Paper-11 Module-5

Gandhian Era and Women’s Participation in National

Movement

(A) Personal Details

Role Name Affiliation
Principal Prof. Sumita Allahabad University,
Investigator Parmar Allahabad
Paper Coordinator Prof. Chairperson ,IIAS,
Chandrakala Shimla and Vice
Padia Chancellor, MGS
University, Bikaner
Content Dr. Preeti Assistant Professor, Dept.
Writer/Author Singh of Political Science,
(CW) Vasanta College for
Women, Rajghat,
Varanasi
Content Reviewer Prof. Chairperson ,IIAS,
(CR) Chandrakala Shimla and Vice
Padia Chancellor, MGS
University, Bikaner
Language Editor Prof. Sumita Allahabad University,
(LE) Parmar Allahabad

Description of Module
Subject Women’s Studies
Name
Paper Name Women, Governance and Politics
Module Gandhian Era and Women’s Participation in
Name National Movement.
Module Id Paper-11 Module-5
Pre- The Reader is expected to have a basic
requisites understanding of the 20th century Indian
society and Indian national movement.
Objectives To make the reader understand how the
national movement became a mass
movement under the leadership of Gandhi,
how a new space was created for women
who became an integral part of the national
movement, and to critically analyze the
contribution of Gandhian era to the cause of
women’s political participation.

Keywords Public-Private, Swadeshi, Satyagraha,

Nonviolence

Gandhian Era and Women’s Participation in National

Movement.

Introduction
Arrival of Gandhi and the New Dimensions of National Movement
The national movement had taken an organized form by the 20th century
and gradually had extended its scope and base. While in the moderate era it
was dominantly limited to a small Western educated elite class, its scope
was extended with the advent of extremist leadership. The Partition of
Bengal proved to be a crucial event which brought a major shift in the nature
of the national movement. With the launch of the Swadeshi movement, the
national movement gradually started penetrating into the different sections
of the society. But it truly took a mass character only after the arrival of
Gandhi, who had rich experience of working with masses and hence was
aware of their power. Gandhi had a clear vision of connecting the ‘ordinary
men’ with the national movement. He brought the issues of the poor,
illiterate and downtrodden in the mainstream national movement, perhaps, as
a part of his strategy of enlarging the base and scope of the national
movement. In the beginning, he focused on the local issues affecting the
poor peasantry and working class, e.g. he started his experiment of
Satyagraha from Champaran in Bihar (against the exploitation of local
farmers by European Indigo planters) in 1917. Then he chose Kheda in
Gujarat where he launched a movement in support of the local peasants. In
Ahmedabad, he started a movement to support mill workers and even kept a
fast unto death for their cause. Through such movements, he made these
local issues a matter of national concern and also created a base for the
national movement at the grassroot level. His strategy bridged the gap
between the elite and the masses, urban and rural, and national and local,
hence the national movement which was hitherto dominantly an elite-urban
movement and a distant reality for the masses reached the remote corners of
the country. Issues and concerns of the peasants and working class became
the part of ‘national question’ and thereby these deprived groups saw a new
role for themselves in the national movement. Gandhi’s principle of non-
violence and strategy of Satyagraha made it clear that in order to be a part of
the national movement, one is not expected to do ‘big things’ and undertake
‘big sacrifices’, rather one can be a part of the movement through any given
role, space and occupation. Through this approach, Gandhi could connect
every role, space and occupation with the cause of nation and could make
the national movement everyone’s movement. ‘Brown has argued that
Gandhi appealed to a variety of groups not established in the system of
associational politics which resulted in the increased participation of
Muslims, low caste Hindus, and commercial men in the national movement’
[Everett, 1995]. But scholars like Brown and Omvedt also argue that though
this mass mobilization facilitated the entry of the masses in the national
movement, leadership still remained in the hands of the elite class.
Brown and Omvedt consider this mass mobilization a vertical mass
mobilization which is different from or in fact in contrast to the ‘Chinese
Communist Party strategy of horizontal mass mobilization. In India power
remained in the hands of the educated elite or the “sub – contractors” if they
could retain a sufficient number of supporters. Mass mobilization in India
was also sporadic. There were periods of political quietude between
Gandhian campaigns when earlier patterns of elite representation returned”
[Everett, 1995]. However, though there can be differences of opinion on the
nature of mass mobilization during the Gandhian era, the one point which
cannot be denied is that mass mobilization was a unique contribution of the
Gandhian era.

