His reformist campaign though had to face opposition from Hindu orthodoxy. The chief antagonist, of course, was the conservative Raja Radhakanta Deb who had also sparred with Ram Mohan Roy over Sati. Vidyasagar had to face opposition on the streets of Calcutta and amongst the Bengali bhadralok. The backlash also came in the form of a counter-petition with 30,000 signatories. However, the Widows’ Remarriage Act was passed successfully in 1856.
—SANJEET KASHYAP
Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar’s many roles as an educationist, writer, social reformer, and feminist have rightly earned him the credential of being one of the early progenitors of Indian modernity. Underlying all these credentials of Vidyasagar, however, was his own brand of liberal humanism. While the modernising metropolitan West is considered to be the fertile ground for liberal humanism and indeed the colonizing mission brought these newfound influences to the periphery of Indian society, Vidyasagar essentially embodied practical humanism.
The practical humanism of Vidyasagar was shaped by both his readings and lived experience. Born a poor Brahmin, his deprived childhood was made bearable by the generosity of kind strangers. Vidyasagar fondly recalls one particular widow Raimoni in his memoirs who treated him as her own son. Besides, despite his training as a Sanskritist, he was also exposed to the western Enlightenment ideas of secularism, agnosticism, rationalism, and liberty. These two distinct experiences determined the career trajectory of Vidyasagar.