“THE CONTRIBUTION OF WOMEN TO SIGNIFICANT NATIONALIST MOVEMENTS IN INDIA”
- By Deepanshi Narula
In 1905, Abanindranath Tagore, the famous Indian artist, personified India as an ascetic figure, a Bharat Mata, or Mother India. The painting, inspired by the Swadeshi movement, showed “Bharat Mata” as dispensing wisdom, food, clothing and salvation through her four hands, evocative of Hindu imagery, which equates multiple hands with immense power. The impact of the painting was such that it became the new deity in the country and was used throughout the nationalist movements. In subsequent years, the image of Bharat Mata acquired many different forms, as it circulated in popular prints, and was painted by different artists, but the idea of India as a fierce, female figure remained the same.
It is ironic that in a country where a female figure became the face of the nationalist movement, the actual participation of women in those movements often remained dismal. However, it was not so much because of participation in low numbers but because of their participation being overshadowed by influential men who generally led and directed these movements. In fact, information from the first half of the 20th century, especially from the Civil Disobedience movement, counters the statement that women participated in low numbers.
There have been numerous women in India’s history who spent all their lives in the service of the country in an attempt to liberate it from the shackles of imperialism. Here, we must also mention the thousands of common women, outside the political world, who came out of their homes and domestic lives to support those fighting for swaraj. Just like the French Revolution wouldn’t have been successful without the participation of women, the Indian Nationalist Movement too would have derailed without their efforts. It is regrettable that these women rarely find a spot in our history texts. Let’s try to understand here their contribution to various movements of the last two centuries.
THE REVOLT OF 1857
The Revolt of 1857, also regarded as India's First War of Independence, was a prolonged period of armed uprising as well as rebellions in Northern and Central India against British occupation of that part of the subcontinent. This war brought about the end of the British East India Company’s rule in India, and led to the direct rule by the British Government (British Raj) of much of the Indian Subcontinent for the next 90 years.
The war, although unsuccessful, played a crucial role in bringing people together against the British Raj. It was also crucial because gender barriers crumbled as women fought this war as equals. Whether it was Asghari Begum, who was caught and burnt alive by the British in 1858, or Bhagwati Devi, who was hanged for raising arms against the East India Company, women not only participated in the movement but also undertook leading roles.
Many women, like Rani Laxmibai and Hazrat Begum Mahal, even held commanding roles. Hazrat Mahal resisted the British for over 10 years and commanded one of the largest armies of all rebel leaders. However, women who charged against the British were not always from royal families. Asghari Begum was one such woman and played a leading role in the anti-British activities in Western Uttar Pradesh. Apart from that, 12 rebel women were executed by the British for engaging in anti-British activities.
CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE MOVEMENT
Gandhiji inaugurated the Civil Disobedience Movement by conducting the historic Dandi Salt March, where he broke the Salt Laws imposed by the British Government. On 6th April 1930, Gandhi with the accompaniment of seventy nine satyagrahis, violated the Salt Law by picking up a fistful of salt lying on the sea shore. The Civil Disobedience Movement was an important milestone in the history of Indian Independence. The aim of this movement was a complete disobedience of the orders of the British Government.
One of the most important features of the Civil Disobedience movement was the large scale participation of women. During Gandhiji’s Salt March, thousands of women participated in marches, manufactured salt and picketed foreign cloth and liquor shops. Many even went to jail.
In urban areas, these women were from high caste educated families like Sarojini Naidu, Vijaylakshmi Pandit, Kasturba Gandhi, Satyavati Devi and Kasturba Gandhi. In rural areas, women came from rich peasant households. Bengal, being the centre of female education in India, increased the women’s participation in the movement. In 1930, women rallied before Bethune College, Calcutta in support of Civil Disobedience.
NON-COOPERATION MOVEMENT
The Non-cooperation movement was launched on 1 August 1920 by Mahatma Gandhi with the aim of self-governance and obtaining full independence as the Indian National Congress withdrew its support for British reforms following the Rowlatt Act of 17 March 1919, and the Jallianwala Bagh massacre of 13 April 1919. Through non-violent means or Ahimsa, protesters would refuse to buy British goods, adopt the use of local handicrafts and picket liquor shops.The ideas of Ahimsa and non-violence, and Gandhi's ability to rally hundreds of thousands of common citizens towards the cause of Indian independence, was first seen on a large scale in this movement through the summer of 1920.
Sarla Devi, Muthulaxmi Reddy, Susheela Nair, Rajkumari Amrit Kaur, Sucheta Kripalani and Aruna Asaf Ali are some the women who participated in the non-violent movement. Kasturba Gandhi, the wife of Mahatma Gandhi, and the women of the Nehru family, Kamla Nehru, Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit and Swarup Rani participated in the National Movement. Lado Rani Zutshi and her daughters Manmohini, Shyama and Janak led the movement in Lahore.
QUIT INDIA MOVEMENT
The Quit India Movement, or the August Movement, was a movement launched at the Bombay session of the All-India Congress Committee by Mahatma Gandhi on 8 August 1942, during World War II, demanding an end to British Rule of India.
Following his call for civil disobedience, Gandhi, along with all the leaders, was imprisoned, leaving the movement leaderless. In the absence of any organised structure, people engaged in the most daring and spontaneous acts of protest against British rule. Railway lines were disrupted, police stations were burnt down and telegraph services destroyed. The British retaliated in vehement terms using ‘lathi charges’ and making mass arrests. An aspect of the movement that is rarely spoken about is the way it encouraged women to come out of the thresholds of their homes and raise their voice against British rule. With majority of the men behind bars, women took to the streets, raising slogans, holding public lectures and demonstrations and even making and transporting explosives.
Women were also one of the worst sufferers of British retaliation. It was common for British officials to forcefully enter households and slap, beat up and rape women. While women numbering in hundreds had participated in agitations, there are some women who left a clear mark when one talks about the role of women in the ‘Quit India movement’.
Thus, any discussion on Quit India Movement would be incomplete without mentioning the contribution of Sucheta Kripalani, Aruna Asaf Ali, Matangini Hazra and the thousands of other women who participated in it and made it successful in helping India attain self-governance.
REFERENCES:
Tharoor, Nehru: The Invention of India (2003) p.26-36
"1942 Quit India Movement – Making Britain". www.open.ac.uk. Archived from the original on 23 June 2018. Retrieved 1 May 2018.
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