Jyotiba Phule Jayanti: Know about the pathbreaking anti-caste social reformer
Jyotirao Phule is a national icon who had dedicated his life towards the upliftment of the oppressed.
"There cannot be a ‘nation’ worth the name until and unless all the people of the land of King Bali, such as the Shudras and Ati-Shudras, Bhils and fishermen etc. become truly educated and are able to think independently for themselves and are uniformly unified and emotionally integrated" - Mahatma Jyotirao Phule
The 11th of April each year is commemorated as the birth anniversary of one of India’s foremost social reformers, educators and thinkers, Mahatma Jyotiba Phule. In 2023, Indians will celebrate the 196th birth anniversary of Jyotirao Govindrao Phule.
A social reformer, anti-caste activist, thinker and writer, Jyotiba Phule was born on April 11, 1827. The national icon dedicated his life towards education and upliftment of oppressed, eradication of untouchability and the caste system. In the 1880s, he used the Marathi word 'Dalit' to refer to untouchables and outcasts oppressed by the society.
Along with his followers, Jyotiba Phule founded the ‘Society of Truth Seekers’ or ‘Satyashodhak Samaj’. The society’s mission was to achieve equal rights for persons from exploited castes. Jyotiba Phule also raised his voice against issues like female infanticide.
Jyotiba Phule was also one of the pioneers of women’s education in India along with his wife Savitribai Phule. They founded the first school for women in India in Pune 173 years ago. He also launched a big campaign to overcome a water crisis at the time.
The ‘Society of Truth Seekers’ opened its doors to persons from across different castes and religions to join hands for the empowerment of the oppressed. He was one of the most important figures in the social reform movement in Maharashtra and on a larger scale across India. Social activist Vithalrao Krishnaji Vandekar bestowed the honorific title of Mahatma on Jyotiba Phule in 1888. Mahatma Jyotiba Phule passed away in November 1890 in Pune.
*See Collected Works of Mahatma Jotirao Phule, Volume II: Selections, translated by P.G. Patil (Bombay: Government of Maharashtra, 1991), pp. 25–26, 29.