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Salient. An Organ of Student Opinion at Victoria College, Wellington, N.Z. Vol. 11, No. 1. March 17th. 1948

The Cause of Renaissance

The Cause of Renaissance

In the middle of last century the Indian Mutiny of 1857 roused Indians to political and national consciousness and that in its turn gave impetus for the deep interest in culture and a desire for progress in all spheres of life. The country again became spiritually alive and every school of religion was going under transformation. In Bengal, Ram Mohum Roy fought against the rigid rules of Hindu orthodoxy and founded the Brahmo Samaj. There was Ramakrishna who had a new interpretation of Hinduism. Then a long list of ardent reformers and theological-philosophers such as Kishub Chunder Sen. Bepin Chandra Pal. Barendra Ghose, Arabind Ghose, Swamis Dayanand Saraswati, Visweswaranda. Brahmanana, Saradananda and a host of other with a later addition of Sir Radhakrishnan and Ananda Coomaraswamy who are internationally known.

The Islamic world in India also had reformatory movement. In 1890 the Ahmadiyya Movement was founded by Ghulam Ahmad and there is a catalogue of Muslim reformers who are lesser known.

On the political-religious scene there are and have been countless men of outstanding ability who have contributed towards India's independence and religious reformation. I will list a few who are internationally known. One whose leadership and contribution cannot be challenged is the late Mohandas Gandhi, then follow Tilak, Bonnerjee, Naoroji, Malaviya, Das, Ansari, Parsad and Jinnah. Those who have not mingled religion and politics to complicate the life of political India are: Pandit Motilal Nehru (father of the Prime Minister of India), Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, Mrs. Sarogini Naidu (the poetess) and Vallabhai Patel.