Creation of New Space for Women

This major shift in the nature of the national movement created a new space
for women. This does not mean that earlier women were totally invisible in
the national movement. On the contrary, when Gandhi came to India,
women had already emerged as a strong force in the Indian National
Congress. Moreover, by this time the scattered attempts of different women
groups and leaders to protect women’s interests had taken the shape of an
organized women’s movement. In order to make women’s voices audible at
the national platform, the Women’s Indian Association had already been
established in 1917. Besides, the presence of leaders like Sarojini Naidu and
Annie Besant in the Indian National Congress made women’s presence felt,
and their role stronger. But it should be pointed out here that though women
were visible, these women mostly represented the elite class, and the
illiterate, poor, rural and working class women and their issues were still
invisible. The major contribution of the Gandhian era was the inclusion of
this ‘excluded’ section of women in the national movement. Gandhi made
women realize that they had immense potential to contribute to the
movement. To quote his words:

“Since resistance in Satyagraha is offered through self-suffering. It is a

weapon pre-eminently open to women... She can become the leader in
Satyagraha which does not require the learning that books give but does
require the stout heart that comes from suffering and faith.” [Young India,
14 January 1930]
Hence, Gandhi made it clear that there is a special role to be played by
women in Satyagraha and in fact Indian women’s special ability of self-
suffering would prove them to be the best soldiers of non-violence. Knowing
the nature of Indian society, Gandhi made it clear that in order to take part in
the movement, women need not necessarily come out of their private
domain but could contribute to the movement even through their roles within
the family. He suggested that ‘Do what you can’ because every act is
significant. [Forbes, 1998] Through this message, Gandhi ,on the one hand,
gave a new agenda to women who were ,so far, unable to see any role for
themselves in the world outside the ‘private realm’, on the other, he did not
demand any major change in the Indian social values where the private
realm was seen as the centre of women’s lives. Thus, his scheme of
bringing women into the national movement was not against the traditional
structure of Indian society and hence was not opposed. Referring to the
uniqueness of Gandhi’s scheme of creating a new space for women, Sucheta
Kriplani commented: ‘Gandhi’s personality was such that it inspired
confidence not only in women but in guardians of women, their husbands,
fathers and brothers.’ [Sucheta Kriplani, Oral History Transcripts, NMML]
What is significant to note here is that Gandhi dismantled the barrier
between the public and private. Though he did not make it essential for
women to come out of the private realm, he changed the very character of
the private by transporting public concerns and issues to the private realm.
The private realm did not remain anymore the dull sphere where household
chores had to be performed in a routine manner, but rather a politically
conscious and vibrant space where these household chores had to be
performed keeping in mind the broader nationalist goal. Thus, he politicized
the private. In fact, by giving this new character and significance to the
private sphere, a new space was created for ordinary women in the national
movement.

However, Gandhi’s appeal to women for agitation against the Rowlatt Act
can be regarded as the formal entry of ordinary women in the national
movement. The Rowlatt Act of 1919 was an open attack on individual
liberty and legally enabled the government to arrest and to detain Indians
only on the ground of suspicion and to keep them in prisons without trial.
The Act was fiercely opposed through out the country with the popular
slogan: ‘Na Vakil, Na Dalil, Na Appeal’. [N. N. Mitra, 1920] Opposing the
Act, Gandhi declared April 6, 1919 as the date for general strike. He
appealed to women of all classes and communities to take part in
Satyagraha against the draconian Act. [CWMG, 1964] Women actively
came forward to take part in protests organized in different parts of the
country. The massacre at Jallianwala Bagh on April 13, 1919 resulted in
increased anger among women against the British rule, especially in the
province of Punjab, where women were the major sufferers they had lost
their husbands, sons, fathers, and other relatives. The massacre and brutality
inflicted upon women by the police under the Martial Law played a very
significant role in raising women’s consciousness against British rule.
Women actively worked for collecting funds to help the victims of the
Jallianwala Bag massacre. Lado Rani Zutshi set up a stall at the Congress,
selling goods made by members of the Kumari Sabha to help the victims.

“According to Lado Rani, the Indians and English were completely

polarized in both Amritsar and Lahore in 1919; the open and ugly racism of
the English was met by intense resentment..... Recounting one such
encounter with an English woman in a bus, she said she was so furious that
when she got off the bus, she warned the Punjabi woman who was getting on
at the same time to keep out of the Englishwoman’s way. The woman
retorted that if ‘they’ said anything to her. She would throw them out of the
window” [ Radha Kumar, 1993].

