Question

Find out about some of the social reformers mentioned below? What issues did they fight for? How did they conduct their campaign? Was there any opposition?

• Viresalingam
• Pandita Ramabai
• Vidyasagar
• Dayanand Saraswati
• Jyotiba Phule
• Sri Narayan Guru
• Sir Syed Ahmed Khan
• Any other

Answer 1

The social reformers mentioned, including Vidyasagar, Phule, Viresalingam, and Pandita Ramabai, primarily fought against caste oppression, untouchability, and the mistreatment of women, specifically advocating for widow remarriage and female education. They conducted their campaigns by publishing progressive journals, establishing modern schools, and using legal advocacy to pressure the colonial government into passing reform laws. However, they faced fierce opposition from orthodox religious groups, who subjected them to social boycotts, public harassment, and intense cultural backlash for challenging traditional scriptural authority.

Reformer	Core Issues Fought For	Campaign Method	Nature of Opposition
K. Viresalingam	Widow remarriage, women’s liberation	Published Viveka Vardhani, organized marriages	Public harassment and orthodox backlash
Pandita Ramabai	Oppression of upper-caste widows	Built shelters (Sharada Sadan), writing	Severe criticism from conservative nationalists
I.C. Vidyasagar	Widow remarriage, girls’ education	Scriptural analysis, legal petitioning	Social boycotts by orthodox pundits
Dayanand Saraswati	Caste rigidity, idol worship	Founded Arya Samaj, set up DAV schools	Rejection by traditional priestly classes
Jyotiba Phule	Caste tyranny, untouchability	Founded schools, wrote Gulamgiri	Expelled from home by traditionalists
Sri Narayana Guru	Caste discrimination in Kerala	Built temples open to all, popularized slogans	Backlash from dominant upper-caste groups
Sir Syed Ahmed Khan	Educational backwardness among Muslims	Founded AMU, translated scientific journals	Fatwas issued by conservative clergy