Which one of the following statements about Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar is NOT correct?
- (a)He was the Principal of Sanskrit College, Calcutta
- (b)He was a Government Inspector of Schools
- (c)He was a Secretary to the Bethune School
- (d)He was the founder of Widow Remarriage Association
Correct — D, the statement that Vidyasagar founded the 'Widow Remarriage Association' is the one that is NOT correct. Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar was the driving force behind widow remarriage — his petitioning led to the Hindu Widows' Remarriage Act of 1856 — but the Widow Remarriage Association itself was founded by the Bombay reformer Vishnu Shastri Pandit. The other three statements are accurate: Vidyasagar is credited as Principal of Sanskrit College, Calcutta, served as a Government Inspector of Schools, and worked as Secretary to the Bethune School for female education.
- (a)He was the Principal of Sanskrit College, Calcutta — This is true, not the exception — Vidyasagar is credited as Principal of Sanskrit College in Calcutta from the early 1850s, where he opened its doors to non-Brahmin students.
- (b)He was a Government Inspector of Schools — This is also true — he was appointed a Special (Assistant) Inspector of Schools and expanded schooling, so it is not the incorrect statement.
- (c)He was a Secretary to the Bethune School — True as well — Vidyasagar was closely associated with J. E. D. Bethune's female school as its secretary, promoting women's education, so this is not the exception.
Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar (1820-1891) was a Bengali educationist, Sanskrit scholar and social reformer, remembered above all as the champion of women's education and widow remarriage. His campaign secured the Hindu Widows' Remarriage Act of 1856, which legalised the remarriage of Hindu widows.
The trap works because Vidyasagar is so closely identified with the widow-remarriage cause that students assume he must have founded the body named for it. In fact the Widow Remarriage Association was a Bombay initiative of Vishnu Shastri Pandit; Vidyasagar's own contribution was legislative and educational, not the founding of that organisation.
- Vidyasagar's petitioning led to the Hindu Widows' Remarriage Act of 1856, which legalised widow remarriage.
- The Widow Remarriage Association was founded by Vishnu Shastri Pandit in Bombay, not by Vidyasagar.
- He reshaped Bengali prose and wrote the primer Barnaparichay, and argued against polygamy in his tract Bahubivah (1871).
- He was closely associated with the Bethune School (1849), an early institution for the education of girls in Bengal.
- Assuming Vidyasagar founded every body linked to widow remarriage — the Association was Vishnu Shastri Pandit's.
- Confusing legislative reform (the 1856 Act, driven by Vidyasagar) with the founding of a named organisation.
Asked as a 'which statement is NOT correct' test on Vidyasagar's official posts and reform work.
Consider the following statements: 1. Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar founded the Bethune School at Calcutta with the main aim of encouraging education for women. 2. Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay was the first graduate of the Calcutta University. 3. Keshav Chandra Sen's campaign against Sati led to the enactment of a law to ban Sati by the then Governor General. Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
- (a) 1 only
- (b) 1 and 2
- (c) 2 and 3
- (d) 1, 2 and 3
Answer(b) 1 and 2
Same figure and the same statement-checking format. There you judge which claims about Vidyasagar and his contemporaries are true (his role in the Bethune School is accepted); here you spot the single false claim about his posts and the Widow Remarriage Association.
- practice — not a real PYQ
The Hindu Widows' Remarriage Act, driven by Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar's efforts, was enacted in which year?
- (a)1829
- (b)1856
- (c)1872
- (d)1891
Answer(b) 1856 — the Act legalised the remarriage of Hindu widows.
- practice — not a real PYQ
Who founded the Widow Remarriage Association?
- (a)Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar
- (b)Vishnu Shastri Pandit
- (c)Keshab Chandra Sen
- (d)Dayanand Saraswati
Answer(b) Vishnu Shastri Pandit — the Bombay reformer who established the Association.