Discovering New Horizons: Women and the Non-violent Struggle for Independence in India

- By Usha Thakkar

The participation of the Indian women in the non-violent struggle under Gandhi's leadership against the unjust British rule is a glorious chapter not only in the history of India but also in the history of the twentieth century. Women's entry into national politics through non-violent methods brought miraculous results. On the one hand women became aware of their own inner strength, and on the other the human and moral elements gained legitimacy in politics. While charting a new course in the history of the twentieth century Indian women's non-violent struggle has carved some messages for the twenty first century also. It has demonstrated that to be weak is not a crime and to be powerless is not a folly. What is required in the struggle against injustice is the inner strength rooted in non-violence. The pre-condition of the effective struggle against inequality is freedom from fear. Women can be a force to reckon with when committed to a cause with conviction. They do not have to follow the accepted male dominated political norms to be effective. They can evolve their own perception of power and politics and they can find their own methods.

Gandhi was confident that "If non-violence is the law of our being, the future is with women."¹ His experience of participation of women in the non-violent struggle till the end of his life bears testimony to the fact that women never failed his expectations. Women's participation in the non-violent struggle gave a new dimension to Indian politics and changed their own perspective of life. Women discovered new horizons as they become aware of their potentials. There is a lot of truth in the observation by C.F. Andrews that among all the different interests which occupied Gandhi's attention in India, very few can be compared with his earnest support to the women's movement.² Thousands of women, some famous and many unnoticed heroines of India learnt the meaning of liberation from him and contributed with all their energy to the struggle for independence. Gandhi had a special reason for encouraging women to be self-reliant; he believed that "When woman, whom we call abala becomes sabala, all those who are helpless will become powerful".³

An attempt is made in the present paper to understand the contribution made by the women to the non-violent struggle for independence and the implications and messages of this struggle.

I

Indian history is resplendent with examples of women (mostly queens) who joined and led armed struggle against the enemy. Rani Laxmibai of Jhansi is one of the brightest stars among them. Coming to the twentieth century, we find that women had their specific response in 1905 at the time of the partition of Bengal. Women expressed their feelings by taking part in Rabindranath Tagore's plan of rakhi-bandhan on the partition day, 16th October 1905, and by answering Romendrasundar Trivedi's call of not lighting the hearth for cooking on that day. The fact that fiery spirit was awakened is proved by an incident when 500 women went to congratulate the mother of an editor of an extremist newspaper, who was sentenced for sedition.

Though emancipation of women was not mentioned as a specific object of the Indian National Congress at the time of its establishment on 28th December 1885, its membership was open for women. Educated women started taking part in the activities of the Congress, but the pace of this participation was rather slow.⁴ When the Congress adopted the programme of boycott, Swadeshi and national education between 1905 and 1915, women contributed a lot in popularising this programme. Home Rule movement also attracted women. According to Annie Besant, the strength of the Home Rule movement was rendered ten-fold greater by the adhesion to it of large number of women, who brought to its helping the uncalculating heroism, the endurance, and self-sacrifice of the feminine nature.⁵

It was under Gandhi's leadership that women discovered their potential strength and contributed their best with verve and vigour. It was Gandhi who turned traditional symbols and ideas into sources of energy and inspiration for thousands of Indian women. As walls of conventions and traditions crumbled against the force of nationalism, Indian women came out of the sheltered existence to play an important role in the non-violent struggle. Gandhi's presence had an electrifying effect on Indian women - rich and poor, urban and rural educated and uneducated. He brought a silent revolution in the perception of life for women. In his words, "My contribution to the great problem (of women's role in society) lies in my presenting for acceptance of truth and ahimsa in every walk of life, whether for individuals or nations. I have hugged the hope that in this, woman will be the unquestioned leader and, having thus found her place in human evolution, will shed her inferiority complex."⁶

It was in South Africa that Gandhi become aware of the power of women as participants in his non-violent struggle. When Gandhi launched his first Satyagraha in South Africa against the British policy of racial discrimination, the oppressed sections had discovered a powerful weapon in nonviolent methods. Initially Gandhi did not ask women to join the Satyagraha, but later on agreed to do so under Kasturba's pressure. Indian women felt insulted by the judgement delivered by Justice Searle of the Cape town Supreme Court declaring only those marriages legal, which were celebrated according to Christian rights and registered by the Registrar of Marriages. Gandhi sent a group of sixteen, including Kasturba, from Phoenix settlement in Natal to the Transvaal. After a few days a batch of eleven women from Tolstoy Farm in the Transvaal crossed into Natal without permits and were arrested. There were 127 women among the coal miners who marched to Charlestown. The women, who had hardly stepped out of their homes, had to suffer hardships of jail. Valliamma Moonsamy Moodaliar, a young girl of 16 years succumbed to the fatal fever contacted in jail.⁷

Gandhi's entry in Indian politics changed its very context. Life for women also started changing. Love for the motherland made a silent entry in the private world of women, and brought a silent revolution.⁸ Women started doing spontaneously some activities which would not come under suspicion like sheltering persons who were offenders in the eyes of British law, inculcating nationalist ideas in the children in the family, supporting and encouraging political activities of men in the family. Women from all parts of the country came out of their homes to organise meetings and processions, to sell Khadi, to spread the message of Swadeshi and to picket nearby liquor shops and shops of foreign cloth.

