India’s Greatest Reformers documents the stories of 51 extraordinary men and women who in their times undertook various social reforms, at times facing stiff resistance from society.

Raja Ram Mohan Roy saw to it that the evil practice of Sati—the practice of burning a widow on thepyre of her husband—was abolished. Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar succeeded in getting a legislativeact adopted in 1856 allowing widows to remarry. Mahatma Gandhi and Dr B.R. Ambedkar workedtirelessly for the eradication of untouchability. Dayanand Saraswati castigated persons who believedin the caste system. Great women like Mary Clubwala Jadhav and Sindhutai Sapkal worked for girls’education and orphanages, respectively.

From contemporary India, Kailash Satyarthi, Dr Bindeshwar Pathak, Devendra Raj Mehta andDr Uma Tuli are featured for their significant work. The 51 portraits in this book will inspire readersto give some thought to the eradication of malpractices that still afflict our society one way or theother.

The stories include that of Dr B.R. Ambedkar, Baba Amte, Begum Sultan Jahan, Bilkees Idrees Latif,Durgabai Deshmukh, E.V. Ramaswami, Jagan Nath Kaul, Janaki Devi Bajaj, Dr Javaid Rahi, JyotiraoPhule, K. Vishwanathan, Kailash Satyarthi, Martha Farrell, Mary Clubwala Jadhav, Mahatma Gandhi,Mother Teresa, Rabindra Nath Upadhyay, Raja Ram Mohan Roy, Dr Rajnikant Arole, Runa Banerjee,Shalini Moghe, Subhas Chandra Bose, Subramania Bharati, Sunderlal Bahuguna, Swami Sivananda,Swami Vivekananda, Tarabai Shinde, Vinoba Bhave, among many other luminaries.

Publisher: Rupa Publications India

Author: K.L. Johar

Pages: 248

ISBN: 9789361567735

Publication Date: 15 May 2024