Women in the Maharaj libel case: a re-examination
Shodhan, A.
Indian Journal of Gender Studies 4(2): 123-139
1997
ISSN/ISBN: 0971-5215 PMID: 12321343 DOI: 10.1177/097152159700400201Document Number: 272844
This article applies a gender perspective to the history of social reform efforts in mid-19th century Bombay to help illuminate the origins of Indian modernism. In the Maharaj Libel Case, two social reformers successfully defended a libel suit after they published charges of sexual misconduct against the religious priests of the Pushtimarga Vaishnava sect. The paper contextualizes the discussion with a brief review of the rise of British education in Bombay, a note that the social reformers considered the ideal woman to be a domestic helpmate, and a sketch of the history of the devotional religious sect that worships Krishna. The libel case attracted immense public attention, and the reformers based their defense on charges that the Maharajs (priests) were immoral and exploited female devotees sexually. The priests were described as ignorant and blind while the women were considered merely passive objects subordinate to males. No woman was called to give evidence, but evidence shows that the women willingly visited the priests for sexual acts. The reformers' solution to the problem was for the women they regarded as infantilized and/or degraded to be more firmly controlled by their male kin. The conclusion that the reformers were patriarchal and not concerned about the well-being of women is supported by three cases. The reformers ignored the two in which women brought charges against priests and only urged action in the case of a rape/murder by a priest.