‘Why has India's feminist movement not spoken on Savitribai Phule as yet?': Kancha Ilaiah

The Hindu

26-04-2025

Raising questions on the BJP's efforts to renegotiate with the ideologies of Mahatma Jyotiba Phule and Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar, Dalit rights activist Kancha Ilaiah said that the government's perceived tacit support to the recent Central Board of Film Certification's (CBFC) action against 'Phule' movie will hurt the OBCs, which the ruling party cannot afford.
He also raised questions on India's feminist movement for not taking a public stance against the objections taken about the portrayal of Savitribai Phule.
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'Here is a woman leader, a woman social reformer who had no parallel in India. I'm still waiting for the entire feminist response to Savitribai's portrayal. After the controversy over the film, I have not seen large feminist groups talk about it,' he said. He was speaking to The Hindu in an exclusive interview on the background of the recent release of 'Phule', the biopic on Mahatma Jyotiba Phule and Savitribai Phule.
'Mahatma Jyotiba Phule and Savitribai Phule did not just work for the education of the Dalit and Brahmin women, contributing to the social reform movement, but they changed the socio-political and economic ideas of India,' he said, adding that the couple was revolutionary in many ways, in their personal as well as social lives; and that Mahatma Phule's contribution was to start the discourse on labour, agriculture and farmers through his writings in 19th century India.
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'Mahatma Phule started first Dalit school and dug a well where the Dalits were invited to draw water, which was a revolution at that time. Now, this is the man who actually started talking about the farmers and the labour and the agriculture. In India, there was a school called agriculturalism before the Vedic philosophy came in. It spoke of the relationship between the seed and land, seed and water, seed and crop and the human beings. This was a philosophical domain. And Buddha tried to negotiate with that philosophy. But later on, the different schools of thought that emerged, the Sankhya school, the Vedic and Vedantic schools, they completely removed the agrarian philosophical school from any engagement. He brought it back,' Mr Ilaiah said.
Speaking about the social situation in the 19th century, he said, 'When Phule was born in the 19th century, there were no rights for the Shudras and Dalits, including the Patels in Gujarat, the Reddys, the Khammas in Telugu States, the Lingayats and Vokaligas in Karnataka. In fact, his own stature was higher in the society, but when he had gone for a friend's marriage, he was thrown out and was told that Shudras cannot participate in a Brahmin marriage or walk in the procession. He was also beaten up.' He added that despite a higher social status at that time, Mahatma Phule lived in Dalit settlement and started a school for the Dalits.
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'BJP wants to use OBCs for their votes'
Mr. Ilaiah said that after coming to power, the BJP and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) have been trying to renegotiate with the ideologies of Mahatma Jyotiba Phule and Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar. 'I am in a way was surprised after the BJP came to power with Narendra Modi as an OBC Prime Minister, even the RSS, BJP started renegotiating with Phule and Ambedkar and Savitri Bai in certain ways. And because of that renegotiation, they started celebrating Ambedkar Jayanti, etc.' He also said that the ruling party cannot afford to upset the OBCs. 'They want to use OBCs only for votes. And when it comes to their history, they have problems with it. Phule absolutely, 100%, represents the Marathas, all Shudra , Reddys, Khammas,' he said.
He also slammed the government for not having any OBC or Dalit representatives in CBFC, the film certification body.