Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow:
From the early nineteenth century, there were intense debates around religious issues. Different groups confronted the changes happening within colonial society in different ways, and offered a variety of new interpretations of the beliefs of different religions. Some criticized existing practices and campaigned for reform, while others countered the arguments of reformers. These debates were carried out in public and in print. Printed tracts and newspapers not only spread the new ideas, but they shaped the nature of the debate. A wider public could now participate in these public discussions and express their views. New ideas emerged through these clashes of opinions. This was a time of intense controversies between social and religious reformers and the Hindu orthodoxy over matters like widow immolation, monotheism, Brahmanical priesthood and idolatry. In Bengal, as the debate developed, tracts and newspapers proliferated, circulating a variety of arguments. To reach a wider audience, the ideas were printed in the everyday, spoken language of ordinary people.
(i) Analyze any one issue of intense debate around religious issues.
Answer
From the extract
From the early nineteenth century, there were intense debates around religious issues. Different groups confronted the changes happening within colonial society in different ways, and offered a variety of new interpretations of the beliefs of different religions. Some criticized existing practices and campaigned for reform , while others countered the arguments of reformers. These debates were carried out in public and in print. Printed tracts and newspapers not only spread the new ideas, but they shaped the nature of the debate . A wider public could now participate in these public discussions and express their views. New ideas emerged through these clashes of opinions. This was a time of intense controversies between social and religious reformers and the Hindu orthodoxy over matters like widow immolation, monotheism, Brahmanical priesthood and idolatry . In Bengal, as the debate developed, tracts and newspapers proliferated, circulating a variety of arguments. To reach a wider audience, the ideas were printed in the everyday, spoken language of ordinary people.
Answer to be written in exam :
- There was intense debate over the issue of widow immolation between hindu orthodoxy and socio religious reformers.
- Reformers argued about how age old traditions must be changed.
(ii) Examine the role of print media in these debates.
Answer to be written in exam :
- Printed tracts and newspapers not only spread new ideas but they shaped the nature of debate.
- They were circulated in large numbers and were printed in everyday spoken languages of the common people so as to reach a wider audience.
