CBSE Class 8 Social Science Women Caste and Reform Notes

CBSE Class 8 Social Science Socio Religous Reforms Movements Notes. Learning the important concepts is very important for every student to get better marks in examinations. The concepts should be clear which will help in faster learning. The attached concepts made as per NCERT and CBSE pattern will help the student to understand the chapter and score better marks in the examinations.

Women Caste and Reform

INTRODUCTION

*Social inequqlities have prevailed throughout the world, and the struggle against these inequqlities has also been a feature of history. Indian society suffered from certain social evils and the more prominent among these evils were related to women and the caste system. Between the two forms of inequalities, gender based inequality has been most common. With the dawn of the modern age, the attempts to eradicate inequalities acquired momentum. Many reformers emerged in almost each and every part of India and took up the cause of women, the downtrodden and the untouchables in particular. They struggled to bring about a change in the attitude of the people and in the policies of the government. They adopted political, educational and economic means. The reformers of the 19th century set the pace which is still going on.

SOCIO-CULTURAL AWAKENING

Causes :

*Conditions favouring intellectual growth and awakening grew from the political, economic, social and cultural impact of British domination and repression.

*Researches into India's past by Europeans as well as Indian scholars like Max Muller, Sir William Jones, Raja Rammohan Roy, Radhakanta Deva, Bhagwan Lal Indraji, RG. Bhandarkar, and M.G. Ranade led to its reinterpretation. What ensued was a cultural and spiritual rediscovery of India.

* Creative literature by scholars and writers such as Bankim Chandra, Keshav Chandra Sen, Madhusudan Dutt who combined the literary traditions of the past and the modern cultural developments awakened minds.

*The Christian missionaries often denounced the customs and beliefs of Hinduism. Indian intellectuals thus realised the need for socio-religious reform to purge the Indian society of its ills.

Nature :

The early reform movements laid emphasis on both social and religious transformation of society. The reason is not hard to seek. Social customs and traditions of India are generally closely linked to religious injunctions, arising from religious beliefs and traditions in many cases. Indian reformers understood this close interaction between the social and religious spheres of thoughts and activity. The 18th and 19th century reform movements display some major trends. Some of the reformers were of the view that reforms should be initiated from within the society. Among them were Rammohan Roy and Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar . Some others believed in legislative intervention-that is, only state-supported reform movements could prove effective. With this concern in mind, the activities were undertaken by men like Keshab Chandra Sen, M.G.Ranade and others. The Young Bengal Movement represented reform initiated through symbols of transformation. It represented aradical trend in reform activity, without relying upon the cultural traditions of India for reform. Reform through social work was undertaken by many social reformers including Dayanand Saraswati and Swami Vivekananda.

SOCIAL REFORM MOVEMENTS

The Brahmo Samaj :

1. Raja Rammohan Roy was called as the 'father of Modern India'.

2. He condemned idolatry and polytheism in religion. In 1809, he wrote Tuhfat-i-Muwahidin (Gift to Monotheists) .

3. In 1814, he founded the Aatmiya Sabha which became the Brahmo Samaj in 1828.

4. The Brahmo Samaj was founded on the principle of reason as found in the Vedas and Upanishads. It emphasised monotheism. Stressing on love for mankind and service to men. It opposed, ritual, superstition, sati and the caste system.5. Raja Ram Mohan Roy was the champion of women's rights and always protected them. He advocated widow remarriage and education for women. It was largely due to his efforts that sati was declared a punishable offence when William Bentinck passed an Act against the same in December 1829.

6. Raja Rammohan established the Hindu college in Calcutta in 1817. He pleaded for an English-medium education system in India teaching western sciences and philosophies.

7. The Vedanta College formed in 1825, offered Indian as well as western learning. To initiate public opinion on political questions, he brought out the Samvad Kaumadi (1821), the first Indian newspaper managed and published by Indians, and a· Persian weekly, Miratul-Akbar.

Ramakrishna and Vivekananda :

* Ramakrishna Paramhansa (1834-86), was a simple rustic saint of Dakshineshwar in rural Bengal in the 19th century. He denounced the scriptures, rituals and priestly domination and emphasised on renunciation, meditation and bhakti, for salvation.

* Narendranath Dutta (1863-1902) his disciple, also known as Swami Vivekananda, popularised the saint's message and made it more socially relevant.

