SAVITRIBAI
PHULE - MODERN HISTORY
News:
Girls' School Once Run by
JYOTIBA PHULE, Savitribai Razed for New Memorial
What's
in the news?
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A month after court orders, the Pune
Municipal Corporation in the early hours razed the dilapidated structure of
Bhide Wada, where social reformer Mahatma Jyotiba Phule and his wife Savitribai
Phule started the first school for girls in 1848.
Savitribai
Phule:
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A pioneer who challenged oppressive social norms in her quest for women’s education,
equality and justice, Savitribai Phule is formally recognised as India’s
first woman teacher.
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A Dalit
woman from the Mali community, Savitribai was born on January 3, 1831, at
Naigaon in Satara District, Maharashtra.
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In 1840, at the tender age of 9, she was married to Jyotirao (also known as Mahatma
Jyotiba Phule one of the leading social reformers and anti-caste activists of
India) is said to have educated her at home and later on admitted her to a teacher’s training institution in Pune.
Establishment
Of India’s First Girls School:
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At a time when education was limited
mostly to the upper-class, affluent men and women were not deemed eligible for
going to school, the Phules established
a girl’s school in Bhidewada, Pune, in 1948.
Phule’s
role as a social reformer:
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In 1852, she established a women’s rights advocacy organisation,
Mahila Seva Mandal.
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In 1860, the Phule’s organised a barber’s strike against shaving the
hair of widowed women.
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Along with Jyotirao, Savitribai started
the Balhatya Pratibandhak Griha (‘Home
for the Prevention of Infanticide’) for pregnant widows facing discrimination.
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Savitribai Phule also advocated inter-caste marriages, widow remarriage and
eradication of child marriage, sati and dowry systems, among other social
issues.
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In 1873, the Phules set up the Satyashodhak Samaj (‘Truth-seekers’
society’), a platform open to all, irrespective of their caste, religion or
class hierarchies, with the sole aim of bringing social equity.
Literary
works:
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Savitribai Phule published her first
collection of poems, called Kavya Phule
(‘Poetry’s Blossoms’), at the age of 23 in 1854.
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She published Bavan Kashi Subodh Ratnakar (‘The Ocean of Pure Gems’), in 1892.