Poster on Social Reforms

Sometimes society becomes full of evils and vices. It is guided by blind faith and superstition. People do not try to know the relation between cause and effect. They believe in imaginary ghosts and spirits as the prime-mover of all social actions. They believe in animal sacrifice to please the deities. They also once believed in the human sacrifice. The social vices like child wives were in existence. The widows were not allowed to marry again. The wives were compelled to be burnt with their dead husbands and so on. Untouchability disabled a big section of people. In order to eradicate all these things social reforms were necessary. Social reforms are necessary at all times in order to get the society purged off any vice that creeps into it.

Great reformers are born to reform the society and to reform the religion. Because many times religion is the basis of the social behavior. Martin Luther in Germany and John Wicliff in great Britain were the great reformers in 18th century. In India we got Raja Rammohan Roy, Ishwar Chadra Vidyasagar, Swami Dayananda Saraswati, Ramakrishna, Paramhamsa, Swami Vivekananda, Mahatma Gandhi as the great reformers. In ancient times we had Gautama Buddha and Mahavir as the great religious and social reformers. In Orissa Mr. Madhusudan Das, Pandit Nilakantha Das and Acharya Harihar Das made attempt to reform the society.

Social reform is necessary, time and often. So we must reform our society whenever it is necessary. Social reform should base on science and morality. Social reform cannot be made by legislation, force or imposition. It can be made only by effective public education, though the necessity of legislation cannot be altogether ruled out.