A Journal of Mahatma Gandhi Antarrashtriya Hindi Vishwavidyalaya

curbing the liberty of an individual is in
itself highly deplorable.” Loss of liberty
throttles love. A review of his views reveals
the fact that Sapreji was vehemently
opposed to oppression in any form and
believed in individual freedom. Sapreji’s
view on the emancipation of woman is
far ahead of his times and he is deeply
concerned about social development.
Believing in gender equality, he clearly
asserts that—“So long as men and women
are not granted equal rights, and treated
at par, social progress will remain a distant
reality and there will be no mutual love
and respect between them. Books proudly
advocating the subjugation of women in
various ways are being published even
today. Geeta Press of Gorakhpur has
published many such books. These are
openly advocated and circulated among
the less educated women that have had
an adverse impact on their psyche. But
so far, such work has not been critically
reviewed.
In 1915, Sapreji wrote an essay titled
‘Women and the nation’ which was published
in ‘Maryada’. In the very beginning he
states that the rise and fall of a nation
is directly proportional to the position
of women in that particular society. With
the upliftment of women, the development
of a nation gains momentum. While their
oppression leads to regression . Along
with the growth in the spirit of Nationalism,
the desire to reconsider the position of
women has also increased. Analyzing the
history of subjugation of women in India,
he has reached the conclusion that, it
had been a slow process, with religion
playing a vital role, not only in India,
but other parts of the world as well.
Consequently, women were relegated to
the background and remained mere
shadows of their male counterparts. He
writes, “Most of the religions the world
over have the inherent tendency to act
as guardians of society. Allocating power
to themselves, they have framed laws for
the society, thus making marriage a religious
ritual. Hence, for every woman, marriage
has become an essential religious ritual.
This has resulted in curbing the freedom
of women under the garb of propriety.
Referring to the unnecessary restraints
placed on women, he goes on to say that,
“Nations which respect the rights of women
and ensure their freedom, march a step
ahead of others. On the contrary, nations,
where these issues fade into the background
stagnate and lose their vitality, thereby
losing their freedom.”
Madhav Rao Sapre’s political awareness
is discernible in his deep interest in History.
Anonio Gramshi has written, “History is
always contemporary, hence political.”One
of the chief characteristics of Indian
Renaissance was the development of a
new historical perspective. Colonialism is
not just a geographical encroachment. It
also colonises the history and the historical
perspective of that particular nation. In
the process of doing so, it dismembers
18 :: January-March 2012