In the battle fought by Gandhi at Champaran in 1917, women helped by organising literacy classes and contacting people in their homes. Soon after Champaran Satyagraha, Gandhi was in Ahmedabad to espouse the cause of the workers of the textile mills. Anasuyaben Sarabhai, sister of the famous mill-owner Ambalal Sarabhai, became his loyal follower. In the Congress session after the Jallianwala Baug massacre, a nation-wide programme of boycotting the British titles, courts and academic institutions as well as the picketing of liquor-shops was launched. Gandhi asked women to respond with their might and women did not disappoint him. Women contributed generously to Tilak Swaraj Fund by giving money and jewellery. Gandhiji's language had a direct appeal for women. He compared the British rule with Ravan-rajya, and said that as Sita did not co-operate with Ravana, so the Indian people must not co-operate with this Rakshasi - Sarkar (devil's rule).⁹

The programme of boycott of courts and schools was accepted by the Congress on August 10, 1920. In September 1920, the non-cooperation resolution was put in the Congress session at Calcutta and was ratified at Nagpur in December same year. April 6-13, 1921 was declared Satyagraha week, women started participating in meeting organised during this week. They started Rashtriya Stree Sangh in Bengal. Volunteers responded to C. R. Das's call to sell Khadi on streets of Calcutta. His wife Basanti Devi and his sister Urmila Devi were among the arrested on 7 December 1921, but released soon. Soon crowds gathered to exert pressure on the police to release women. The next day, December 8, 1921, the city was in commotion. When women from Das family resumed picketing cloth shops and selling Khadi, many women volunteers and students joined them. Gandhi urged women from other parts to follow the example of women from Bengal. Basanti Devi presided over the Bengal Provincial Conference at Chittagong and Kasturba chaired the Gujarat Provincial Conference in 1922. Rameshwari Nehru started a Kumari Sabha in Allahabad to encourage girls for public speaking and discussions.

Women had impressive demonstrations in Bengal. They sold khadi, picketed cloth and liquor shops and made salt. Women like Hemprabha Majumdar were working with dauntless courage. Latika Ghosh, an oxford educated teacher organised the Mahila Rashtriya Sangha in 1928 to mobilise women for political work. Its women members wanted Swaraj and an improved status for women. Latika Ghosh mobilised women by evoking the stories of the battles between Devis (goddesses) and Asuras (demons), the Shakti image and the deeds of the Rajput women. In 1928, Subhash Bose decided that uniformed women volunteers would march with men in the procession to inaugurate the annual Congress meeting in Calcutta. He made Latika Ghosh a Colonel and gave her responsibility for this which she performed very well. In response to the call of the Congress, Nari Satyagraha Samiti was formed in 1929 in Calcutta with Urmila Devi as its president. Jyotimayee Ganguli as vice-president, Santi Das and Bimal Protiba Devi as joint-secretaries. Women from middleclass families attracted public attention when they joined the processions or picketed the foreign-goods shops. Some women's organisations in Calcutta like Nari Satyagraha Committee and Rashtriya Mahila Sangh, had played an important role in breaking the salt law.

Gujarat was not to be left behind. Women participated in Borsad Satyagraha of 1923-24 in large numbers. Thousands of women came to Gandhi's meeting, and remained firm even when their cattle and property were confiscated by the police. The Bardoli Satyagraha of 1928 also witnessed increasing participation of women. Women supported men in their decision of not paying taxes, even when their cows, buffaloes and land were confiscated. Sardar Patel noted that women were better than men in firmness and forthrightness. Maniben Patel, Mithuben Petit and Bhaktiba Desai were in the forefront of this Satyagraha. Participation of thousands of rural women in the Satyagraha had made it a special struggle. At the All-Indian Ladies Conference in Ahmedabad, 6000 listened to Bi Amman, the mother of Shaukat Ali and Muhammad Ali, leaders of the All-India Khilafat Committee. Bi Amman asked women to enlist as Congress volunteers and, if men were arrested, to join the picket lines and keep the flag flying.¹⁰

Gandhi's Dandi march on March 12, 1930 opened a new chapter in India's history, but his decision not to include women in it disappointed women. The Women's Indian Association protested against their exclusion on the ground that in a non-violent struggle, any discrimination on the ground of sex was unnatural and liable to work against the awakened consciousness of women. There were many individual protests also. Women like Khurshedben, Dadabhai Naoroji's grand daughter asked Gandhi the reason for preventing women from joining him.

