Those were the times when women did not get education, they were married early to old men, and then prohibited from remarriage when left alone. Without educational and financial support, they were completely dependent on the men. Religion ruled the society to the point where superstitions were followed as laws. And except for the landed and the rich men, it was indeed a dark time for the rest of people in the society.
And amidst this rancour, standing alone and tall, was Raja Rammohan Roy. He rejected the accepted notions as irrational. He believed that only rationality should define behaviour. He even went against his own family to follow his ideals.
Raja Rammohan Roy is rightly called the Maker of Modern India, as whatever is modern about our society now, can be traced to his initial efforts. He studied languages to prove that the religious texts do not ask for suppressing the women and the poor. He learnt many languages for this reason, going to Varanasi for Sanskrit, and to Patna to learn Persia to decipher Quran himself. He even learnt Hebrew to study the Bible.
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Armed with his knowledge and belief in rationality, he proved that there is only One God, and different religions are just interpretations of the Universal Truth. He also applied reason to show that suppressing women was unnecessary.
Raja Rammohan Roy himself married a widow to set an example by fighting the social evils of gender discrimination. While we chant the newer mantras of #MeToo now, he spoke about feminism even before the concept was born. It was with his agitation, that Sati was made a criminal offence in India by the British. He visited the ghats of Kolkata to persuade families against Sati.
He started the Brahmo Samaj in 1829 to discuss such issues and convince people of monotheism, rationality and human dignity over religious rules.
Even in the field of education, he pioneered many changes that reflect the imprints of modernity in our institutions even today. He started the Hindu College, where modern subjects like science and philosophy were taught, and not only religious subjects.
He was the first to remind Indians of nationalism and India’s place in the international brotherhood. Any modern issue that we face today, was raised by Raja Rammohan Roy, when the society trudged on in the slime of irrationality and blind faith.
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