Social Reform Movement in India and Role of Women

Social movement has been defined as an organized effort by a group of people either to bring or resist
change in the society. Women’s movement is an important variant of social movement in the sense that
it aims to bring changes in the institutional arrangements, values, customs and beliefs in the society
that have subjugated women over the years. The women’s movements began as a social reform
movement in the 19th century which focused on women’s issues.

During the British rule the spread of English education and Western liberal ideology among Indians and
spread of Christianity and missionary activities, resulted in a number of movements for social change
and religious reform in the nineteenth century. The broad objectives of these movements were caste
reform, improvement in the status of women, promoting women’s education and an attack on social
practices whose roots lay in social and legal inequalities and religious traditions of different
communities. / The social reform movements tried in the main to achieve two objectives (1)
emancipation of women and extension of equal rights to them and (2) removal of caste rigidities and
in particular the abolition of untouchability.

There were two groups of social reformers, 1) Liberal Reformers and 2) The Revivalists. The former
group on the basis of liberal philosophy put forth their work for the cause of women whereas the latter
group’s work was based on a programme of the revival at the Vedic society in modern India.

The issues of social reform movement related to women were mainly determined by the male social
reformers .In fact, apart from the above divide, the social reform movement can be divided into three
categories: social reform movement by upper caste male reformers; social reform movement by low
caste male reformers, and social reform movement by women reformers.

Raja Ram Mohan Roy was the first Indian to initiate a social reform movement and campaign for the
cause of women. He advocated equality between the two sexes and declared that women were not
inferior to men morally and intellectually. Roy’s attention was drawn towards the inhuman practice of
sati, after female infanticide. Raja Ram Mohan Roy also opposed other evils like early marriage,
polygamy etc. He supported female education and widow and inter-caste marriage. He wanted that
women should have the right of inheritance and property. Roy’s Brahmo Samaj played a significant role
in the reform activities concerning women.

Like Raja Ram Mohan Roy, Ishwara Chandra Vidya Sagar also helped women. He did so by propagating
widow remarriage. He argued in favour of widow remarriage and published his work on “Widow
Remarriage” in 1853. The extensive propaganda by Vidya Sagar and other reformers led the British
government to legislate .In order to improve the condition of minor girls , the age of consent bill was
passed in 1860

R.G Bhandarkar and M.G. Ranade carried out their work of religious reforms in Maharashtra through the
Prarthana Samaj by propagating inter-caste marriages, freedom from priestly domination and
improvement of the lot of women. Both Brahmo Samaj and Prarthana Samaj made forceful efforts to
prove that Hindu religious tradition were not the source of legitimacy for the sorrowful condition of
women in society. Under the influence of the liberal thought of the west the two Samajes strove to
restore to women their dignified status.

Swami Vivekananda, Swami Dayananda Saraswati and Annie Besant were the prominent reformers of
the revivalist group who also worked for the cause of Indian women. This group believed in the revival
of the Vedic society in modern India. Dayanand Saraswati, the founder of Arya Samaj was against child
marriage. He encouraged widow remarriages and also set up several rescue homes and orphanages.
Annie Besant leader of the theosophical movement was also against child marriage and supported
remarriage of child widows. She laid emphasis on the importance of female education, thus adding
strength to the social reform movement.

Jyotirao Phule

Unlike the elite upper caste male social reformers who were mostly either conservative or moderate in
their approach, Jyotirao Phule, representing the depressed section of the society, unraveled the
connection between the subordination of women and caste hierarchy. He openly challenged Brahmin
patriarchy through his radical arguments and social reform initiatives. Phule formed Satyashodhak Samaj
to focus on rights of depressed groups.

Women social reformers like Mataji Maharani Tapaswini ,Parvatibai and others immensely contributed to the cause of
women’s education. But their approach was quite conservative. Thus, efforts of these traditionalist women social reformers for
women’s education were based on the principle that though men and women both have a role to play in betterment of the
society, their roles are different and complementary.

Begum Rokeya

Begum Rokeya Sakhawat became

While Maharani Tapaswini, and Parvatibai took up the task of educating Hindu girls,
a significant figure in educating Muslim girls. Begum Rokeya understood that any radical move on her
part would be damaging to her goal of educating Muslim girls. She made it clear that education would
not divert women from their traditional roles, rather would enable them in performing these roles more
efficiently. Begum Rokeya appears to be a moderate who wanted to educate Muslim girls without
intervening into the practices prevalent in the then Muslim society She realized that it is only education
which could free women from this life of permanent deprivation and would help them in playing their
due role in society.

Savitribai Phule

There were women who blatantly took a radical position and directly objected to the patriarchal
structure of the Indian society. In this connection Savitribai Phule is most important figure of the social
reformer. She is regarded as the mother of Indian Feminism. Savitribai and her husband Jyotiba together
founded one of the early modern Indian girls' school in Poona.She was the first women teacher in India.
She did not confine her efforts only to the cause of education but directly attacked upon the gendered
norms of the Hindu society. She worked to abolish the discrimination and unfair treatment of people
based on caste and gender./ Savitribai Phule posed twin challenge to the caste system and patriarchy.
Ramabai Ranade

Ramabai Ranade wife of Mahadev Ranade, was a pioneer of India’s social reform movement. Her
almost single-minded focus on extending compulsory primary education to all girls . She was one of the
earliest persons in the country to raise the demand for equal political rights for women. These two
aspects are a major factor in liberalising Indian society as a whole, and in dismantling much of the
oppressive structures of the patriarchy . She was the first to promote the welfare and education of
Indian widows. The most significant contribution was the establishment of Seva Sadan, with the aim of
providing women with the training to become nurses.

Mahatma Gandhi

Mahatma Gandhi appeared on the scene in the early 20th century and widely influenced the social
reform movements of the country in respect to women. He did not view the women as subjects to be
targeted by men as needing reforms. Rather, he viewed them as equal partners to men in all areas of life
and also as equal participants in political and social movements. Mahatma Gandhi advocated women’s
empowered position in all areas of life. His reform was for the empowerment of women, for their
becoming self-sufficient and independent beings and not for getting educated just for the sake of it. He
made a large population of Indian women, cutting across the barriers of castes and religions, come out
of the seclusion of their homes and in many cases, the barriers of strict purdah and take active
participation in the cause of his freedom struggle.

An analysis of the reform movements brings out several common features:

1. All the reformers propagated the idea of one God and the basic unity of all religions. Thus, they
tried to bridge the gulf between different religious beliefs.
2. Since they had become associated with religious beliefs, therefore most of the movements of
social reform were of a religious character
3. These social and religious reform movements arose among all communities of the Indian
people. They attacked bigotry, superstition and the hold of the priestly class
4. The humanitarian aspect of these reform movements was expressed in their attack on abolition
of castes and untouchability, Purdah system, sati, child marriage, social inequalities and
illiteracy.
5. By attacking the caste system and untouchability, the reformers helped to unify the people of
India into one nation.
6. The reform movements fostered feelings of self-respect, self-reliance and patriotism among the
Indians.

Criticisms:

The social reform movement did not radically challenge the existing patriarchal structure of society or
question gender relation. They picked up for reform only those issues which the British were pointing
out as evidence of degeneration in the Indian society. There were no attempts to alter the power
structure and the men-women relation in the society
Feminists argue that the reform movements had such a limited view of women's emancipation,
believing that education would make them better housewives and mothers. It had no intention of
bringing about any changes in the status of women, as it was unclear whether the reformers had started
the war to save their women citizens or to preserve their own traditions.