Ultimately, Gandhi had to permit women to fully participate in the Satyagraha. He named Sarojini Naidu as his second successor after Abbas Tyabji and she carried out her mission with rare distinction. On Gandhi's way there were meetings with thousands of women in them. At the village Abhrama on 10th April 1930 in an audience of 5000, no less than 2000 were women; at Matwad, on 11th April a quarter of the audience was women; at Dandi on 13th April more than 500 women received him.¹¹ Gandhi talked to women in such meetings about their duties to the nation, i.e., picketing liquor and toddy shops, boycotting the taxed salt and spinning Khadi.

Women's participation in the civil disobedience movement was more intense and meaningful than in the early 1920s.

Bombay women's picketing and demonstrations during 1930-32 attracted the attention of the country and press. Rashtriya Stree Sangh contributed well to the national cause with Sarojini Naidu as the President and Goshiben Naoroji Captian and Avantikabai Gokhale as vice-presidents. By 1930, Desh Sevika Sangh emerged with its women members ready for action.

In response to Gandhi's call, women in Bombay formed an organisation to plan and direct efforts to close shops selling foreign cloth. The sixth of April, the anniversary of the Amritsar massacre was chosen for breaking the salt law. Seven persons, including two women, Kamaladevi Chattopadhyaya and Avantikabai Gokhale, were the first to go to the beach and boil sea water. Kamaladevi described women's participation in poetic words: "Women turned every house into a sanctuary for the law breaker. They lent sanctity to their act by their purity of spirit. Even the mightiest military power cannot cope with a struggle that has its being in the sacred precincts of the home."¹² The Bombay Chronicle reported that thousands of Gujarati women marched at the Chowpatty sea face, collected sea water in their brass and copper jugs.¹³ Women volunteers picketed toddy shops in the heart of the city and asked owners to close down and patrons to leave the premises. Some women sold salt on the streets, and some went house to house urging housewives to buy only Swadeshi products.¹⁴ This campaign was directed by Desh Sevika Sangh formed by Hansa Mehta and others. Goshiben Captain (1884 - 1970), one of the founding members, insisted on impeccable credentials of the members.

Women addressed public meetings, sold proscribed literature, helped organising Vanar and Manjjar Senas (monkey and cat armies of children) and faced police atrocities. Some of them worked as "dictators" of the war councils. Through the summer of 1930 "day by day, the streets of Bombay would be livened in the early morning with the songs of freedom sung by troops of patriots rousing the people to action.... Women could be found all over the city, sitting outside the liquor shops and foreign cloth shops, plying their little 'spinning wheels' called taklis, silently warning every Indian that he must not buy from that shop.... Many of the women had never taken any part in public life before".¹⁵

Sarojini Naidu was nominated as the leader of the raid on the Dharasana salt works. She directed the protest that began on 15th May 1930, was arrested the same day and released. On May 21st she led the second batch of raiders, was arrested and sentenced for a year in prison. Her example inspired many women.

The contribution of women from Maharashtra has remained notable. Pandita Ramabai and Kashibai Kanetkar were amongst the first women to attend the Congress session. Ramabai Ranade had played an important part in the suffragette movement. Yesu Savarkar was active in Atmanishtha Yuvati Sangh in Nasik. Laxmibai Thuse was involved with Home Rule movement in Pune. Avantikabai Gokhale, Gandhi's disciple, was called 'Sarojini of Maharashtra' by Tilak. Padmavati Harrolikar (Satyabhama Kuvalekar) took interest in organising women and spreading Khadi. Janakibai Apte, Premabai Kantak, Malinibai Sukhtankar, Godavari Parulekar, Anutai Bhagwat, Leelatai and Annapurna Deshmukh worked tirelessly for the nation. Women like Kasturba, Sarladevi Sarabhai, Mridula Sarabhai, Indumati Sheth, Mithuben Petit, Nanduben Kanuga and Maniben Patel emerged as leaders from Gujarat. And there were many women like Gangaben Vaidya who translated Gandhian ideals in life.

The response of women from places like Allahabad, Lucknow, Delhi and Lahore was unprecedented. Leadership came from the elite families, but the followers were from all sections. Women from the Nehru family were in the forefront. Swarup Rani Nehru, Motilal Nehru's wife and Jawaharlal Nehru's mother, came out from the sheltered life to participate in the non-violent struggle and to bear the brunt of the police lathis. Kamala Nehru, Jawaharlal Nehru's wife, displayed heroic courage and activity in spite of her frail health.

Parvati Devi- Lala Lajpatrai's daughter, Lado Rani Zutshithe wife of Motilal Nehru's nephew, and her three daughtersManmohini, Shyama and Janaki - led the movement in Lahore. Manmohini was active with the nationalist activities of the students. As a protest against the death sentence to Bhagat Singh and his comrades, she organised successful picketing at three colleges in Lahore.

