limited merely to what he called ‘..brutal interference of the British tax-gatherer and the British soldier, as to the working of English steam and English free trade’  or something deeper. Marx was definitely explicit regarding these changes:

“All the civil wars, invasions, revolutions, conquests, famines, strangely complex, rapid, and destructive as the successive action in Hindostan may appear, did not go deeper than its surface. England has broken down the entire framework of Indian society, without any symptoms of reconstitution yet appearing. This loss of his old world, with no gain of a new one, imparts a particular kind of melancholy to the present misery of the Hindoo, and separates Hindostan, ruled by Britain, from all its ancient traditions, and from the whole of its past history. …..

 ..We must not forget that these little communities were contaminated by distinctions of caste and by slavery, that they subjugated man to external circumstances instead of elevating man the sovereign of circumstances, that they transformed a self-developing social state into never changing natural destiny, and thus brought about a brutalizing worship of nature, exhibiting its degradation in the fact that man, the sovereign of nature, fell down on his knees in adoration of Kanuman, the monkey, and Sabbala, the cow.”[vi]

The impact of the British rule on the Indian society could be better understood if one takes a look at the then existing society. In his speech ‘Ranade, Gandhi and Jinnah’ Dr Ambekdar has described the situation present then when Ranade – a contemporary of Phule – came on the scene.

“Is there any society in the world which has unapproachable,, unshadowables, and unseeables? Is there any society which has got a population of Criminal Tribes? Is there a society in which there exist today primitive people, who live in jungles, who do not know even to clothe themselves? How many do they count in numbers? Is it a matter of hundreds, is it a matter of thousands? I wish they numbered a paltry few. The tragedy is that they have to be counted in millions, millions of Untouchables, millions of Criminal Tribes, millions of Primitive Tribes!! One wonders whether the Hindu civilization is civilization, or infamy.

…Tilak’s image as a ‘militant’ face of the nationalist movement as opposed to the ‘moderates’ has been glorified, but his ideas and actions which clearly present an anti-dalit, anti-women, anti-Muslim bias and a voice which is consistently against social reform, has never come under the scanner.

The rule by the Peshwas which essentially practised Manusmriti was more vicious especially for all those who did not belong to the Chitpavan Brahman caste (the caste to which Peshwa belonged). Forget right to education or right to wear clothes according to one’s own choice, it even prohibited them from using the greeting ‘Namaskar’. The lowly of the low then – namely the ‘untouchables’ – had to carry an earthen pot in their neck so that their spit does not spoil the street, their entry to the city was limited to few hours only as it was feared that their shadow may fall on the Brahmins and ‘pollute’ them.

In such a background colonialism was not simply a change from one set of rulers to others, it involved a move from one kind of society to a qualitatively different one. Colonial rule definitely meant strengthening the mechanisms of colonial exploitation but it did try to superimpose minimum capitalist relations on the old order. The prevalent social norms subordinated individual to the institution of caste. The daily life of the Hindus was regulated by the religious texts. Colonialism prepared the ground to ‘break asunder’ these relations.  It was under this regime that India encountered Modernity for the first time, albeit the attempts to curb/limit its spread in very many ways.

The differential experience of the change in rule vis-a-vis Brahmins and the rest could be easily understood. And it was not for nothing that Phule ‘welcomed’ the defeat of the Peshwas in the war of 1857 (variously described as ‘war of independence’ or ‘sepoy mutiny’ etc) and said that if Britishers would have lost ‘Peshwa rule would have returned’. The issue of millennia old social-cultural oppression and denial of basic civic rights to a large section of people had finally triumphed over the issue of gaining of political rights by ‘outsiders’. For the lowly among the low what was the difference in material as well as social life if you were oppressed under an ‘insider’ called Peshwa which denied them every sort of human right, versus an ‘outsider’ called the British, which for its own reasons granted limited civil rights to them.

