UPSC IAS - 2016
Consider the following: 1. Calcutta Unitarian Committee 2. Tabernacle of New Dispensation 3. Indian Reform Association Keshab Chandra Sen is associated with the establishment of which of the above?
Year Asked: 2016
Correct Answer
B. 2 and 3 only
Detailed Explanation
The correct answer is B. Keshab Chandra Sen founded the Indian Reform Association in 1870 and the Tabernacle of New Dispensation in 1880, both after his split from the Adi Brahmo Samaj over his reformist and theistic-universalist outlook.
- Statement 1 is wrong: The Calcutta Unitarian Committee was set up in the 1820s, linked with Rammohun Roy and the early Unitarian contacts in Calcutta. It predates Keshab's rise and is not his creation.
- Statement 2 is right: The Tabernacle of New Dispensation (Nava Vidhan) was Keshab's own religious body, combining elements from different faiths.
- Statement 3 is right: The Indian Reform Association took up social reform, including women's education, widow remarriage and the age of consent, and Keshab led it.
The core concept here is the Brahmo Samaj's internal splits and the social reform movement of nineteenth-century Bengal. For Mains, it links to GS-I on socio-religious reform and to the debate on how reform movements shaped the Age of Consent Act, 1891.
Trap: Aspirants see "Unitarian" and assume it belongs to Keshab because he is linked with Brahmo ideas. Check the founder and date before choosing.
This question appeared in UPSC Prelims 2016 GS Paper-1.
Contact Information
Phone / WhatsApp
+91 8826907483Student Queries
support@collectorbabu.com