In Delhi, Satyavati Devi, the granddaughter of Swami Shraddhananda, was one of the prominent leaders. She asked women to join the struggle to liberate the motherland. She became very sick in the prison, but continued the work throughout the 1930s. Women's demonstrations in Delhi were powerful and inspired many men to join the freedom struggle.

Bengal was vibrant with activities initiated by women. In Calcutta women's organisations like Nari Satyagraha Committee and Rashtriya Mahila Sangh broke the salt law.

Madras also displayed political involvement of women, though not so intense as in Bengal or Bombay. S. Ambujammal was a follower of Gandhi's ideology. In 1928, she decided to form the Women's Swadeshi League. They took the Swadeshi vow, and spread the message of Khadi. Ambujammal was the president of the organisation with Smt. Jamammal as treasurer. Krishnabai Rao organised the Desh Sevikas under the aegis of the Swadeshi League. They picketed at shops selling foreign cloth and propagated values of Swadeshi. Rukmani Lakshmipathy was with C. Rajagopalachari in his march to Vedaranyam to break salt laws in 1931. She was arrested and became the first woman political prisoner in Vellore women's jail. Durgabai showed her potential as leader when she suggested Salt Satyagraha for garnering support of the people for civil disobedience movement. After writing to Gandhi, she persuaded T. Prakasam to lead the volunteers, who designated Durgabai the 'dictator' of the movement. The latter did her duty very well, but was arrested and put in prison.

Women in Bihar had leaders like Mira Devi, Mrs. Hasan Imam, Mrs. C.C. Das, Gauri Das and Vindhya Vasini Devi who worked sincerely and successfully for mobilising women to participate in the nationalist struggle. Women leaders like Kamladevi Chattopadhyaya, Umabai Kundapur, Krishnabai Panjikar, Ballari Siddama and Gowramma remained active in Karnataka.

The civil disobedience movement in Orissa became powerful with contribution of women like Rama Devi, Kishorimani Devi, Malati Choudhary, Subhadra Devi, A. Laxmi Bai an Annapurna Devi. While many women contributed to the constructive programme, some under the leadership of Malati Choudhary started Socialist movement. Kuntala Kumari Sabat, a nationalist writer, appealed to women to come out of the kitchen and join hands with the Satyagrahis.

It seemed that women were charged with energy. Over 80,000 persons were arrested during the Salt Satyagraha of whom more than 17,000 were women.¹⁶

Taking note of the fact that not only elite women but women from all sections of society, peasants and professional women, students and artists, housewives and working women had spontaneously participated in the movement, Jawaharlal Nehru wrote : "Here were these women, women of the upper or middle classes leading sheltered lives in their homes, peasant women, working-class women, rich women, poor women pouring out in their tens of thousands in defiance of government order and police lathi,"¹⁷

Women were active in the princely states also. 700 women were lathi-charged in the Viramgam Satyagraha in May 1930. They took part in the Rajkot Satyagraha of 1938-39 also.¹⁸

The Congress Working Committee in 1930 adopted a resolution regarding its "grateful tribute to the women of India for the noble part they are progressively playing in the present struggle for national freedom, and the readiness they have increasingly shown to brave assaults, abuses, lathi-charges and imprisonment while carrying on the Congress work.¹⁹

When Gandhi inaugurated his programme of Individual Satyagraha in October 1940, Sucheta Kripalani was one of the earliest to join. Quit India movement of August 1942 brought new vigour to the freedom struggle. All the important leaders were arrested on 9th August at the public meeting at Gowalia tank in Mumbai. Aruna Asaf Ali unfurled the flag, went underground and earned admiration of the people. She remained underground for four years and published bulletins and with Dr. Lohia edited the Inquilab. Usha Mehta, with her three colleagues, made history by operating the underground radio. They called themselves "the Congress Radio operating from somewhere in India". They gave regular news about the Congress and the freedom struggle with the messages of leaders at 7.30 p.m. from August to 13 November 1942, till she was arrested with her colleagues. She was sentenced to four years rigorous imprisonment at Yervada jail. These young fighters looked upon Dr. Ram Manohar Lohia and Achyut Patwardhan for guidance. Women like Sophia Khan, Prema Kantak, Maniben, Nanavati and Rehana Tyabji were busy in spreading the nationalist ideals.

Women all over the country felt compelled to respond to the struggle. Kanaklata Barua in Assam led the procession of the people and fell victim to firing. Matangini Hazra of seventy-three years of age in Midnapore in Bengal carrying the national flag in a procession succumbed to the soldier's bullets. In Karnataka, young students Hemlata and Gulwadi attacked the building of the court and exhorted the judge to resign. In Punjab a young school girl, while answering the questions of the police, captured the mood of those times. To the question 'what is your name?', her answer was 'Baghi (rebel) No. 1,2,3'. To the question 'what is your father's name?', her answer was 'Gandhi', and to the question 'what is your mother's name?', the answer was 'Bharatmata.'

