Raja Ram Mohan Roy On Upliftment Of Women: Remembering The Thinker On His Birth Anniversary

Raja Ram Mohan Roy was one of the earliest thinkers and activists in India who thought and propagated on women's upliftment. He talked about the rights of women and proposed the banning of sati as it was and should be considered a crime against women and social evil. Recently, both the central and the government of West Bengal celebrated the 250th birth anniversary of Roy, but separately.

May 22 is the birth anniversary of the great thinker from West Bengal. The Union Minister for Culture G Kishan Reddy called him a great social reformer and visionary while unveiling the statue of him titled Father of Bengal's Renaissance. This took place on Sunday at Salt Lake in Kolkata, West Bengal.

Reddy spoke virtually at the function at Science City which marked the birth anniversary of the man who fought against social practices like Sati which forced women to enter the pyre of their dead husband, mostly involuntarily and burnt to death. Reddy said, "Rammohan Roy was a great social reformer, a thinker, an educator, a journalist, a visionary."

Suggested Reading: A Champion Of Dalit And Women’s Rights, American-Indian Scholar Gail Omvedt Dies

Raja Ram Mohan Roy

Roy is a popular name in every household in West Bengal. Surprisingly, the state government representation in these celebrations of Roy remained absent. But the government led by the Trinamool Congress made a point of celebrating it separately with floral tributes to his statute at his former residence, which is now the Kolkata Police Museum.

On the installation of the statue by the centre, Reddy said that this statute will inspire the present generation of youth. In recent times, the building of statues in the centre has become a tradition. It has also been a political phenomenon of the past as well but is statues of great dignitaries enough? How about following what Roy said a little more seriously?

Roy is often called the Father of Modern India as well as the Father of Bengal's Renaissance. He was a social and religious reformer who vehemently fought against practices like Sati, child marriage and polygamy. He was also the founder of Brahmo Samaj, whose prime focus was to reform the Hindu religion.