Banga Mahila Vidyalaya - Conflict of Opinions

Conflict of Opinions

The focus of conflict between the conservatives and progressives initially centred around one view that female education as preparatory for marriage and the other view that women should be educated on the same basis and to same levels as men.

David Kopf writes, “Miss Akroyd played a leading part in this debate, sarcastically distinguishing Keshub, the rhetorician of women’s liberation in England from Keshub, the typical Hindu male keeping knowledge from the minds of women… Keshub tried to convince Miss Akroyd, Ghosh and Sastri that he was progressive, but at the same time wary of radical change.’’ Miss Akroyd lost faith in Keshub’s ‘go slow’ policies. Sen countered with a warning about denationalised female education in Bengal and anglicized curriculum.

The progressives, who later formed Sadharan Brahmo Samaj, replied, that Keshub Chunder Sen had joined the growing legion of Hindu revivalists and militants who had nothing but contempt for things western.

David Kopf writes, “The triumph of the Sadharan Brahmos over the Keshubites on the issue of women’s emancipation clearly represents the impact of Unitarian social philosophy on Hindu society and culture. As the facts disclose, Unitarian impact was not merely intellectual or ideological. Through the advocacy and work of Carpenter and Akroyd, its impact was intrusively practical.” He goes on to conclude, “The relatively emancipated professional Indian woman of today owe a considerable debt of gratitude to the Brahmo pioneers of the nineteenth century.