The police tried to repress the popular uprising with brutality and force. A special train with Indian and European soldiers was going to Wardha. Some soldiers looted the property and raped the women at Chimur. There was much public protest. Bhansali, a respected leader and associate of Gandhi, went on an indefinite fast against the outrageous behaviour with women. The Congress radio was the first to announce the news about the rape of women at Ashti and Chimur.

The upheaval caused by the 1942 movement continued till the attainment of independence. Women, young and old, were involved in this great struggle. They went to the jail sometimes with their babies and contributed to the programmes of constructive work. There were, however, some women who joined the revolutionary activities for the independence of the nation.²⁰

Biographies, autobiographies and personal interviews of some women fighters give us the glimpses of their saga of sacrifice and their strength to stand on their own feet in adverse situations. It is not easy to know about all the women who participated in the freedom struggle. Names and contributions of some women have been retained, but many remain virtually unknown, their sacrifices unacknowledged and their contributions unnoticed. The task calls for intensive concerted research and collection of data from old records and oral history.

II

The glimpses of women's participation in the freedom struggle bring on surface some important undercurrents and the lessons for the twenty-first century. Though the history of women's non-violent protests goes back to Rome in 195 B.C. when women had protested collectively in a non-violent way against the law prohibiting Roman women from wearing purple and gold-traditional insignia of power and authority - in public and from riding in horse-drawn carriages in towns and cities, it is in this century that the frequency and diversity of collective action and non-violent protest by women have increased.²¹ Women in different countries are raising their voices against injustice and are making concerted efforts to remove discrimination. Women's actions have very often roots in their spontaneous, non-violent and firm response to a particular issue. Women organise themselves in peaceful demonstrations and processions against the unjust power structure and channelise their energy towards some meaningful goal. Most of the Indian women, who participated in the freedom struggle, also got involved in this non-violent struggle spontaneously and wholeheartedly. This unprecedented phenomenon while making the history in the twentieth century contains some messages for the twenty first century also.

The Indian women by their non-violent struggle demonstrated that inner strength is more powerful than the brute force, and the so-called weak can be strong. This powerful lesson is important for us as we prepare ourselves to enter the next century with apprehension and hope. The Indian women also showed the strength of peaceful collective action. There were thousands of women, unacknowledged and virtually unknown, who have given everything they had for the nation. It is not easy to get the record of their names and work. Some studies concentrating on specific regions throw light on the role played by women of those regions. There are also some men and women living today, who talk about the glorious days of the freedom struggle. They indicate that women from almost all sections of the society participated in the struggle. Women from cities and villages, from professions and homes, from high castes and low castes had plunged into the freedom struggle and worked as never before. As for example, Patidar peasant women were active in Ras, Borsad and Bardoli.²²

The life-stories of such women and interaction with some women freedom fighters like Lakshmi Menon, Kamaladevi Chattopadhyaya, Ratan Shastri and Usha Mehta bring out their perception of freedom, which is of crucial importance to the oppressed sections of society. Liberty has to be conceptualised in its totality. The obstacles facing women in the way of liberty are many. The most difficult stem from the institutions of the family and the society coupled with women's own socialisation and dependent self-image. Women's participation in the freedom struggle changed many perceptions. In a way the Indian women feminised nationalism and the nationalist struggle helped them to liberate from ageold social taboos and traditional norms. A scholar has noted an example where a married woman freedom fighter broke her glass bangles, when told that they were made of Czechoslovakian glass. She did not even for a moment think that it is a bad omen for a married woman to break her bangles.²³ Such examples are not few and far between. They suggest that though these women did not challenge the traditional roles, they did discover new freedom and mobility. Their involvement in politics emphasised the spirit of cooperation and not competition with men. Barriers of caste and class often crumbled while singing, or walking in prabhatferis or cooking together. The sharp dividing line between private and public became blurred, and the Indian woman could establish relation between her life and the nation. She learnt that meaning of politics in the language she understood. Life for her after participation in the freedom struggle was never the same again. Her perception towards the self, the family and the society had undergone a change. As Bharati Ray argues, involvement in the freedom struggle had taught women the basics of agitational politics, and the breaking of the carapace of traditional domestic life had widened their horizon. They had begun, as their writing indicates, slowly to comprehend the reasons for their oppression and to perceive the need to organise their own associations as a source of strength.²⁴

