Role Of Women In The Indian National Movement
Rani Lakshmibai of Jhansi, who became a legendary figure in the history of Indian nationalism, was one of the forerunners of India's struggle for independence. Two prominent women encouraged women to participate in the national movement before Mahatma Gandhi became the undisputed leader of the movement.
1. Annie Besant:
The founder of the Theosophical Movement in India was one of them. She advocated for Indian women's emancipation.
• Many Indian women joined her Home Rule Movement. According to her, the involvement of a large number of women made the Home Rule Movement tenfold more effective, as they brought the uncalculating heroism, endurance, and self-sacrifice of the feminine nature to it.
• She saw child marriage as a social blight and advocated for its abolition in Indian society.
• She also advocated for the remarriage of young and child widows.
• She was a strong supporter of the push to educate women, believing that it would help to solve some of the country's most pressing issues.
2. Sarojini Naidu:
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She was a trailblazer for women's participation in the Indian National Movement.
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Gopal Krishna Gokhale advised her to use her poetry and beautiful words to rekindle the villagers' spirit of independence. He asked her to use her abilities to help Mother India be free.
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She met Mahatma Gandhi in August 1914 and dedicated her life to the freedom movement from that point on. Sarojini Naidu was a political activist and freedom fighter. In 1917, she led a delegation to meet with Mr. Montagu to discuss women's suffrage. She got a resolution supporting the women's franchise passed at a special congress session in Bombay in 1918.
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In 1919, she travelled to England as part of a Home Rule League deputation to testify before the Joint Parliamentary Committee and presented the case for women's suffrage there. She became a campaigner for women's satyagraha in 1919, travelling across India to spread the message. She urged women to speak out against the Rowlett Act.
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Sarojini joined the non-cooperation movement in 1920. In 1921, she visited the riot-torn areas of Bombay following the protests against the Prince of Wales's visit to the city, to persuade people for Hindu-Muslim unity. Similarly, during the rebellion, she went to Moplah to deal with a volatile situation and criticized the government's actions.
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During the 1920s and 1930s, she was an outspoken supporter of the Akalis and a vocal opponent of their ban. She travelled to South Africa in 1924, presided over a session of the East African Congress, and spoke out against the Anti-Historic Bill.
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She spent time in prison and served on various committees dedicated to the cause of freedom. Representatives from various Indian women's organizations met in Bombay in September 1931, with Mrs. Sarojini Naidu as their president, to draft a memorandum demanding "immediate acceptance of adult franchise without any sex distinction." The memorandum was eventually accepted, and women were given the same rights as men. This was during a period when many other Western countries were still fighting for gender equality.
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When Mahatma Gandhi launched the Civil Disobedience Movement in 1930, Sarojini, along with many other Congress leaders, led from the front. The British, on the other hand, retaliated by arresting the majority of them. Sarojini took over at this point and continued the campaign.
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Jawaharlal Nehru writes in his book "The Discovery of India," "It was not only the display of courage and daring, but what was even more surprising was the organizational power she showed." Sarojini was an outstanding orator. Her ability to communicate impressed everyone she met. She possessed a well-rounded personality and could captivate audiences with her pure honesty and patriotism.
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Even though she was a member of Congress and was close to Mahatma Gandhi, Sarojini Naidu's nationalist vision was far more militant than Gandhi's. Sarojini Naidu appears to have spoken in two voices as a feminist, one through her poetry and the other through her public persona. Her portrayal of the Indian woman exemplifies this dual feminist consciousness, as she depicts the world-weary sensations, the stasis, and the unmistakable agony of Indian women with nowhere to go in the world.
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As Sarojini Naidu's political profile grew, she became the first Indian woman to be elected President of the Indian National Congress in 1925. Her poetry took on a new portrayal of Indian womanhood. India was also portrayed as a sleeping Mother who needed to be awoken by her daughter.
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At a conference on widow marriage in Madras in 1908, she laid the groundwork for her significant contribution to the women's movement. Following the Jalianwalla Bagh incident, in which hundreds of men, women, and children were mercilessly gunned down, women's political awareness grew. As a result, an increasing number of women joined the national movement.
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Pandita Ramabai, Anandi Gopal, and Savitribai Phule were among the many women who defied colonial patriarchy.
View of Gandhi:
- Gandhiji played a crucial role in promoting women's participation in the national movement. According to him, marriage should only be considered when the couple desires children. His views on women and his leadership in the freedom struggle had a significant impact on the status of women in Indian society.
- Gandhiji strongly opposed child marriage, considering it a cruel social custom that harms a child's physical and mental health. He also believed that enforced widowhood was irrational, particularly for child widows, and that their parents should make efforts to remarry them.
- Gandhiji was appalled by the widespread practice of Devadasi, a social evil where many Devadasis resorted to religious prostitution due to poverty. He also condemned Purdah, considering it detrimental to a woman's mental and physical well-being.
- Gandhiji firmly believed that women have a right to education that should not be limited to the three R's. Education should help individuals fulfil their responsibilities effectively.
- Gandhiji's advocacy for women's political participation is one of his greatest contributions to their liberation. He believed that women, like men, should play an equal role in achieving Swaraj for India. Women were encouraged and welcomed to participate in the independence struggle using non-cooperation and non-violence methods. As a result, a large number of women took part in India's independence struggle.
Contribution of women in national movement:
• They were active in the Swadeshi movement, which included boycotts of foreign goods, nonpayment of taxes, and picketing of liquor stores, among other things.
• Women took part in the non-cooperation movement of 1921 and the civil disobedience movement of 1930 in large numbers.
• Indian women realised the importance of living life as conscious human beings as a result of being associated with and participating in the freedom struggle.
• Kamaladevi Chattopadhyaya, Kalpana Dutt, and Madame Bhikaji Cama were among the prominent female activists.