187th jayanti of Savitribai Phule celebrated

Khammam: The 187th birth anniversary of Savitribai Phule was celebrated on a grand note by paying rich tributes to her, in Khammam on Wednesday.

The representatives of Telangana Backward Castes Welfare Association garlanded the statue of Savitribai Phule on the occasion. Addressing the representatives, Association leader A Venkateshwar Rao said Savitribai Phule was one of the supreme leaders who fought caste and other social evils in India.

Accusing the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of promoting casteism and communalism, Rao said it was the responsibility of all sections of people to fight united against such social maladies. Association representatives’ K Nagabhushanam, K Murali, P Venkataramana, Ch Venkanna, M Suguna Rao, P Lakshmi, A Shiva Kumari, P Rama Devi and B Bhadru Naik were present along with others.

Similarly, the representatives of Telangana BC Sangham observed the birth anniversary of Savitribai Phule by paying floral tributes at R&B guest house in the city.

Speaking on the occasion, Sangham leader Ch Venkanna Yadav said Savitribai Phule along with her husband Mahatma Jyothiba Phule were first among the people who declared war against casteism. The couple led the mass movement by uniting oppressed classes against the upper class when the casteism was at its zenith.

“With her husband’s motivation, Savitribai became the first lady teacher of the country and worked in the school started by her husband,” he added. Sangham leaders K Nehru Goud, A Venkateshwarlu Yadav, P Venkataramana, M Rama Rao, G Pandarinath, Nageshwar Rao, Urmila, Yaka Lakshmi, Kalavathi, Jayamma, Dhana Lakshmi, Rama Devei and Chintalacheruvu Lakshmi were present along with others.

Meanwhile, members of All India BSNL (OBC) Employees Welfare Association also paid tributes to the great leader. Association leader K Vijaya Lakshmi said Savitribai Phule was the first female teacher of the first women’s school started by her husband Mahatma Jyothiba Phule.

“The young couple faced severe opposition from upper caste people. Despite subjected to intense harassment, every day she walked to the school and taught students courageously,” she added.

“Savitribai Phule was the first Dalit woman, in-fact the first woman whose poems got noticed by the British. She was the mother of the modern poetry stressing necessity of English and education through her poems,” she reminded.

Association representatives Harinath, Rama Rao, K Venkateshwarlu, S Ramesh Kumar, P Sathyanarayana, Ch Veena Sri and M Rama Krishna were present along with others.