The principles and techniques of Satyagraha provided much needed space and solace to women. They could, through these, present a critique of the colonial state, which was unethical. Truth cannot be achieved in a soulless regime, so one had to strive for Swaraj, and it was not of any shame or embarrassment to be feminine and weak. As argued by Amrit Srinivasan, the domestic or civil domain was not deemed the submerged, weak and ineffectual 'female' domain within the 'male' world of state politics. At the highest level of aberration, the Gandhian science of Swaraj was preoccupied with the 'feminine' in a way in which all ethical programmes which involve themselves with the world and its transformation are.²⁵ The Gandhian critique of the authoritarian colonial state which emerged during the freedom struggle contained women's perspective of politics. Women demonstrated by non-violent struggle against the unjust rule that they had their own vision of future and their own concept of peace. And as pointed out by Karen J. Warren and Duane L. Cady. "Feminism and peace share an important conceptual connection. Both are critical of and committed to the elimination of, coercive power-over privilege systems of domination as a basis of interaction between individuals and groups. A feminist critique and development of any peace politics, therefore, ultimately is a critique of systems of unjustified domination".²⁶

Women's participation in the non-violent struggle also brings out the interplay between nationalism and feminism. Under Gandhi's leadership the Indian women started discovering their identities, they started becoming aware of the fact that they were not objects of men's lust but selfreliant individuals. They learnt to respect themselves and to value their contribution to social and political cause as women. The non-violent struggle legitimised women's role in the movement as women. To be a woman was no longer considered to be inferior to a man. Gandhi maintained, "To call woman the weaker sex is a libel; it is man's injustice to women. If by strength is meant brute strength, then indeed is woman less brute than man. If by strength is meant moral power, then woman is immeasurably man's superior.”²⁷ Gandhi saw that the low status of women was the result of prejudices and adverse traditions, which were centuries old. Woman was reduced to the position of the slave "who did not know that he could or ever had to be free".²⁸ It is difficult to get women interested in the larger problems of life and because they knew nothing of them, having never been allowed to breathe the fresh air of freedom.²⁹

Women realised that the only factor that would enable them to come out of such situation was the determination and strength of women themselves. Though men should help in the cause of women, Gandhi maintained, "ultimately woman will have to determine with authority what she needs".³⁰ The Satyagraha movements gave women opportunities to take decisions, and to strengthen the bonds of sisterhood. Feminism and nationalism were never mutually exclusive for women in women's organisations like Women's Indian Association, All India Women's Conference and National Council of Women in India. There may have been conflict with the nationalists over priorities and tactics but not over ultimate goals.³¹ Feminism and nationalism were closely interlinked. As the national movement gained momentum, the goal of independence became the only concern for both men and women. The women's movement in India had none of the man-woman antagonism characteristic of women's movement in the West.

Women followed Gandhi, because they found something in him which had direct links with their lives. They discovered their own potential and strength as they got involved in the freedom struggle. As pointed out by Laxmi Menon, women joined the movement because his message. "Offered the women of India an opportunity to break from the past with all its frustrations."³² According to Aloo Dastur and Usha Mehta, one of the enduring results of Gandhi's great life work has been the awakening of women which made them shed their deep-rooted inferiority complex and rise to great heights of valour and dignity, of self-reliance and achievement.³³

Vina Mazumdar also stresses that Gandhi's greatest contribution to the movement for raising women's status lay in his revolutionary approach to women's roles in society, and their personal dignity as individuals.³⁴ As Devaki Jain argues, though many of Gandhi's statements on women may seem jarring when read today, Gandhi seems to have been intuitively attuned to women, and to have seen women's potential more clearly than any other political or religious leader in any part of the world. He perceived women equal, but different. In their difference, Gandhi himself identified with woman.³⁵

While the nationalist struggle provided women with an opportunity to enter the public sphere and bring changes in their lives and around, it has to be noted that it could not totally transform the reality. The chains of the traditions and conventional thinking could not be thrown off totally. As pointed out by some scholars, "the struggle against a common oppressor effectively diverted attention from other potential conflicts within the social system."³⁶ Moreover, since 'patriotism was subsumed within religion', women's participation filled into the traditional cultural matrix.³⁷ It is also argued that Gandhi recruited women to channel the energies of an emerging women's movement into the political movement he controlled.³⁸ In addition, Gandhi created a new myth of Indian womanhood, Sita - like in her devotion to service and self-sacrifice, whether in her family or to her nation. In that context, the essential issues related to women's emancipation could not be taken up.³⁹

The magic of the Mahatma however encompasses the participation of women in the freedom struggle.⁴⁰ Women from different sections, classes, regions and religions were attracted to Gandhi. His calm words and non-violent ways of working made it possible for women to traverse effortlessly between their private world of home and public world of the nationalist struggle. He used the language they understood, he used the symbols they were familiar with. He gave the message of self-reliance through the charka and the use of Swadeshi products. Women under Gandhi's leadership learnt that they should seek justice, never favours".⁴¹ This important lesson of self-reliance is relevant for the next century also.

