Keshav Sitaram Thackeray, the father of Shiv Sena leader Bal Thackeray, was among the prominent figures in the Samyukta Maharashtra movemen...
Keshav Sitaram Thackeray, the father of Shiv Sena leader Bal Thackeray, was among the prominent figures in the Samyukta Maharashtra movement in the 1950s that pushed for the formation of the state of Maharashtra. But he had already emerged as an influential public figure three decades before, especially after he started a periodical called Prabodhan (Awakening) in 1921.
This year marks the centenary year of this magazine, which played a crucial role in shaping the world of non-Brahmin Marathi writing between the two world wars. In the 19th-century, public discouse in Marathi was dominated by Brahmins. Early in the next century, the emergence of Thackeray and a few other non-Brahmin voices helped reshape the idea of the “public” in the region.
In his publication Prabodhan, Keshav “Prabodhankar” Thackeray’s presented a version of Hindutva based on an intense aversion for the socio-cultural dominance of Brahmins. He played a key role in expanding to semi-urban and rural areas of Maharashtra the “Non-Brahmin movement” that had been started by Jyotiba Phule in 1873. Thackeray was attracted to the reformer’s writings and the core principle of Phule’s Satyashodhak Samaj organisation to work for the social upliftment of members of the lowest castes.
At the same time, Thackeray specifically aimed to spread the...
