Examine the linkages between the nineteenth century’s Indian Renaissance and the emergence of national identity. (UPSC IAS Mains 2019 General Studies Paper – 1)
Indian Renaissance was product of inherent weaknesses prevailing in Indian society and direct influence of Western education. Indian renaissance resulted into national identity which inspired people to take pledge towards eradication of various social evils like Sati, Purdah system, child marriage, etc.
Linkage between Indian Renaissance and National Identity:
- The movement focused on individual rights with equality in every sphere of life irrespective of caste, gender, etc. Thus, paved way for universal brotherhood based on individual identity.
- The Brahmo Samaj, Prarthana Samaj, Arya Samaj, Ramakrishna Mission, the Theosophists, the Social Conference and individuals worked to spread education among the untouchables and remove restrictions imposed on them from entering temples or using ponds, tanks, etc.
- The intellectuals of the 19th century had a vision of the future India and in the words of M.G. Ranade, the vision that inspired them was, “a change from constraint to freedom, from credulity to faith, from status a to contract and from authority to reason”.
- This imparted national identity as it was not just a socio-religious movement but also a movement against economic exploitation and social discrimination of backward communities and women’s emancipation from bondage and slavery.
- This strengthened the national identity as the later Socio-Religious movements penetrated the lower strata of society to revolutionise and reconstruct social sphere. This was in the way of an effort to bridge the gap between different communities to fight for a common cause.
Thus, Indian renaissance based on Humanism, Universal Oneness, Rationality aroused the national identity and provided common thread incorporating people of different identity into single thread.
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