Consider the following statements:1. He started a movement in support ...
- Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar (1820-1891) was one of the pillars of Bengal renaissance who managed to continue the social reforms movement that was started by Raja Rammohan Roy in the early 1800s. He was a great scholar and reformer, his ideas were a happy blend of Indian and Western thought.
- In 1841, at the age of twenty-one, Ishwar Chandra joined Fort William College as the Head Pandit in the Sanskrit department. The brilliant mind that he was, he soon became proficient in English and Hindi. After five years, in 1846, Vidyasagar left Fort William College and joined Sanskrit College as 'Assistant Secretary'.
- He was determined to break the priestly monopoly of scriptural knowledge, and for this, he opened the Sanskrit College to non-brahmins. He introduced Western thought in Sanskrit College to break the self-imposed isolation of Sanskritic learning.
- Vidyasagar started a movement in support of widow remarriage which resulted in the legalization of widow remarriage. He was also a crusader against child marriage and polygamy. He did much for the cause of women’s education. As government inspector of schools, he helped organize thirty-five girls’ schools many of which he ran at his own expense. As secretary of Bethune School (established in 1849), he was one of the pioneers of higher education for women in India.
- He wrote books ‘Upakramonika’ and ‘Byakaran Koumudi’, interpreting complex notions of Sanskrit grammar in easy legibleBengali language.
- He disseminated his ideals through regular articles he wrote for periodicals and newspapers. He was associated with prestigious journalistic publications like ‘Tattwabodhini Patrika’,‘Somprakash’, ‘Sarbashubhankari Patrika’ and ‘Hindu Patriot’.
- He challenged the Brahminical authorities and proved that widow remarriage is sanctioned by Vedic scriptures. He took his arguments to the British Authorities and his pleas were heard when the Hindu Widows Remarriage Act, 1856 or Act XV, 1856, was decreed on July 26, 1856. o He did not just stop there. He initiated several matches for the child or adolescent widows within respectable families and even married his son Narayan Chandra to an adolescent widow in 1870 to set an example.
- Hence, option (a) is the correct answer.
Consider the following statements:1. He started a movement in support ...
He started a movement in support of widow remarriage which resulted in the legalisation of widow remarriage.
- The individual being described in this statement is Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar.
- Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar was a key figure in the Bengal Renaissance and played a major role in advocating for social reforms, especially in the areas of women's rights and education.
- He led a movement in support of widow remarriage, which was a controversial issue in traditional Indian society at that time.
- His efforts eventually led to the Widow Remarriage Act of 1856, which legalized widow remarriage in India.
- This act was a significant step towards improving the status and rights of widows in society.
He was also a crusader against child marriage and polygamy.
- In addition to his work on widow remarriage, Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar was also a vocal critic of child marriage and polygamy.
- He believed that these practices were harmful to women and children and worked towards their abolition.
- His advocacy against child marriage and polygamy contributed to the social reform movements of the time and helped raise awareness about the negative impact of these practices on society.
He was associated as Secretary with Hindu female school which later came to be known as Bethune Female School.
- Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar served as the Secretary of the Hindu Female School, which was later renamed as Bethune Female School in honor of John Elliot Drinkwater Bethune.
- He played a significant role in the establishment and development of the school, which aimed to provide education to girls from all sections of society.
- Vidyasagar's efforts in promoting female education were pioneering at a time when education for girls was not widely supported in India.
- The Bethune Female School became a leading institution for girls' education in Kolkata and continues to be a symbol of Vidyasagar's commitment to women's empowerment through education.
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