Guruchand Thakur

Guruchand Thakur (গুরুচাঁদ ঠাকুর) (also known as Sri Sri Guruchand Thakur) (1846-1937) was an Indian reformer who worked for the upliftment of the untouchable peoples in the Indian society. He led the Matua sect of Hindus after the death of his father Harichand Thakur. Under his strong leadership, the Matua section achieved a major organizational push and started the Namasudra protest movement (also known as the Matua Movement or Namashudra Movement) in 1872. He established many schools for the upliftment of the Dalit community. He preached the abolition of caste inequality, gender equality via performing secular duties. Matua Movement is one of the first Dalit uprisings in the Indian subcontinent.

Life Guruchand Thakur was born in Gopalganj District, Bengal Presidency, British India. He was the son of Harichand Thakur (Father) and Shanti Devi (Mother). His father Harichand Thakur whose ancestors were traditional Vaishnavites (Gaudiya Vaishnavism sect) from Rarhdesh (described in 'Sri Sri Harililamrita ") was a great social reformer and founder of Matua Community. He took his formal education in the house of Dasharath Biswas at Padmavila village when he was just seven years old. After completion of the education in Dasharath Biswas's house, he went to one of the devotees of Harichand Thakur, named Golok Kirtaniya (resident of Molla Kandhi village), for further education. He completed three years of primary education in this way. Even he was interested to continue his study further, he was not able to take admission in any educational institute as there was no right for education for the lower cast people at that time. He was deeply hurt by this event. He came back to his native village Orakandhi and took admission to a Moktab for further continuation of his study. He studied Arabic and Persian languages for twelve years and also took religious education from his father. He married Satyavama Devi at the age of fourteen. He received education on domestic life, society, religion, politics, economics from his parents until the age of twenty. Finally, he devoted his life to the betterment of his Matua community following the order of his parents.

Social Reforms Guruchand Thakur along with his father Harichand Thakur played an important role in the Chandal or Namashudra movement of 1872-73. In this movement, Chandals protested against the oppression and exploitation of them by upper castes. In 1873, Chandals held a general strike and decided not to serve any higher caste people unless they got a dignified position in Hindu society. This is the first general strike (Dalit uprisings) officially recorded and recognized in the Indian subcontinent. Some historians also consider this movement as a social boycott of the higher castes. The Bengali intellectual class of that time was also bound by the rigidity of the caste system, despite their western education which teaches about humanism, enlightenment, and science. In 1881, he became the president of the first assembly of Namashudras. After that first assembly meeting, religious persons started to establish schools instead of temples. Many village committees were established under his leadership for the promotion of education. These village committees also established many schools in their respective locality. Matua section constitutes 15% of the overall population in the state of West Bengal. Recently, the West Bengal government has established a university, named Harichand Guruchand University, for the higher education of Matua community.