Jyotirao Phule 196th Birth Anniversary: Looking at the legacy of the Anti-Caste Activist
Jyotirao Phule 196th Birth Anniversary: Looking at the legacy of the Anti-Caste Activist
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Jyotirao Phule was born on Born on 11th April 1827. He was an anti-caste reformer and social thinker and a prolific writer from Maharashtra. He was born in Satara district of Maharashtra. He was a leader of the movement, against controlling cast-restrictions in India. 

Jyotirao Phule  protested against the power of Brahmins, upper castes and fought for the rights of workers and low-caste people. He was married to Savitribai Phule at the age of 13 years. Also known as Mahatma Phule, he along with his wife were pathfinders of women education in India. They were among the first native Indians to open a school for girls in India on 1st January 1848.

Phule was born into a family that belonged to Mali caste. His family belonged to the shudra varna according to the caste system in Hindu religion. Phule was an intelligent boy but due to the poor financial condition at home, he had to stop his studies at an early age. He started helping his father by working on the family's farm. In 1841, Jyotirao got admission in the Scottish Mission's High School, Pune, and completed his education in 1847. There, he met Sadashiv Ballal Govande, a Brahmin, who remained his close friend throughout his life.

In 1848, Jyotirao faced prejudice at his Brahmin friend’s wedding. This incident sparked off Jyotiba’s quest against the social injustice of caste discrimination and incited a social revolution in the Indian society. He worked tirelessly at the helms of social majoritarian domination and aimed at liberation of all human beings.

On September 24, 1873, Jyotiba Phule formed the 'Satya Shodhak Samaj'. He undertook a systematic deconstruction of existing beliefs and history. He worked hard to reconstruct beliefs to promote equality. Jyotirao condemned the Vedas and used to consider Britishers as an enlightened community.

Phule also had written a number of literary articles and books and most were based on his ideology of social reforms like the ‘Shetkarayacha Aasud’. He also wrote some stories like ‘Tritiya Ratna’, ‘Brahmananche Kasab’, ‘Ishara’. He wrote dramas like ‘Satsar’ Ank 1 and 2, to spread awareness against social injustice. Mahatma Phule was also a businessman. He owned 60 acres of farmland at Manjiri, near Pune. Phule was also appointed a commissioner to the then Poona municipality in 1876 and served in this unelected position until 1883. Jyotiba suffered a stroke in 1888 and was rendered paralyzed. On 28 November 1890, Mahatma Jyotirao Phule went to the eternal abode.

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