Justice Mahadev Govind Ranade: “Hero of Indian liberalism” who fought for the equality in the society

 

The Indian nationalist movement in the early days was dominated by the intellectuals who sharply criticized the British colonial government. Justice Ranade was one of such intellectual who influenced the generations of freedom fighters in the 19^th century.

He served as a professor in Bombay University and Elphinstone college. He then joined Bombay High Court as a Judge. He was also the member of legislative council. So this multifaceted personality tried to help the society in various ways.

Ranande and his thoughts on society

He had a major role in creating nationalist consciousness before the foundation of Indian National Congress. He was the founding member of various organizations like Sarvajanik Sabha, Deccan Association, Bombay Association and East India Association. Justice Ranande was the backbone of the Indian National Congress.

Ranande thinks that the religious reforms are the driving force behind the overall development of the society. Thats why he joined Prarthana Samaj and theistic conference to reform the Hindu religion. He was a supporter of industrialization. He thinks that the poor country like India would only be developed through the industrial revolution like the Britain.

Ranade had provided a proper direction to the nationalist movement. He knew that if we want to fight this mighty British rule it would be only through the peaceful means. He criticized the Government for its economical exploitation of India. Hence we can say that Ranade provided  a channel to the early nationalist through which they could express their dissent about the colonial Government.

Ranade and his thoughts on individual freedom

From the beginning Ranade was a staunch supporter of the right of individual freedom. He thinks that man has the capability to decide what is right and what is wrong. So one must not be allow anyone to decide their fate. Hence he was against the customs and religious rituals that were prevalent in the society.

He wanted to make society free from this rituals and beliefs which were making them more backward and acting as hindrance in the development of modern society. We should not allow religion to decide our life, it is our one conscious mind which would decide what is right for us.

Ranade also freely expressed his thoughts about the religious backwardness of the society. He said that we should not limit ourselves to the rules and the regulations made by the religious texts. He was also a great supporter of the Bhakti movement. He said that Bhakti movement was the modern revolution in the religious life of Indians. Bhakti saints rejected the compulsion of Sanskrit language, black magic, Rituals, Yoga, Karma etc.

Ranade on the Equality

Ranade said that freedom and equality are complementary to each other. While enjoying the freedom we should keep in mind that there should not be any restriction on the freedom of other members of society. Ranade said that the Hindu religion is full of inequality. The caste system is major hindrance in the development of just and equal society.

He promoted  Bhagwat-Dharma instead of Yogmarga and Dyanmarg. Yogmarga and the Dyanmarga could not be practiced by the Shudras and also not feasible for the common people. Bhagwat-Dharma follows the doctrine of equality.

While expressing his thoughts on equality he didn’t forget to think about the freedom of women. According to him women should participate in all the activities which are traditionally male dominated. Their place in society should be limited only as a wives and mothers.

Ranade on the Politics

Ranade was a supporter of democratic system of Governance. He thinks that the overall development of the society is not possible in the authoritarian system. He did not like the system of system of princely states which were existed before the British colonial rule.

He said that there should be a complete separation of power between the Judiciary and the Government. There should be enough representatives from the public in the Government. The British Government gradually increased the number of representatives in the central legislative assembly. Ranade supported this and also demanded more number of elected members in the central and the provincial legislative councils.

Although he supported the individual freedom it didn’t meant that he was against the interfere of Government in the social life of people. He said that law has a power to change the centuries old customs and traditions. It was moral duty of the Government to make laws that are beneficial for the society.

When British Government took measure like removing the ban on the widow remarriage, making laws against the Sati and child marriage it was Ranade who first came in support of the British Government.

Ranade on the British Economic policies

According to Ranade the Government is also responsible for the development of economy. He had written down all his thoughts about the Economy of India. He said that the Economic principles in Britain are not applicable in the poor country like India. He said that only Industrial Revolution can bring the India into the line of progress.

Industrialization would help Indians in adopting the modern technologies in agriculture and other works. Ranade had studied the development process in many modern countries and came with his own theory about the industrialization in India.

Ranade and the moderate ideology

Ranade always supported the constitutional ways to present the demands before the British Government. In the beginning the Congress was dominated by the moderate leaders under the leadership of Justice Ranade.

Constitutional and the peaceful method would one day persuade the British Government to accept their demands. It would be very easy for the mighty British empire to crush down any violent movement of the freedom fighters.

Moderates also believed in the gradual development of the society. According to them it takes time for the society to get familiar with the new developments. Moderates gave evidences from the Shastras and Vedas about how progressive and egalitarian the Indian society was. Moderates under the leadership of Justice Ranade played a major role in implementing the social reforms.

Ranade also promoted education among the masses. He thinks only education could bring drastic changes in the society. He helped in the foundation of many educational institutions in Maharashtra and India.

Justice Ranade is remembered in Indian history not only as freedom fighter but also a great social thinker who was among the first to promote liberalism in India.