Derozio: A Champion Of Women Rights In The Fakeer Of Jungheera

Women have been struggling for equality since ages. They were ill-treated and discriminated against throughout their lives. The women, who constitute almost one and a half of the population, can visibly be identified as socially eliminated, economically exploited and politically deprived section of society, mainly in developing countries. Purdah system, polygamy, child marriages, sati were some bitter realities of the prevailing times for women in India. In Derozio’s times women came to be seen as vulnerable. An abiding concern with the plight of widows runs through his poems. His burning desire for bringing radical change in their lives seems to be a strong inspiration for his poems. He is the only Indian who is credited not only for the inception of Indian Poetry in English but also for writing for the upliftment of women in the first place. During the 19th century many upper caste Hindu women committed sati. They were mistakenly believed in this cruel Hindu ritual considering it to be a moral act of liberation due to the strong social approval in those times. This corrupt system was prevalent in the Indian society for centuries, and Derozio vehemently protested the system of sati. He wrote The Fakeer of Jungheera to highlight the issue. The central theme of the poem is to throw light on and protest against the in human practice of sati in the contemporary orthodox Indian society.