India has had its significant share of influential women politicians over the years. It’s a tradition that goes back to the freedom struggl...
India has had its significant share of influential women politicians over the years. It’s a tradition that goes back to the freedom struggle, which had significant participation by women.
When the Constituent Assembly of India was formed in 1946 to draw up a Constitution for the soon-to-be independent nation, it had 15 women members. They are mainly known as freedom fighters but they were also opinionated political leaders, who were unafraid to speak their minds and passionately advocated their beliefs.
Gandhian thought had a profound impact on these women leaders because his call to actively join the struggle for freedom empowered women from all walks of life. They were firm believers in Gandhian ways of social reform and diligently followed his philosophy, both to achieve their political ideals and in their personal lives as well.
Going through their Constituent Assembly speeches, one is immediately struck by the fact that these women participated in deliberations about a variety of topics. They represented different communities, had contrarian viewpoints and brought distinctive suggestions to the table, even if they weren’t adopted later on. They had progressive views on women’s issues but that is where the similarity ends. They had diverse ideological opinions on different subjects, went back and...