As an aside one may note how for the Brahmin elite viewed the end of Peshwa rule (1st January,1818) in the final battle against the British at Koregaon and ushered us into the colonial regime, but how the same event was interpreted entirely differently by the Atishudras. Battle of Koregaon has a deep significance to Mahars and other Dalits in India, who remember it every January 1 as a mark of their triumph against the dehumanising rule of the Peshwas and as the first step in their on-going struggle against caste-based oppression. When Dr Ambedkar was alive he use to visit Koregaon (very near to Pune) yearly on 1st January to remember the heroic role played by dalit soldiers. It is said that on New Year’s Day in 1818, about 500 soldiers of the East India Company’s Bombay Native Infantry regiment led by Colonel FF Staunton waded across the Bhima river and, at Bhima Koregaon, routed a superior force of 25,000 well-equipped soldiers of the Peshwa[vii]Another important point which normally gets missed is how Phule ‘looked’ at nation and nationalism or how he thought about the transfer of power.

If in the worldview of the traditional elite, which was the fulcrum around which nascent emergence of ‘nationalism’ could be traced, it basically meant ‘transfer of power’ in their hands, for Phule

.[‘]nation was a democratic society. The birth of a nation required the growth of a civil society, the celebration of citizenship, and the beginning of the process of empowerment of the marginalised.’[viii]

Phule was wary of the basic postulates of these nascent nationalists who talked of reviving ancient glory or the merits of the classical caste system and envisaged a future which would replicate a social system where everybody will faithfully adhere to their respective caste duty.
In ‘Shetkaryacha Asusd’ (Cultivators Whipcord) he writes :
..If the Brahmans really wish to unite the people of this country and take the nation ahead, then first they must drown their cruel religion, which is customary amongst both the victors ( Brahmans) and the vanquished ( shudras), and they publicly and clearly, must cease using any artifice in their relationship with the shudras, who have been demeaned by that religion, and trample on inequality and the Vedanta opinion, and till a true unity is established, there will be no progress in this country.[ix]

His forthrightness in criticising the Congress and emphasising his radical social agenda was no exception. When Justice Ranade invited him for the plenary session of the Conference of Marathi authors in 1885, he not only expressed his inability but also underlined that he sees no point in participating in such Conferences as they would not benefit downtrodden masses. [x].

All great revolutionaries of yesteryear are judged on the anvil of time.

It is part of the on-going evaluation, summation of work of earlier revolutionaries, movements .

Buddha – the great social revolutionary – and Anand, his very close comrade, popularly known as his disciple, present perhaps one of the earliest examples in written history, when Buddha’s exclusion of women from Viharas became a talking point. It was only because of Anand’s insistence that they were included and we were saved from critical references about the position of women in Buddha’s thinking.

Kabir, the radical Saint, who with his uncompromising attack on religious hypocrisies of his times, still inspires young generations, but it does not overshadow his negative opinion about women.

We very well know how the Jacobins – which formed part of the revolutionary political movement that had been the most famous political club of the French Revolution – were/are strongly criticised for their patriarchal views.

And thus whether we like it or not, neither Phule, nor Marx, not even Bhagat Singh or Ambedkar-  can save themselves from scrutiny by later day followers, critiques.

If the Left movement in the country which has made tremendous sacrifices for the benefit of the people, can be (rightly) criticised for its failure to integrate the social, cultural question in its overall vision of transformation – which has proved to be an important reason for its stagnation, the ambiguity of the later day social revolutionary camp vis-a-vis state power and search for its origins should also be considered part of this ongoing process of review and reflection.

8.  The times in which we are passing through are challenging ones.

Times when unbridled forces of neoliberalism coupled with forces of Communal fascism are playing havoc with the lives of the people.

Times when all such forces who are fighting for equity, democracy, secularism are finding themselves on the defensive.

And in such an ambience Phule’s teachings – his words and actions – the way he looked at challenges in his own times, definitely provide a window of opportunity.

As GPD states, Phule was a ‘system builder’ and he understood the then existing situation in a ‘dwaivarnik’ fashion, a binary in his own words. Is it possible for us to fashion a ‘new binary’ of our times.

Phule’s social- cultural work, – which has been rightly termed as ‘Cultural Revolt in a Colonial Society’ – which anticipates not only the work of the Rightwing – may be the Hindutva or the Islamist types – but the work undertaken during anti-colonial struggles, is another important arena worth emulation.

Interestingly this Phulevian agenda which was later taken forward by Ambedkar and other social revolutionaries has largely been dropped/forgotten by people/formations claiming allegiance to their legacy and it has been swiftly taken over by the right. It has been well documented how forces like RSS/Jamaat-e-Islami or other status quoist or reactionary organisations have been very clear about their ‘exclusivist’ agenda which they tried to bolster through intervention in culture in a strategic manner. 

