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“I think Shahu here speaks as a modern secularist thinker far
ahead of the times he lived in Shahu was an intelligent, far
seeing and prophetic ruler. He was not anti – Brahmin but
anti-caste. He opposed the evil generated by the systems. The
spirit in which Shahu championed the cause of the downtrodden
minorities can be best understood in words of Dr. Ambedkar:
“Unfortunately for the minorities in India, Indian
nationalism has developed a new doctorine which may be called
the divine right of the majority to rule the minorities
according to the wishes of the majority. Any claim for sharing
of power by the minorities is called communalism , while the
monopolising of the whole power by the majority is called
nationalism.”
As a social and administrative reformer Shahu had a unique
vision which is as modern as today:” The proportion of
prosperity of the nation would depend.” Shahu said at the
Nagpur Conference, “upon the removal of the caste systems. The
real remedy for abolishing the caste system is intermarriage,
endogamy ! Brahmin papers opposed the Patel Bill which aims at
legalising inter caste marriages. They have no objection to
men and women having inter-caste illegitimate connections but
they are opposed to legal marriages. If marriages are
performed under the Registration Act there would be a check on
those young, married men who marry a second time in foreign
countries and push Indian wives into the pit of widowhood.”
Shahu’s Support for Weaker Sections
The theory that inspired Shahu to support the weaker sections
of society was the one of strong and weak horses living in one
paddock, free in the compound with a heap a grass on one side
and a tank of water on the other. In this situation the young
and the strong horse naturally got the better of the weaker
ones. Shahu pointed out that this method did not suit even the
beasts and hence his conviction that weaker sections should be
given special discriminatory opportunities.
It was in this spirit that Shahu inititated and implemented
his reforms whether in social, administrative, legal or
education fields calculated to give the weak and the
downtrodden a place in the sun and wipe out the age-old
stigma. He was also an innovator in labour, agriculture and
co-operative matters.
Addressing a meeting of the labour and backward classes on
November 24, 1918 Shahu said congratulating the workers on
forming the Union: “In England capital and labour were two
classes and their interests clashed. It would be a golden day
in Indian history when the suppressed and exploited classes
would get an opportunity to raise their heads. Because the
Indian capitalists have followed the western capitalists
principles of exploitation, the condition of labour in the
country had become precarious. To improve their lot, labour
must organize temselves and make great efforts and sacrifices.”
Exhorting them to cultivate the habit of working in an orderly
manner and start co-operative credit societies in their chawls
and factories Shahu further said:
“As in England, trade unions must be established here and
all must know their own rights. The capitalist class consists
chiefly of Brahmins and Vaisyas. Unless they are kept under
control the conditions of labour will hardly improve. The word
labour is not disrespectful. Although I am on the throne of
Kolhapur. I feel proud to call myself a soldier , farmer or
labourer.”
It is no wonder therefore to see Shahu’s friend , guru
and guide Sir Stuart Fraser give him the hansome compliment:
“No Indian Prince has from the first displayed a more great
hearted sympathy with every class of his subjects, realizing
that he is equally the father of the low-caste and the
high-caste, of the Mohammedans, and of the Christian, as well
as of the Hindus.”
... Continued
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