Jyotiba Phule

News:The Vice President of India has paid homage to Jyotiba Phule on the occasion of Phule’s Jayanti.

Facts:

• Mahatma Jyotirao Govindrao Phule also known as Jyotiba Phule was an Indian social activist, thinker, anti-caste social reformer and writer from Maharashtra.

Contributions:

• Female Education:Jyotiba Phule and his wife, Savitribai Phule were pioneers of women education in India as they started the first school for girls in 1848 in Pune.
• Satyashodhak Samaj (Truth Seekers Society):It was founded in 1873 with the main aim of a) Social Service and b) to give education to the lower castes and make them aware of the exploiting tradition of society.
• Dalit word:He introduced the Marathi word dalit (broken, crushed) as a descriptor for those people who were outside the traditional varna system.The terminology was later popularised in the 1970s by the Dalit Panthers.
• Published works: a) Tritiya Ratna b) Gulamgiri c) Manav Mahammand (Muhammad) among others.

Additional Facts:

Deenbandhu:It was a weekly Marathi-language newspaper founded by Krishnarao Pandurang Bhalekar in 1877 which served as an outlet for Jyotirao Phule’s Satyashodhak Samaj.