Reform movement in Bengal led by Derozio:
Henry Louis Vivian Derozio was an official of the Young Bengal or New Bengal movement. Derozio was born in an Anglo-Portuguese family in the Entali area of Kolkata. He was educated at David Drummond’s Dharmatala Academy.
Derozio, the father of the reform movement in Bengal in the 19th century, started working as a professor of English and history at Hindu College in 1826 at the age of just 17. His strong enthusiasm for teaching and his friendly relationship with the students created a stir at Hindu College. The Young Bengal party was formed under his leadership. Derozio contributed to the great cause of social reform started by Rammohan. Under his leadership, the reform movement in Bengal got a new direction.
1. Ideal Derozio: Derozio advised his students to accept everything without judging anything and to judge everything with reason. Derozio used to discuss with his students various subjects like literature, science, religion, philosophy, patriotism, etc. He told the students, “Decide your opinion and path by independent thinking; do not practice any conventional reform blindly; adhere to the truth alone in life and death; practice virtue, and reject everything that is unjust and dishonest.” Under his inspiration, the students became attached to the ideas of philosophers like Locke, Hume, Rousseau, Voltaire, Tom Paine, Berkeley etc.
2. News in various newspapers: The Young Bengal group published several newspapers with the aim of spreading their rational thoughts against various social prejudices, and in 1830 they published a newspaper named ‘Parthenon’. In it, articles were published on women’s education, women’s freedom and freedom of the press, etc. The newspaper ‘Kaleidoscope’ published by them opposed the British exploitation in India. Apart from this, he edited two newspapers named “Hesperus” and “Calcutta Literary Gazette”.
3. Formation of Academic Association: Under the ideology of Derozio, independent thinking and rationalism developed in the minds of his students. To develop a mentality of absolute truth among the students, he established a debate meeting called “Academic Association” in Maniktala in 1828. This meeting opposed the superstitions of casteism, sati, untouchability, idolatry. Here, the students following Derozio expressed their opinions against the prevailing social, economic, political and religious superstitions. The mouthpiece of this institution was ‘Atheneum’.
4. Respect for the country: Although Derozio was born in a Portuguese family, he was an Indian at heart. His poems “Fakir of the Militants” and “Bharatbarsha Amar Swadesh Prati” reflect his respect for this country. The Young Bengal members had an incredible love for India.
5. Severe attack on conservatism: The Young Bengal group launched a serious attack on the conservatism of Hinduism. They ate beef and used to say, “We eat beef when we see Brahmin priests.” They did not believe in the sanctity of the Ganges water and tore their own clothes. They used to say, “Mahasya, prataparanama” to Maa Kali at the Kalighat temple.
6. Social reaction: The Young Bengals’ anti-Hindu reform movement created a strong stir in the society. The parents of many Hindu College students feared that Derozio’s ideology would influence their children. Therefore, they kept sending their children to other colleges for education. Finally, the authorities of Hindu College accused Derozio and removed him from his post. Some time later, in 1831, he died at the age of 22.
Young Bengal Movement after Derozio’s death:
Derozio’s ideology did not die out. After his death, his followers carried the Young Bengal ideology forward. Notable among his followers were Kriyamohan Bandyopadhyay, Parichand Mitra, Ramgopal Ghosh, Ramtanu Lahiri, Rasikkriya Mallick, Dakshinaranjan Mukherjee, Tarachand Chakraborty and Shivchandra Deb.
Pandit Shivnath Shastri writes – “Derozio was in Hindu College for only three years, during these three years he planted something in the minds of his disciples that remained in their hearts forever.”
1. Various newspapers and societies: Derozio’s followers published newspapers like Gyananbeshan, Bengal Spectator, Enquirer, Bengal Spectator, Hindu Pioneer etc. to express their ideology. They formed various organizations and continued their reform work. On their initiative, the ‘General Knowledge Society’ was established in 1836. They established the Bengal British India Society for the purpose of adopting a political program.
2. Social reform work: The members of the Young Bengal group opposed inequality between men and women, oppression of women, forced labor, slavery, deprivation of freedom of the press, sending Indian coolies to Mauritius, permanent settlement, British monopoly of trade, and various economic and religious superstitions.
In short, despite their love for their homeland, the members of the Young Bengal group held a radical attitude against the civilization and culture of India. As a result, the countrymen did not accept them. For this reason, there was a conflict of opinion among them both at the time and later.
Many people at the time and later saw them as disorderly, black-faced, and ‘a radical group isolated from society’. Dr. Sumit Sarkar commented that except for a handful of intellectuals, their influence on the larger section of Bengali society was zero. Dr. Amlesh-Tripathi did not find any meaning in their movement.
On the other hand, a group acknowledged their contribution to the reform movement of Bengal. Krishnadas Pal referred to them as ‘the future of the country’. Kishori Chand Mitra compared the Young Bengals with the ‘peak of Kanchenjunga’. Surendranath Banerjee praised them and said, “They are the fathers of our nation, their qualities are eternally remembered.”