* Vivekananda's portrayal of Hinduism in his speech at the World Parliament of Religions in Chicago in 1893, astounded the audience. The Hinduism preached by Vivekananda was called 'Neo-Hinduism'.

* In 1897, two centres were opened at Belur, near Calcutta, and Mayavati, near Almora, which became the focal points of his Ramakrishna Mission. The Mission worked to help the poor. To improve the social conditions for women, he reformed the education system and fought against the caste system and superstition.

*Vivekananda urged the youth of India to take inspiration from the Vedanta. His birth day is celebrated as Youth Day on 12th January.

Young Bengal Movement:

*Henry William Dorezio led The Young Bengal Movement on the basis of freedom, equality and truth. The followers of this cult were patriots. They advocated female education, equality of mankind, changes in the Charter of East India Company, justice to Indian wage-earners and to stop the exploitation of Indian peasants.

Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar (1820 - 91) :

* A well-known and active social reformer of the 19th century. He was a Sanskrit scholar. He struggled for securing women and their rights. He opposed caste evils and priestly domination in Hindu Society.

*In 1850, he protested against child marriage. In 1856, in Calcutta, he supervised the first lawful widow remarriage.

Keshab Chandra Sen (1838 - 84) :

* Keshab Chandra Sen was a great intellectual and a famous social reformer of the 19th century Bengal. He joined the Brahmo Samaj in 1857 as he was attracted to the Samaj's philosophies and activities.

*Women's education was one of his greatest concerns. The passing of Native Marriage Act of 1872, was the culmination of all his reform activities.

Begum Rokeya was a Women Reformer :-

*Begam Rokeya was born in 1880 in a village of Pairaband in the Bengal Presidency. In 1905 she wrote a short story Sultan's Dream. She also founded the Bengali Muslim Women's Association and was active in debates and conferences regarding the status of women and education until her death in 1932. Today in Bangladesh, December 9, (her death anniversary) is celebrated as Rokeya Day.

The Prarthana Samaj :

* Founded in 1867, the Samaj had Mahadeo Govind Ranade as its chief mentor. Its prominent leaders included Dr. Atmaram Pandarung and R. G. Bhandarkar. Its main concerns was reform of society. These were promoted through emphasis on monotheism, upliftment of women, abolition of caste discrimination and religious orthodox.

They also supported :

* Rational worship.

* Encouragement to widow remarriage

* Discarded child marriage

* Discarded untouchability and train the labour class.

Dayanand Saraswati and The Arya Samaj :

* In 1875 a major social reform movement, Arya Samaj, was begun under the aegis of Moolshankar or Swami Dayanand Saraswati.

* Hailing the Vedas as the root of all knowledge Dayanand gave the call of 'Back to the Vedas' to inspire Indians to take pride in their past. He translated the Vedas and wrote the Satyarth Prakash, Veda Bhasya Bhumika and Veda Bhasya .

* It denounced its rites and supremacy of the Brahmins. Idolatry and superstitions were also discouraged. Its social reform programme stood for a varna system based on merit, not birth. He asserted for the rights to women and opposition to child marriage and untouchability.

* For the spread of western education, it established. the Dayanand Anglo-Vedic (DAV) schools.

The Theosophical Society:

* The society' was formed by Madame H.P. Blavatsky and Colonel H.S. Olcott in 1875 who, after their arrival in India in 1886, established its headquarters at Adyar (near Madras).

* The society gained immense ground when Mrs. Annie Besant, came to India in 1893. The aim was to reconstruct India's glorious religious traditions. The society stressed on universal brotherhood of human beings.

* In the field of education, the Central Hindu School was started by Besant in Banaras. It was later developed into the Banaras Hindu University by Madan Mohan Malaviya.
Indian (National) Social Conference:

* The Conference, founded by M.G. Ranade and Raghunath Rao for social reform, had its first session in December 1887.

* Its main focus was on abolition of polygamy and it encouraged intercaste marriages. It began the 'Pledge Movement' to fight against child marriage. The Conference is sometimes referred as the social reform cell of the Indian National Congress.

MUSLIM REFORM MOVEMENTS

The Muslims were not far behind in their socioreligious reform movements. A beginning had been made by the Mohamedian Literary Society, formed in 1863, to debate social, religious and political issues and encourage western education among Muslims.

Syed Ahmed Khan and the Aligarh Movement:

* A man who upheld the power of rational thinking, Sir Syed Ahmed Khan encouraged Muslims to accept the virtues of western education and urged them to apply the principle of enquiry to religion.

