New Delhi, Jan 3: Prime Minister Narendra Modi paid tributes to Savitribai Phule and Rani Velu Nachiyar on their birth anniversary acknowledging their inspirational contributions to society.

The Prime Minister said that both inspired society with their compassion and courage and their contribution towards our nation is invaluable.

"Tributes to Savitribai Phule and Rani Velu Nachiyar on their Jayanti. Both of them inspired society with their compassion and courage. Their contribution towards our nation is invaluable. Here is how we paid tributes to them during the recent #MannKiBaat," PM Modi said in a post on X.

Tributes to Savitribai Phule and Rani Velu Nachiyar on their Jayanti. Both of them inspired society with their compassion and courage. Their contribution towards our nation is invaluable. Here is how we paid tributes to them during the recent #MannKiBaat. pic.twitter.com/hFfoAbWlqf

— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) January 3, 2024

PM Modi also shared some excerpts from Mann Ki Baat where he expressed his views about Savitribai Phule and Rani Velu Nachiyar.

Savitribai Phule was an Indian social reformer, educationalist, and poet from Maharashtra. She is regarded as the first female teacher of India. Along with her husband, Jyotirao Phule, she played an important role in improving women's rights in India. She is regarded as the mother of Indian feminism. Phule and her husband founded one of the first Indian girls' school in Pune, at Bhide wada in 1848. She worked to abolish the discrimination and unfair treatment of people based on caste and gender. She is regarded as an important figure of the social reform movement in Maharashtra. A philanthropist and an educationist, Phule was also a prolific Marathi writer.

Rani Velu Nachiyar was the first ever woman from a royal family to have challenged the British Empire. Rani Velu Nachiyar took up arms when her husband and his second wife were killed by combined forces of British soldiers and the son of the Nawab of Arcot. Later, she escaped with her daughter, lived under the protection of Hyder Ali at Virupachi near Dindigul for eight years.

During this period she formed an army and formed an alliance with Gopala Nayaker and Hyder Ali with the aim of attacking the British. In 1780 Rani Velu Nachiyar fought the British with military assistance of her allies and won the battle.

(ANI)

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