For An Informed Ambedkar Age
Prof. Hari Narke (This is the first part of his essay ‘Dnyanajyoti Savitribai Phule’, published in the NCERT booklet on the ‘Savitribai Phule First Memorial Lecture’ in 2008) “More than Jotirao, his wife deserves praise. No matter how much we praise her, it would not be enough. How can one describe her stature? She cooperated …
Braj Ranjan Mani Jotirao Phule, and his wife Savitribai, declared war on brahmanic-casteist culture and religion. This Maharashtrian couple presented the first major anti-caste ideology and led a mass activism against the ascriptive norms and values. Their distinct brand of socio-cultural radicalism was based on uniting all the oppressed, whom they would call stree-shudra-atishudra. (Literally, …