* Syed Ahmed Khan believed the Ouran to be the true scripture. His fight against superstition and obscurantism continued throughout his life.

* For a rational and scientific order in society, he founded a scientific society in 1864. He founded the Aligarh School on May 24, 1875. The school was made into the Muhammadan Anglo-Oriental College in 1877. The college grew into the Aligarh Muslim University and this was where Syed Ahmed's movement was centered .

* Though initially a supporter of a Hindu-Muslim alliance, he gradually came round to the view that the goodwill ofthe British was necessary for the Muslims who would otherwise be subjugated by the Hindus. Thus, Aligarh Movement is seen as having sown the seeds of Muslim separatism.

Ahmedia Movement:

* Mirza Ghulam Ahmed began this movement in the city of Kadia in district Gurudaspur of Punjab.

* Mirza was impressed by Western thinking, Theosophical society and reform movements of the Hindus. He advocated the simplification of Islam. The Muslims were advised to reject superstitions and adopt a policy of tolerance towards the non-Muslims.

Mohammed Iqbal :

* He was born in 1820. He was a great reformer. He advocated widow remarriage. In 1856, the government passed a legislation to legalize the Widow Remarriage. He also married a widow himself. He opposed child marriage and polygamy. He favoured female education and opened 25 female schools.

The Deoband Movement :

* In 1866, the Deoband School of Islamic Theology was set up at Deoband by Rashid Ahmad Gangohi and Muhammad Oasim Nanautavi to promote studies in classical Islam and moral and religious regeneration of Muslims.

* The school did not support western education and culture.

* Wahabi and Faraiyazi movements are already discussed.

REFORM AMONG THE SIKHS

* The Sikh religious reform movement began with the founding of the Khalsa College in Amritsar in the 19th century.

* The Gurdwara Reform Movement for liberating the gurdwaras from their corrupt mahants-lurned into the Akali movement.

* The Akalis' contribution bore fruit with the passing of a new Gurdwara Act by the Government in 1922.

CASTE MOVEMENTS

* A major cause for the rise of caste movements was the grievances nurtured by the educated among the low and backward castes. To improve their lot, the Bhakti and Neo Vedantic movements worked by way of embracing the activities of Hindu reform associations.

* Schools for lower castes were started by K. Ranga Rao in the 1890's. The Depressed Classes Mission Society of India was started as an independent set-up by the Prarthana Samaj to provide facilities for education to persons from lower caste .

* The Depressed Classes Mission Society of Madras began functioning in 1909.

* The British rule, on one hand, encouraged movements for the upliftment of castes, both directly and indirectly .

Jyotiba Phule and the Satya Shodhak Samaj :

* Jyotiba Phule, belonging to a low caste Mali family, founded the Satya Shodhak Samaj in 1873 to fight brahminic domination and to liberate low castes by educating them and teaching them their rights. The movement involved a great deal of support 'from the educated urban of the low castes and rural Maratha peasants.

* Jyotiba Phule also started a school for untouchables (1854), and an orphanage for widows. His books Ghulamgiri (1872) and Sarvajanik Satya dharma Pustak questioned the traditional customs and beliefs of society.

Shri Narayana Guru's Contribution :

* Shri Narayana Guru (1855-1928), a socio-religious reformer who represented the aspirations of the untouchable Ezhavas or Iravas of Kerala, was opposed to brahminic or the priestly class domination .

* He worked to secure temple entry rights to the depressed castes as well. In 1888, he began the Aravippuram Movement with the installation of a Shiva idol at Aravippuram.

* He set up the Sri Narayana Dharma Paripalana Yogam (SNDPY) in 1902-03 to fight for temple entry rights to untouchables.

IMPORTANT BHAKTI SAINTS)

Ramanuja, Ramananda, Kabir, Namdeva, Guru Nanak, Vallabhacharya, Chaitanya afld Mira Bai were some of the great reformers of the Bhakti Movement.

* Ramanuja was born in a town near Madras (Chennai). He preached the worship of Vishnu. He won many followers in South India .

* Ramananda was born at Allahabad in a Brahman family. He was the first reformer to preach in Hindi. He preached in the North .. One of his disciples was Kabir.