It has to be noted in this context that the women used democratic and transparent methods during the non-violent struggle. There was no organised structure and hence no hierarchy. Women (and men too) usually sat in a circle, implying equality of all and reached all the members by devotional group songs. The informal atmosphere and activities like walking or eating together encouraged sharing, and a strong bond was established among the women. There are instances where pregnant women or women with infants went to jail, and were looked after by their women colleagues there. Their families were taken care of by others who also had faith in the nationalist ideals. Human elements of such experiences are guidelines for human behaviour in the society. The activities of women in the non-violent freedom struggle give messages of inner strength, simplicity, self-reliance and the need to identify with the deprived sections. Some women's struggles like Chipko, anti-arrack and anti-dowry agitations and working of some women's organisations like Laxmi Ashram and SEWA indicate the strength of non-violent methods, which were nurtured by women during the freedom struggle.

Women's participation in the non-violent freedom struggle has heralded a new era for the nation as well as for women themselves. Though more than fifty years of independence have not brought for women the liberation from exploitation and injustice, the experience of participation in the freedom struggle has been very valuable. It has taught the women to aspire for freedom and to strive for it. Women have proved that they form an important part of history, and they can make history. Women struggling against injustice and deprived sections aspiring for freedom in the twenty-first century also can take inspiration from the experiences of the Indian women active in the non-violent freedom struggle.

Notes and References:

