Question

The women's question arose in modern India as part of the nineteenth century middle class social reform movements. The nature of these movements varied from region to region.
Explain any two social reform movements that addressed the women's question.

Answer 1

Two social movements that addressed women’s questions are:

1. Bengali social reform in the nineteenth century can be traced back to Raja Rammohan Roy's efforts to change society, religion, and women's standing. The first women's issue to garner national attention was the campaign Roy started against "sati." The concepts put out by Rammohan Roy were an odd fusion of Indian traditionalism and Western reason. Rammohan thus criticised the practice of sati by using Hindu shastras as well as natural rights and humanitarian theories.
2. The second movement is the widow remarriage movement during the Bombay Presidency, in which Ranade was a key reformer. One of the main issues raised was the heinous and unfair treatment of Hindu widows from higher castes. The shastric permission for widow remarriage was explored in M.G. Ranade's works titled "The Texts of the Hindu Law on the Lawfulness of the Remarriage of Widows and Vedic Authorities for Widow Marriage."