Phule’s critique of religion and caste and his daring to stand apart and get counted, his approach towards question of gender, his interest in agriculture, education, his proposal to the British government for prohibition, his flair for writing literature – there are many many aspects of his life and struggles which need further study and contemplation and perhaps emulation.

9.   The manner in which the later day social revolutionary movement developed and the way the Left responded then to it has created rather an unusual situation which can be said to be typical to India. Another manifestation of what scholars term as ‘Indian Exceptionalism’.
Instead of a convergence of the Phule-Ambedkarian movement with the Left on the broader agenda of social transformation – which involves attack not only on Capitalism but Brahminism/ Mullahism, Patriarchy and related issues of deprivation and hierarchy – we witness them being posited as being in adversarial relation.

Yes, there was definitely a time during the anti-colonial struggle that a possibility existed that both these streams would come together (e.g. Jawalkar, who was one of the key figures who helped revive Phule’s project of emancipation albeit in a different form, had a very positive opinion about the developments in the then Socialist Russia , even Ambedkar had talked of ‘fighting Brahminism and Capitalism together) but the Left’s intransigence and adamant and mechanical understanding of Marxism became a stumbling block in the path of emergence of a broader alliance.

And looking at the hiatus which has developed between both the streams, the ruling classes have also tried to widen the chasm, so what we witness is a section of those claiming to be carrying forward the legacy of Phule-Ambedkar getting cosy with formations, forces which are essentially communal, Brahminical and have no qualms in keeping themselves aloof from any alliance with various streams of the left.

This growing chasm needs to be bridged if the radical agenda of social revolutionary movement has to reach its fruition and the Left has to fight its growing irrelevance and marginalisation in the Indian polity.

The situation as it exists before us today is such that neither the stream(s) owning allegiance to Marx seem to be on the ascendance nor those formations who are keen to take forward the agenda of social revolutionaries are gaining new grounds and the combined onslaught of neoliberalism and communal fascism – which is inimical to voices of democracy, secularism, equity, harmony – has created new grounds for their coming together.

As mentioned in the beginning young Marx – who with his Communist Manifesto (1848) – became a voice of the exploited and the oppressed the world over- died in 1883 whereas Young Jyotiba – who started with the first public intervention by opening a school for Shudra-Atishudra girls way back in 1848 – died in 1890.

Today, more than 125 years after their demise, when a real possibility exists for the coming together of both these streams, the question arises of whether they will be able to take the benefit of it or not ?

(Revised and expanded presentation made at a two day National Seminar on ‘Reading Jotirao Phule : In and For Our Times’, 11-12 December 2015, Phule-Ambedkar Chair, University of Mumbai)
 
Notes :
Brief Chronology of Phule’s life
1827 – Born in Pune
1834-38 Primary Education
1840 – Marriage to Savitribai
1841-47 – Secondary Education
1848 – established first

The post Remembering Jyotiba Phule, on His 189th Birth Anniversary, April 11 appeared first on SabrangIndia.

Nationwide protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), National Population Register (NPR), National Register of Citizens (NRC) and Transgender Persons (Rights) Act 2019 have been planned on January 3, 2020 by the women and queer community of India on the 189^th birth anniversary of the 19th century social reformer and educator Savitribai Phule, Latestly.com reported.

https://twitter.com/DevinaB21/status/1213079858676240384

Huge turnout at the Women, Trans & Queer communities organised March on Savitri Phule’s birthday!!

Spoke of @PinkListIndia’s support and how infuriating+ridiculous it is to ask trans people to show documentation! #NafratKeKhilaafSavitribai #Jan3Rally #SavitribaiPhule @imray1795 pic.twitter.com/n3ytJcOsup

— Devina Buckshee (@DevinaB21) January 3, 2020

Her birth anniversary has been chosen to kick-start the protests for her and her peer Fatima Shaikh’s major role in the upliftment of women and the downtrodden.

