SOCIAL REFORMERS AND SOCIO-RELIGIOUS REFORM MOVEMENTS
Muslim Reform Movements:
The Muslim reform movements started a little later because they had avoided western education in the beginning.
The first effort was in 1863 when the Muhammad Literary Society was set up in Calcutta. Its aim was to popularise the study of English and western sciences.
Aligarh Movement:
The Aligarh Movement was started by Sir Syed Ahmad Khan (1817-98) for the social and educational advancement of the Muslims in India.
In 1866, he started the Mohammadan Educational Conference as a general forum for spreading liberal ideas among the Muslims.
In 1875, he founded a modern school at Aligarh to promote English education among the Muslims, later grown into the Mohammadan Anglo Oriental College and then into the Aligarh Muslim University.
Ahmadiya Movement:
The Ahmadiya movement was launched by Mirza Ghulam Ahmad of Qadiyan (1839-1908) in 1889.
Objective of this movement is to spread western education among Indian Muslims.
The Ahmadiya movement based itself, like the Brahmo Samaj, on the principles of a universal religion of all humanity.
Deoband Movement:
The orthodox section among the Muslim ulema organised the Deoband Moovement.
It's objectives were:
(i) to propagate among the Muslims the pure teachings of the Koran and the Hadis and
(ii) to keep alive the spirit of jihad aganist the foreign rulers.
The new Deoband leader Mahmud-ul-Hasan (1851-1920) sought to impart a political and intellectual content to the religious ideas of the school.
Self-Respect Movement and Periyar E.V.R.:
Erode Venkatappa Ramasamy commonly known as Periyar, also referred to as Thanthai Periyar, was an Indian social activist, and politician who started the Self-Respect Movement and Dravidar Kazhagam.
E.V.R. opposed the Varnashrama policy followed in the V.V.S. Iyer’s Seranmadevi Gurugulam.
During 1920-1925 being in the Congrees Party he stressed that Congress should accept communal representation.
In 1925, he started the “Self-Respect Movement”.
The aims of the ‘Self -Respect Movement’ were to uplift the Dravidians and to expose the Brahmanical tyranny and deceptive methods by which they controlled all spheres of Hindu life.
Sikh Reform Movement:
Baba Dayal Das founded the Nirankari Movement. He insisted the worship of God as nirankar (formless).
The Namdhari Movement was founded by Baba Ram Singh. His followers wore white clothes and gave up meat eating.
They helped to set up the Khalsa College at Amritsar in 1892.They also encouraged Gurmukhi and Punjabi literature.
In 1920, the Akalis started a movement to remove the corrupt Mahants (priests) from the Sikh gurudwaras.Later, the Akalis organised themselves into a political party.
Parsi Reform Movement:
The Parsi Religious Reform Association was founded at Bombay by Furdunji Naoroji and S.S. Bengalee in 1851.
They advocated the spread of women’s education.
Naoroji published a monthly journal 'Jagat Mithra'.