* Kabir was the most popular reformer of the Bhakti Movement. He was a weaver by profession. He had firm faith in Hindu-Muslim unity and thousands of his disciples came from both these communities. He believed in Nirguna form of Bhakti. He was a famous disciple of Ramananda. His couplets or dohas are still recite9 everywhere in India .

CHALLENGING THE CASTE SYSTEM

ARGUMENTS FOR REFORMS OF CASTE

In the Rigvedic period the society was divided into four 'varnas', i.e., the Kshatriyas, the Brahamans, the Vaishyas and the Shudras to affect a division of labour. But with the passage of time these four 'varnas' developed into many castes and sub-castes. Not only this, the caste-system degenerated and many evils crept into it. It was with the aim of removing these defects that caste reforms were initiated. Some of the major evils which necessitated the reforms within the caste system were the following:

* Cause of Hostility and Jealousy : With the increase in the number of castes and the rigid attitude that the various castes adopted, the Hindu society was soon divided into so many hostile groups with sharp differences. Their differences and mutual jealousies did not allow the Indians to unite even against the foreign invaders. Thus the caste system proved anti-national and very disastrous to the Hindu society.

* Main Cause of Untouchability : The greatest fault of the caste system was that it gave rise to the curse of untouchability. The three upper classes (i.e., the Brahmans, Kshatriyas and the Vaishyas) began to regard themselves somewhat superior to the Sudras, who were nothing more than animals for them. Their very touch was enough to pollute them and their belongings. They began to be regarded as untouchables. The three upper classes refused the entry of the Sudras in the temples, and forbade them to draw water from their wells. In short, almost all human rights were denied to them. Naturally, many Sudras embraced other religions. This practice of untouchability is very harmful and that is why it has been totally banned by the New Constitution of India.

* A Check on Religious Advancement : Because of class pride and rigid caste rules the people belonging to other religions found it difficult to embrace Hinduism. When the status of equality was denied to them they could not easily give up their own faith for the sake of a religion for which they had no attraction. In this way conversion to the Hindu religion was almost completely stopped and a great check was put in the way of its advancement.

* Responsible for Narrow Outlook : The caste system has been to a large extent responsible for the development of a narrow outlook among the Indians, because it does not allow the Indians to mix freely with the foreigners and to go to foreign lands. Thus, for a very long time the Indians remained in a state of stay-at-home and could not go to foreign lands either for trade or for education.

* Against the Feeling of World Brotherhood : The caste system, with all its exclusiveness and rigidity, is also against the feeling of world brotherhood. This institution has now outlived its utility and must be discarded. In this age of science and inventions the Indians cannot live in seclusion.

IDEAS OF PHULE, VEERESALINGAM, NARAYANA GURU, PERIYAR, GANDHI AND AMBEDKER

* Jyotiba Phule (1827-1890)

Jyotiba Phule was the founder of the Satya Shodhak Samaj. It was founded in AD. 1848 in Maharashtra for the upliftment of the oppressed classes. He opened many schools for the education of the girls of the so-called lower classes. He condemned the caste structure and opened the gates of Satya Shodhak Samaj for every one without any distinction of caste and religion. He was against the supremacy of the Brahmans and started the practice of performing the marriage ceremonies without Brahman priests. For his good work for the oppressed classes he was given the name of 'Mahatma'.

WOMEN CASTE AND REFORM

Q1. What was the condition of women in the earlier days?

*Women were married at an early age.

*Women were forced to burn themselves on the funeral pyre of their husbands. Woman who died in this manner, whether willing or otherwise, were called sati” meaning virtuous women.

*Women’s right to property were also restricted.

*Women had virtually no access to education. In many parts of the country people believed that if a woman was educated, she would become a widow.

Q2. Describe the social conditions in the earlier times.

*Brahmans and Kshatriyas considered themselves as “upper castes”.

*Other such as traders and moneylenders (often referred to as Vaishya’s) were placed after them.

*Then came peasants and artisans such as weavers and potters (referred to as shards).

*At the lowest sung were those who labored to keep cities and villages clean or worked at jobs that upper castes considered “polluting”, that is it could lead to the loss of caste status.

*The upper castes also treated many of these groups at the bottom as “untouchable”.

Q3. Describe the contribution of the following towards the upliftment of women.

1. Raja Ram Mohan Roy: -

*He founded a reform association known as the Brahmo Sabha (later known as the Brahmo same) in Calcutta. People such as Ram Mohan Roy are described as reformers because that change was necessary in society, and unjust practices needed to be done away with. They thought that the best way to ensure such changes was by persuading people to give up old practices and adopt a new way of life.

