Why were Jyoti Rao Phule and Ramaswamy Naicker critical of the national movement? Did their criticism help the national struggle in any way?
Jyoti Rao Phule and Ramaswamy Naicker both were critical of the national movement, as they thought that there were no differences between anti-colonialists and colonialists. Phule thought that the upper-caste people who wanted to fight against the British would want to rule once the British left. Phule was always against the upper caste people, as he called them the ‘outsiders.’
Naicker was a part of the Congress party, and his experiences led him to believe that the party was not free from the taint of casteism. So, he was reluctant to take part in the anti-British national movement that was not concerned about creating a caste-less society.
Their criticism helped strengthen the national struggle. Reformists started restructuring their thoughts to get rid of the differences between the upper caste and lower caste. The national struggle became the tool to eradicate caste differences, and religious and gender inequality.
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