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Keshav Sitaram Thackeray alias Prabodhankar Thackeray (born: 17 September 1885 – 20 November 1973) was a Marathi journalist, social reformer, orator, leader of the United Maharashtra Movement. Shiv Sena founder Bal Thackeray is the son of Keshav Sitaram Thackeray.
Mahatma Phule was Keshav Thackeray's role model, born at Panvel in Raigad district. After studying the revolutionary literature of Mahatma Phule, his concepts regarding social reforms became clearer. That is why, after the persecution of Mahatma Phule by the fanatical orthodox in Pune, Prabodhanakar settled in Pune to continue his struggle. In this work, he overcame the obstacles brought by his opponents and blew away all the grain.
Social reform was the aim of his life. He never made any compromise to achieve his goals. Whether it is child marriage and the obscene custom of widows' hair loss, the abuse of Brahmin priests in temples, dictatorship, the issue of untouchability or the issue of dowry; They fought fiercely on all these fronts till the end. Many tried to dissuade them from their struggle, from their principles, many lures were shown but the enlighteners did not appreciate anything. He fought the conservatives using the three weapons of rhetoric, writing and direct action to eradicate unjust customs, caste-system and untouchability.
He was of the opinion that the essence of all the disorders in the society lies in the Brahminical rituals. Rituals of religious worship, upasatapas, vratavaiklyas and dharma which are customary practices among all castes are all established by Brahmins for their own benefit. It is because of these evil practices that injustice is done to women. Deprived of special rights, injustice is done to the Bahujan society. In short, he attacked the root of all these elements, i.e. Brahminism, as he felt that all the uneducated masses were fed up with these stereotypes. He had no hatred towards Brahmins of progressive, liberal and reformist views. But he was a critic of the commercial Bhat-Bhikshushahi system. Through the play 'Khara Brahmin' on the life of Saint Eknath, he presented the role of real Brahmins.
Due to his fame, he came in contact with Rajarshi Shahu Maharaj. Shahu Maharaj himself was a reformist and supporter of Mahatma Phule's truth seeker movement. So he became a fan of the Enlightenment. He also examined the enlighteners and later said publicly that the only person I have seen who cannot be subdued or bought by bribery is the enlightener.
After settling in Bombay, he took up the anti-dowry movement. By forming a dowry volunteer army of all castes, many parents were forced to return the dowry amounts they had taken. At that time, love before marriage was considered a crime, adultery. During such times, he married many loving couples. Reading these references today, we feel these things easily, we do not realize the severity of these problems. In the laborious atmosphere of that time, it was difficult to even pronounce social reforms. Even today there are many laws against dowry, but the trend of dowry has not been eradicated. Women continue to be oppressed. One can only imagine the magnitude of this problem in the first half of the twentieth century! This proves the vision of the enlighteners.
Prabodhanakar was also a writer, journalist and historian. He propagated modern ideas through the magazines Sarathi, Lokhitavadi and Prabodhan. He created such literary wealth as Samarth Ramdas, Sant Gadge Maharaj, Rango Bapuji, Pandita Ramabai, Majhi Jeevangatha (Autobiography) along with books like Kodanda's Tantkar, Bhikshushahi's Revolt, God's Religion or Dharma's Temples, History of Gramdhana, Curse of Virgins, Rhetoric etc. Both his plays 'Khara Brahmin' and 'Taklele Por' became revolutionary for social reforms. When the Brahmins of Pune appealed to the court not to allow the experiment of the play Khara Brahman, the judge ruled in favor of the preachers.
The Union of Maharashtra movement was the most important struggle of his life. At this time he was very old. He led the movement in spite of such adverse conditions, even serving imprisonment for some time. His contribution to this movement can be equaled only by Prahlad Keshav Atre and Comrade Dange. In this movement, he succeeded in binding people and parties of different views together. He was also a skilled organizer.