*He wrote about the way woman were forced to bear the burden of domestic work, confined to the home and the kitchen, and not allowed to move out and become educated.

*He tried to show through his writings that the practice of widow burning had no sanction in ancients’ texts. Due to his efforts the evil practice of sati was banned in 1829 by the British.

2. Ishwarchandra Vidyanagar:-

*One of the most famous social reformers.

* Ishwarchandra Vidasagar, used the ancient texts to suggest that widows could remarry. His suggestion was adopted by British officials and a law was passed in 1856 permitting widow remarriage.

* Vidyasagar in Calcutta and many other reformers in Bombay set up schools for girls.

3. Swami Dayanand Saraswati:- He founded the reform association called Arya Samaj, also supported widow remarriage.

4. Jyotiba Phule: - Schools for girls were established by the Arya Samaj in Punjab and Jyotiba Phule in Maharashtra.

5. Mumtaz Ali: -

* Was an Islamic reformer who Reinterpreted verses from the Koran to argue for women’s education.

6. Veersalingam Pantulu: - Formed an association for widow remarriage.

7. Pandita Ramabai:-

* A great scholar of Sanskrit felt that Hinduism was oppressive towards women, and wrote a book about the miserable lives of upper –caste Hindu women.

* She founded a widows’ home at Poona to provide shelter to widows who had been treated badly by their husbands’ relatives.

8. Periyar:-

* Was an outspoken critic of Hindu scriptures, especially the codes of Manu, the ancient lawgiver, and the Bhagavad Gita and the Ramayan.

* He said that these texts had been used to establish the authority of Brahmans over lower castes and the domination of men over women.

Q4. Why in the earlier days most parents were apprehensive of sending their girls to schools?

Ans. Most parents were apprehensive of sending their girls to school because they feared that schools would take girls away from home, prevent them from doing their domestic duties. Moreover, girls had to travel through public places in order to reach school. Many people felt that this would have a corrupting influence on them. They felt that the girls should stay away from public spaces.

Q5. Discuss few examples of educated women and the impact they had on society.

1. Muslim women like the Begums of Bhopal played a notable role in promoting education among women. They founded a primary school for girls at Aligarh.

2. Another remarkable women Begum Rokeya Sakhawat Hossain started schools for Muslim girls in Patna and Calcutta. She was a fearless critic of conservative ideas, arguing that religions leaders of every faith accorded an inferior place to women.

3. By the 1880s, Indian women began to enter universities. Some of them trained to be doctors, some became teachers. Many women began to write and publish their critical
views on the place of women in society.

4. Tarabia Sinde:- a women educated at home at Poona, published a book, Stripurushtulna, ( A comparison between women and Men), criticizing the social differences between men
and women..

5. Pandita Ramabai:- A great scholar of Sanskrit, felt that Hinduism was oppressive towards women, and wrote a book about the miserable lives of upper –caste Hindu women. She founded a widows’ home at Poona to provide shelter to widows who had been treated badly by their husband’s relatives. Here women were trained so that they could support themselves economically.

Q6. Describe the role of the following organizations towards abolition of caste based discrimination.

1. Brahma Samaj: - The Brahma Samaj formed in 1830, prohibited all forms of idolatry and sacrifice believed in the Upanishads, and forbade its members from criticizing other religions practices. It critically drew upon the ideals of religious especially of Hinduism and looking at their negative and positive dimensions.

2. Prarthana Samaj: - Established in 1867 at Bombay, the prarthana samaj sought to remove caste restrictions, abolish child marriage, encourage the education of women, and end the ban on widow remarriage. Its religious meetings drew upon Hindus, Bhuddhist and Christian texts.

3. Paramhans Mandali: - In Bombay, the Paramhans Mandali was founded in 1840 to work for the abolition of caste. Many of these reformers and members of reform associations were people of upper castes.

Q7. How did new opportunities open up for the people of the lower caste under the British?

* During the course of the nineteenth century, Christian missionaries began setting up schools for tribal groups and “lower” – caste children. These children were thus equipped
with some resources to make their way into a changing world.

* At the same time, the poor began leaving their villages to look for jobs that were opening up in the cities. There was work in the factories that were coming up, and jobs in municipalities.

