Recently, the Ministry of Culture organized the inauguration ceremony of the year-long festival in the memory of Raja Ram Mohan Roy on his 250th birth anniversary.
The inaugural ceremony was held at the ‘Raja Ram Mohan Roy Library Foundation’, Salt Lake and Science City Auditorium in Kolkata.
It is a one year festival which will be celebrated till next year (May 22, 2023).
This year also marks the 250th birth anniversary of Raja Ram Mohan Roy and the 50th foundation day of ‘Raja Ram Mohan Roy Library Foundation’.
The Ministry of Culture has also unveiled an iconic statue of Raja Ram Mohan Roy at the Raja Ram Mohan Roy Library Foundation.
Today Current Affairs
Raja Ram Mohan Roy:
Raja Ram Mohan Roy was the father of modern India’s renaissance and a tireless social reformer who ushered in the era of Enlightenment and liberal reformist modernization in India.
Raja Ram Mohan Roy was born on 22 May 1772 in Radhanagar, Bengal in an orthodox Brahmin family.
Raja Ram Mohan Roy had his early education in Persian and Arabic languages at Patna, where he studied the Qur’an, the works of Sufi mystic poets and Arabic versions of the books of Plato and Aristotle.
He also studied Sanskrit language, Vedas and Upanishads in Banaras.
From 1803 to 1814, he worked as a private dewan for the East India Company under Woodford and Digby.
In the year 1814 he resigned from the job and went to Calcutta to dedicate his life to religious, social and political reforms. Today Current Affairs
In November 1830, he left for England with the aim of counteracting the possible unrest arising out of the banning of the practice of Sati.
Ram Mohan Roy went to England for complaints related to the pension of the Mughal Emperor Akbar II of Delhi, when he was given the title of ‘Raja’ by Akbar II.
In his address, Tagore called Ram Mohan Roy ‘a shining star of Indian history as the inaugurator of the modern era in India’.
Ideology : The Hindu Analysis
Ram Mohan Roy was greatly influenced by western modern thought and emphasized on rationalism and modern scientific approach.
The immediate problem of Ram Mohan Roy was the religious and social decline of his native Bengal.
He believed that religious orthodoxy damages the social life and instead of improving the condition of the society, disturbs the people further.
Raja Ram Mohan Roy believed that social and political modernization consists only in the purview of religious reform.
Ram Mohan Roy believed that every sinner should atone for his sins and this atonement should be done through self-purification and repentance, and not through pomp and rituals.
He believed in the social equality of all human beings and thus was a strong opponent of the caste system.
Ram Mohan Roy was attracted to Islamic monotheism. He said that monotheism is also the core message of Vedanta.
He considered monotheism as a corrective step towards the polytheism of Hinduism and Christianity. He believed that monotheism supported a universal model for humanity.
Raja Ram Mohan Roy believed that unless women were freed from inhuman forms like illiteracy, child marriage, Sati system, and Hindu society could not progress.
He portrayed the practice of Sati as a violation of every human and social sentiment and as a symptom of the moral degradation of a caste.
Contribution:
Religious Reforms : The Hindu Analysis
Raja Ram Mohan Roy’s first publication Tuhfat-ul-Muwahideen (A Gift to the Gods) came out in the year 1803, which exposed the irrational religious beliefs and corrupt practices of the Hindus.
In the year 1814, he founded the Atmiya Sabha in Calcutta to oppose idol worship, caste rigidity, meaningless rituals and other social evils. Today Current Affairs
He criticized the rituals of Christianity and dismissed Jesus as the incarnation of God. In Prispts of Jesus (1820), he tried to separate the moral and philosophical message of New Testament which was given through wondrous stories.
Social reforms : The Hindu Analysis
Raja Ram Mohan Roy conceived of reformist religious associations as instruments of social and political change.
He founded the Atmiya Sabha in the year 1815, the Calcutta Unitarian Association in the year 1821 and the Brahmo Sabha (which later became the Brahmo Samaj) in the year 1828.
He campaigned against the caste system, untouchability, superstition and drug use.
He was known for his pioneering views and actions on women’s freedom and especially the abolition of sati and widow remarriage.
He opposed child marriage, illiteracy of women and degrading condition of widows and demanded the right of inheritance and property for women.
Educational Reforms : The Hindu Analysis
Ram Mohan Roy made a lot of efforts to spread modern education among the countrymen. He supported David Heyer’s efforts to found a Hindu College in 1817, while Roy’s English school taught mechanics and Voltaire’s philosophy.
In the year 1825, he founded the Vedanta College where both Indian teaching and Western social and physical science courses were taught.
Economic and Political Reforms:
Civil liberty : The Hindu Analysis
Ram Mohan Roy was deeply impressed by and admired the civil liberties given to the people by the British system of constitutional government. He wanted to pass on the benefits of that system of government to the Indian people.
Press Freedom : The Hindu Analysis
Through the writings and other activities, they supported the movement for independent press in India.
In the year 1819, the press censorship was released by Lord Hastings, Ram Mohan Roy has three magazines – Brahminist magazine (year 1821); Bengali Weekly – Dialogue Koumudi (Year 1821) and Persian Weekly – Mirat-ul-Akbar published.
Taxation Reforms : The Hindu Analysis
Ram Mohan Roy condemned the oppressive practices of the Bengali zamindars and demanded fixation of minimum rent. He also demanded tax-free land and abolition of taxes.
He called for reduction in export duties on Indian goods abroad and the abolition of trading rights of the East India Company.
Administrative Reforms : The Hindu Analysis
He demanded Indianisation of better services and separation of the executive from the judiciary. He demanded equality between Indians and Europeans.
In this article we mention all information about Raja Ram Mohan Roy Today Current Affairs.
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