1. Young India, April 10, 1931.
2. C.F. Andrews, Mahatma Gandhi's Ideals Including Selections from his Writings (London: George Allen & Unwin Ltd. 1929). pp 320-40.
3. Message to All India Women's conference sent before December 23, 1936, The Hindu, December 24, 1936.
4. For details see Usha Mehta and Usha Thakkar, "Congress and Women in Congress in Indian Politics - A Centenary Perspective”, eds., Ram Joshi and Hebsur (Bombay: Popular Prakashan, 1987); Geraldine Forbes. "The Politics of Respectability : Indian Women and the Indian National Congress" in The Indian National Congress, ed. D. A Low (Delhi: Oxford University Press, 1988).
5. A.M and S.G. Zaidi, The Encyclopaedia of the Indian National Congress, Vol. 7 (New Delhi: S. Chand & Co, 1979), p. 200.
6. Harijan, February 24, 1940.
7. M.K. Gandhi, Satyagraha in South Africa. 2nd edition (Ahmedabad: Navajivan, 1950), pp. 281-2, p. 285.
8. For details of women's participation in the freedom struggle see Manmohan Kaur, Role of Women in the Freedom Movement, 1859 – 1947 (New Delhi: Sterling, 1968); Usha Bala, Indian Women Freedom Fighters, 1857 – 1947(New Delhi: Manohar 1986); Kamaladevi Chattopadhyay, Indian Women's Battle for Freedom (New Delhi: Abhinav Publications,1963); Vijay Agnew, Elite Women in Indian Politics (New Delhi: Vikas, 1979); Aparna Basu, The Role of Women in the Indian Struggle for Freedom in Indian Women : From Purdah to Modernity, ed. B. R. Nanda (New Delhi: Vikas,1976); Geraldine Forbes, Women in the Nationalist Movement, in her Women in Modern India. The New Cambridge History of India, IV. 2 (Cambridge University Press, 1996); Gail Minault, "Purdah Politics: The Role of Muslim Woman in Indian Nationalism - 1911 - 1924," in Separate Worlds, eds., Hannah Papanek and Gail Minault, (Delhi: Chanakya Publications, 1982); Rajani Alexander, "Participation and Perceptions : Women and the Indian independence Movement," Samya Shakti, Vol. 1, No. 2, 1984. There are also a number of regional studies. See for example Bharati Ray, "The Freedom Movement and Feminist Consciousness in Bengal, 1905-1929" in her From the Seams of History, Essays on Indian Women (New Delhi:Oxford University Press, 1995); Gail Pearson, "Nationalism, Universalization, and the Extended Female Space in Bombay City" in The Extended Family : Women and Political participation in India and Pakistan, ed. Gail Minault (Delhi: Chanakya Publications, 1981); Uma Rao, "Women in the Frontline : The Case of U.P," Sreeranjani Subba Rao, "Women and Indian Nationalism : A Case Study of Prominent Women Freedom Fighters of the East Godavari district of Andhra Pradesh" ; M. Indiradevi "Women and Nationalism : Case Study of Bihar" ; in Women and Indian Nationalism, eds., Leela Kasturi and Vina Mazumdar (New Delhi: Vikas, 1994); Yotsanamoyee Mohanty, Glimpses of Indian women in the Freedom Struggle (A study of Orissa) (New Delhi: Discovery, 1996).
9. Young India, November 28, 1920.
10. Gail Minault, "Purdah Politics : The Role of Muslim Women in Indian Nationalism - 1911 - 1924" in Separate Worlds, eds. Hannah Papanek and Gail Minault, op.cit. p. 454.
11. Cited from Aparna Basu, The role of women in the Indian struggle for freedom, in B.R. Nanda, ed. (New Delhi: Vikas 1976), p.24.
12. Kamaladevi Chattopadhyaya, "The Struggle for Freedom in India" in Women of India, ed. Tara Ali Baig (New Delhi: Govt. of India, 1958), p. 19.
13. Bombay Chronicle, April 14, 1930.
14. Bombay Chronicle, April 16,17,18, 1930.
15. Alexander Horace, Gandhi Through Western Eyes (Bombay, 1969), p. 64.
16. P.J. Thomas, Indian Women through the Ages (Bombay, 1964), p. 331.
17. Jawaharlal Nehru, Discovery of India, p. 32.
18. Kantilal M. Shah, Viramgam Satyagraha (in Gujarati) (Ahmedabad, 1974), Ramnarayan N. Pathak, Rajkot Satyagraha (in Gujarati) (Ahmedabad, 1974).
19. A.M. Zaidi and S. Zaidi, The Encyclopaedia of Indian National Congress, Vol. 10, p.589.
20. For details see Tirtha Mandal, The Women Revolutionaries of Bengal, 1905-1939 (Calcutta: Minerva,1991); Ishanee Mukherjee, Women and Armed Revolution in the late colonial Bengal : and integrated study of changing role pattern in Women and Nationalism, eds., Leela Kasturi and Vina Mazumbar, op. cit. Kalpana Dutt, Reminiscences (Bombay, 1945); Lakshmi Sahgal, A Revolutionary Life, Memories of a Political Activist (New Delhi: Kali for women, 1997).
21. For details see Bernice A. Carroll "Women take action: Women's direct action and social change", Women's Studies International Forum, vol. 12, No.1, 1989 pp. 3-24.
22. Chandrakant Patel, Swatantra Andolanma Ras (in Gujarati) (Ahmedabad,1975); Shivabhai G Patel, Borsad Satyagraha (in Gujarati) (Ahmedabad, 1975); Maniben Patel, Borsad Satyagraha (in Gujarati) (Ahmedabad, 1972).
23. Uma Rao, "Women in Frontline: the case of U.P" in Women and Indian Nationalism, eds., Leela Kasturi and Vina Mazumdar, op. cit, p. 45.
24. Bharati Ray, op. cit., p. 218.
25. Amrit Srinivasan, Women and Reform of Indian Tradition: Gandhian Alternative to Liberalism in Women and Nationalism, eds., Leela Kasturi and Vina Mazumdar, op. cit. p. 7.
26. Karen J. Warren and Duane L. Cady, "Feminism and Peace : Seeing Connections," Hypatia, special issue - Feminism and Peace, Vol. 9, No. 2, spring 1994, p. 6.
27. Young India, April 10, 1931.
28. Anand Hingorani, ed. (Gandhi Series), The Role of Women (Bombay: Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, 1964), p.1.
29. Ibid, pp. 213-14.
30. Harijan, February 24, 1940.
31. Geraldine Forbes, "The Indian Women's Movement: a Stuggle for Women's rights or National Liberation," in Gail Minault, ed., The Extended Family, op. cit. p. 62.
32. Laxmi Menon, "Women and National Movement," in Devki Jain, ed. Indian Wome, (New Delhi: Publications Division, Govt. of India, 1975), p. 23.
33. Aloo Dastur and Usha Mehta, Gandhi's Contribution to the Emancipation of Women (Bombay: Popular Prakashan, 1991), p. 1.
34. Vina Mazumdar, "The Social Reform Movement in India - from Ranade to Nehru", in B. R. Nanda ed. Indian Women : From Purdah to Modernity, op. cit., p. 58.
35. Devaki Jain, "Gandhian Contributions toward a Feminist Ethic" in Speaking of Faith, eds., Diana I. Elk and Devaki Jain (New Delhi: Kali for Women, 1986), pp. 255-270. Gali Minault, Introduction, The Extended Family : Women and Political Participation in Indian and Pakistan, op. cit., pp. 13-14.
36. Meredith Borthwick, Changing Role of Women, 1849-1905, (Princeton, 1984), p. 361.
37. Tanika Sarkar, Politics and Women in Bengal - the conditions and meaning of participation, The Indian Economic and Social History Review, Vol. 21, No. 1, 1984, p. 98.
38. Gail Omvedt, "Caste, Class and Women's Liberation in India," Bulletin of Concerned Asian Scholars, vii, 1 Jan-March, 1975, p. 47.
39. Maria Mies, "Indian Women and Leadership," Bulletin of Concerned Asian Scholars, op. cit. p. 57.
40. For Gandhi's views on women see Pushpa Joshi (compiled by), Gandhi on Women (Ahmedabad: Navjivan Trust and New Delhi: CWDS,1988); Madhu Kishwar, "Women and Gandhi," Economic and Political Weekly, 5 and 12 October 1985; critique of his views in Sujata Patel, Construction and Reconstruction of Woman in Gandhi, Economic and Political Weekly, 20 February 1988.
41. Harijan, April 7, 1946.

Courtesy: From the book, ‘Nonviolent Struggles of the Twentieth Century: Retrospect and Prospect’.