* There were new demands of labour –drains had to be dug, roads, laid, buildings constructed, and cities cleaned.

* This required coolies, diggers, carriers, bricklayer’s sewage cleaners, sweepers, palanquin bearers, rickshaws pullers. The poor from the villages and small towns, many of them form low castes, began moving to the cities where there was a new demand for labour. Some also went to work implantations in Assam, Mauritius, Trinidad and Indonesia work in the new locations was often very hard.

* But the poor, the people from low castes, saw this as an opportunity to get away from the oppressive hold that upper –caste landowners exercised over their lives and the daily humiliation they suffered. There were other jobs too. The army, for instance, offered opportunities. A number of Mahar people, who were regarded as untouchable, found jobs in the Mahar Regiment. The father of B.R. Ambedkar the leader of the Dalit Movement, taught at an army school.

Q8. Describe the reform movement by the people of the lower castes against caste discrimination across India.

* The Satnami movement in Central India, founded by a leader named Ghasidas who came from a “low” caste, worked among the leather workers and organized a movement to
improve their social status.

* In eastern Bengal, Haridas Thakur’s Matua set worked among ‘low’ caste chandala cultivators. Haridas questioned Brahmanical texts that supported the caste system.

* In 1972 Ambedkar started a temple entry movement, in which his Mahar caste followers participated. Brahman priests were outraged when the Dalits used water from the temple tank.

* Convinced that untouchable had to fight for their dignity, Periyar founded the self Respect Movement. He argued that untouchables were the true upholders of an original Tamil and Dravidian culture which had been subjugated by Brahmans. He felt that all religious authorities saw social divisions and inequality as God –given.

Q9. How did the knowledge of ancient texts help the reformers promote new laws?

* Whenever they wished to challenge a practice that seemed harmful, they tried to find a verse or sentence in the ancient sacred texts that supported their point of view.

* They then suggested that the practice as it existed at present was against early tradition.

* Thus, the knowledge of ancient texts helped the reformers promote new laws.

Q10. Why were Christian missionaries attacked by many people in the country? Would some people have supported them too? If so, for what reasons?

Ans. Christian missionaries attacked by many people in the country because they feared that the missionaries would change the religion of tribal groups.

Some people may have supported them because:-

* They were setting up schools for tribal groups and “lower” – caste children.

* These children were thus equipped with some resources to make their way into a changing world.

Q11. How did Jyotiba the reformers justify their criticism of caste inequality in society?

* Jyotiba Phule argued that the Aryans were foreigners who came from outside the subcontinent and deflated and subjugated the true children of the country those who had lived here from before the coming of the Aryans.

* As the Aryans established their dominance, they began looking at the defeated population as inferior, as low –caste people. According to Phule, the “upper” caste had no right to their land and power: in reality the land belonged to indigenous people, and so –called low castes.

* Phule claimed that before Aryan rule there existed a golden age when warrior – peasants tilled the land and ruled the Maratha countryside in just and fair ways.

Q12.Why did Phule dedicate his book Gulamgiri to the American movement to free slaves?

* Phule dedicated his book to all those Americans who had fought to free slaves thus establishing a link between the conditions of the “lower” caste in India and the black slaves in America.

* Phule extended his criticism of the caste system to argue against all forms of inequality.

* He was concerned about the plight of “upper” –caste women, the miseries of the labourer, and the humiliation of the “low” caste.

* This movement for caste reform was continued in the twentieth century by other great dalit leaders like Dr. B.R. Ambedkar in western India and E.V. Ramaswamy Naiker in the south.

Q13. What did Ambedkar want to achieve through the temple entry movement?

Ans. In 1972, Ambedkar started a temple entry movement, in which his Mahar caste followers participated. Brahman priests were outraged when the Dalits used water from the temple tank. Ambedkar led three such movements for temple entry between 1927 and 1935. His aim was to make everyone see the power of caste prejudices within society.

Q14. Why were Jyotiba Phule and Ramaswamy Naicker critical of the national movement? Did their criticism help the national struggle in any way?

* They were critical of the national movement run by the upper caste leaders because they held that this would serve the purpose of the upper caste. After the movement these people again would talk of untouchability. Even Periyar left the congress in the earlier days of an incidence of untouchability.

* Yes, their criticism helped the national movement struggle as unity. In forceful speeches, writings and movements of such lower caste leaders did lead to rethinking and self – criticism among upper caste nationalist leader.