Kumar Bahukhandi
Indian Army’s women officers – Wing Commander Vyomika and Colonel Sofia gave information on Operation Sindoor – Photo: YouTube video grab – ANI
Author
The image of Savitribai Phule and Fatima Sheikh shown in the film Phule, we are seeing the same live image in the form of Wing Commander Vyomika and Colonel Sophia.
In carrying out Operation Sindoor, along with the military heroes, the brave women have also made the country’s security system proud. Symbolically, we are clearly seeing that films are also depicting the past from an artistic point of view. The effect of films on the culturally conscious society is seen in an increasing order. Biopics based on autobiographies and biographies have also been quite inspiring. It is a historical coincidence that the way the real image of ‘Savitribai Phule’ and ‘Fatima Sheikh’ has been depicted as a war against ignorance in the Phule film, in a way we are seeing the same live image in the form of Wing Commander ‘Vyomika Singh’ and Colonel ‘Sophia Qureshi’.
The war during Phule’s time was fought against illiteracy and the current war is being fought against terrorism. The fronts of yesterday and today are different, the brave women are also different, but the goal is one, the sentiment is one and India is one. Of course the ceasefire has happened, but the Indian Army has created history with the success of ‘Operation Sindoor’.
Wing Commander Vyomika Singh, Colonel Sofia Qureshi – Photo: ANI
The recently released film Phule overcame initial opposition and misunderstanding and became a hit in theatres. Whether it is Mother India, a film based on the book Mother India written by Miss Katherine Mayo, or Achhut Kanya or Boot Polish, etc., these films have brought out the truth of the neglected community of society. The film Phule is the story of the creative dedication and meaningful struggle of the Phule couple, social reformers and teachers, with a view to spreading education among Dalits. If we look at the circumstances of the time and place, when this film was released, the Indian Army, vigilant towards the security and sovereignty of the nation, was giving a befitting reply to the terrorism coming from across the border, but at the time when this story was enacted in Pune of Maharashtra, the British Raj had completed a hundred years of its colonization in India. The Indians who had received English education had started to develop discontent against the British rule. The meaning is not that any lesson of ending the British rule was being taught in English education, rather English had influenced Phule like the French Revolution.
British missionaries were orienting the Shudras in India towards the Christian Church through English studies. But Phule was connecting them to their roots. Instead of addressing them as Shudra or untouchable, he was giving them a class term ‘Dalit’. Phule studied English and became an admirer of the British education, but did not become a Christian. Dr. BR Ambedkar’s father, who considered Kabir, Buddha and Phule as his Guru, also served in the British Indian Army, but neither became a Christian himself nor gave non-Indian values to his children. Dr. Ambedkar had advised Mohammad Ali Jinnah to give up the demand for partition of the country on the basis of religion and ensure Muslim representation in a united India. He wrote a book on the two-nation theory, which Jinnah read, but did not accept his advice. Then Dr. Ambedkar commented, ‘Do the partition, one day your foolishness will be revealed.’
phule – photo : chhannail24indi.chom
The story of the film Phule tells many sub-stories of the time and the country through art. Phule says, ‘The slavery of the British is of hundred years, I am trying to end the slavery of three thousand years by taking the Shudras out of the darkness of ignorance.’ About a hundred years after this statement of Phule, Dr. BR Ambedkar gave a similar answer to the Swaraj agitators, ‘If Swaraj that maintains untouchability, then the non-Dalits will rule over us. Therefore, Swaraj should be such in which we also have some rule.’
Phule trains his wife and makes her a teacher, in his work some liberal Brahmin teachers, ‘Usman Sheikh’ and his sister ‘Fatima Sheikh’ work shoulder to shoulder and establish schools. As an experience, many contradictions come to the fore – Phule is thrown out of the wedding procession of a Brahmin friend with disrespect, but when he starts a school, he gets a place and protection from another Brahmin friend. Influenced by Thomas Paine’s book Rights of Man written on the French Revolution, he writes Gulamgiri. African-Americans learn a lesson from the slavery of blacks. For which the Church apologized, and like the whites who are in favour of individual freedom, they try to awaken the feeling of patriotism among the upper castes of India. Overall, a lively story has been written by Wing Commander Vyomika Singh and Colonel Sophia Qureshi.
(The author has been the head of the Hindi department in Delhi University)