More than 100 organizations have joined hands to oppose the CAA-NPR-NRC from January 3 onwards in multiple agitations across the country with the first being planned on Savitribai Phule Jayanti.

https://twitter.com/peekayty/status/1213062833128136704

Tum agar chahte ho mulq ki Khair
Na kisi humwatan ko kaho ghair

– Syeda Hameed, making a very important point in a nazm written by her friend that made its debut today#NafratKeKhilafSavitriBai#Jan3Rally #CAA_NRCProtests pic.twitter.com/pexB1wffCv

— Priyanka (@peekayty) January 3, 2020

Protests by organizations like the All India Democratic Women’s Association (AIDWA), India Network of Sex Workers, Jamia Queer Collective, Hasratein: A Queer Collective, Mahila Nigrani Parishad – Women’s Federation, Pinjra Tod, National Network of Sex Workers, etc have been planned in Mumbai, Kolkata, Delhi, Ranchi, Bangalore and Ahmedabad among many other cities.

https://twitter.com/aviksahaindia/status/1213078997938012160

3rd Jan
Kolkata
Trans-persons, Queer & Women Walked Against Modi-Shah’s nefarious design to divide, bleed, kill and rule India and Indians.
Was privileged to attend the start of the March from Sahid Minar. #NafratKeKhilaafSavitribai #Jan3Rally @_YogendraYadav @SwarajIndiaWb pic.twitter.com/Z1mNCIZulo

— Avik Saha (@aviksahaindia) January 3, 2020

Speaking to reporters, Swaraj India chief Yogendra Yadav said that six national-level protests had been planned in January starting with the first on January 3, the next a ‘Bharat Bandh’ planned by the Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU) on January 8, the third by Left organizations on Youth Day (January 12) and the fourth, fifth and sixth demonstrations on January 17, 26 and 30 respectively.

Social media has been abuzz with the hashtag #NafratKeKhilaafSavitribai and #Jan3Rally. The venue for the Mumbai rally was earlier Chaityabhoomi at Dadar (West), but has now been shifted to Shivaji Park due to last minute withdrawal of police permissions.

https://twitter.com/Labia_LBT/status/1213042025626357760

URGENT. PLEASE NOTE#mumbai#QueersAgainstCAA#NafratKeKhilaafSavitribai#JAN3RALLY pic.twitter.com/uPRfI63qB5

— LABIA – A Queer Feminist LBT Collective (@Labia_LBT) January 3, 2020

Related:

Up in Arms: A look at protests that rocked India in 2019
New Year’s resolution: Defend the Constitution

The post Nationwide protests against CAA-NPR-NRC and Trans Act 2019 commence appeared first on SabrangIndia.

Jyothiba taught her at home and later on the couple began to teach other girls for which they faced stiff opposition from the dominant castes of the Hindu Society because learning was a taboo for women then. The couple began their first school with support from Fatima Sheikh and her brother Usman Sheikh who gave them a place to stay.

Thus the first school for girls was started in their home and Savitri Bai was its first teacher. Apart from teaching she fought against other social evils such as Sati, Child marriages, infanticide, killing widows (Sati) and caste based discrimination.
The home of Jyothiba and Savitri  Bai was not just for learning but also a refuge for rape survivors, sexually exploited widows, unwanted babies born out of wedlock and abandoned and so on.

Savitri Bai Phule is among the pioneers who fought patriarchy and set a trial for other men and women who are continuing their fight against the patriarchal structure that is deeply rooted in our society.

Jyotiba and Savitri Bai together started 18 schools, a care centre for pregnant rape victims called “Balhatya Pratibandhak Griha” which helped the women deliver their children.

She wrote many poems on caste based discrimination asking the people to educate themselves as that is the only way to fight the caste oppression.

She died on 10^th March 1897 after contracting plague from one of the patients she was taking care of in the clinic set up by Yashwant her adopted son.

The India Post has honoured Savitri Bai Phule by releasing a postage stamp in her name on 10^th March 1998, marking her birth centenary.

The University of Pune has been re named to Savitri Bai Phule University in 2015. And Google, the search engine has dedicated their google doodle to her in 2017.

Courtesy: Two Circles
 

The post Remembering anti-caste social reformer Savitri Bai Phule on her birth anniversary appeared first on SabrangIndia.

The post Love Letters like no other. Letters from Savitribai to Jyotiba appeared first on SabrangIndia.