This incidence speaks of the fact that gradually ordinary women had learnt
the language of resentment and had become politically conscious to perceive
and challenge British racism. This anger paved the way for active
participation of women in the Non-Cooperation movement.
Non - Cooperation Movement and Women’s Participation
In August 1920 Gandhi decided to launch the Non- Cooperation Movement
and his proposal was accepted by the Indian National Congress at the
special session held on August 20, 1920. The major programmes of the Non
- Cooperation Movement were : surrender of titles and honorary positions;
resignation from local bodies; boycott of government functions, courts,
government schools and colleges; boycott of foreign goods; and promotion
of Swadeshi goods and Khadi. In these programmes women actively
participated. Women who participated in this movement can be broadly
divided into two groups: first those women who worked for the promotion
of Swadeshi and boycott of foreign goods from within the domestic
sphere; second those women who came out in the public sphere to support
the movement. Women even started making their own organizations. For
example, Rashtriya Stree Sangh (RSS), an independent women’s
organization, was formed with the aim of connecting women to the cause of
nation. The members of the organization were required to be members of
Congress. It worked for promotion of Khadi in Bombay and organized
strikes against the visit of Prince of Wales in November, 1921. However,
women who were active in this movement and working to mobilize women
were mostly relatives of the prominent male nationalist leaders. Urmila
Devi, widowed sister of C. R. Das, appealed to women to come out of their
domestic spaces to serve the nation. The female members of the Das
family–Basanti Devi, Urmila Devi and Suniti Devi–actively took part in
promotion of Khadi and picketing shops selling foreign cloth and got
arrested . Their detainment ‘had an electric effect on the people.
Immediately, more than a thousand young men offered themselves for
arrest’. [Radha Kumar, 1993] Gandhi appreciated this brave act of women
of the Das family and appealed to women from other parts of the country to
follow the example set by these women. Forbes argues that the electrifying
impact of arrest of women made Gandhi realize the significance of women
picketers. ‘The arrest of respectable women was viewed as an appropriate
tactic to shame men into joining the protests.’ [Forbes, 1998]

Women’s participation increased rapidly in the movement. The All Indian

Ladies Conference at Ahmadabad was attended by 6000 women who came
to listen to Bi Amma who appealed to women to join Congress as
volunteers. The participation of women was not limited to any specific
province. It was a nationwide feature, but the nature of participation varied
from province to province. In Bombay and Calcutta, women actively
picketed liquor shops but in Punjab the nature of women’s participation was
a little different. The following excerpt from Radha Kumar’s History of
Doing, where she refers to the view of Lajjavanti – who was one of the
prominent figures among women leaders in Lahore, throws light on the
distinct nature of women’s participation in the Non-Cooperation Movement
in Punjab:
“The nationalist sympathies of all women ‘who were even a little educated’
were intense though there were restrictions on the nature of their
participation. Hundreds of women went hawking Khadi and Charkhas from
lane to lane in the city and took out procession to popularize Khadi at which
they sang songs mocking ‘fashions’ and collectively burnt their foreign
clothes. But they did not go picketing liquor shops nor did they court
arrest.”[ Radha Kumar, 1993]
Thus, women from all parts of India took active part in the movement but
there was regional variation in the nature of their participation and the
activities they were involved in. Moreover, it was not only that women from
all provinces participated but there are accounts which prove that women
from every section, even the so called ‘fallen women’, participated in the
movement. During Gandhi’s visit to Kakinada in April 1921 and with the
efforts of Durgabai, a separate meeting for Devadasis was arranged, where
around one thousand women came to listen to Gandhi and who, after
listening to him, gave up their jewellery and contributed a sum of Rupees
20,000. Similarly, in Bengal, a group of prostitutes influenced by Gandhi’s
call collected funds for the Congress in 1922. [Forbes, 1998] These incidents
show how women became an essential part of the movement and a new
space was opened up for them which filled them with a sense of self worth
and freedom. This new sense of freedom among women is beautifully
captured in the following poem ‘Dance of Liberation’ written by the Tamil
Nationalist Poet Subramanya Bharati:
Dance! Rejoice! Those who said it is evil for women to touch books are
dead; the lunatics who said they would lock women in their houses cannot
show their faces now. They showed us our place in the home as if we were
bullocks bred and beaten to dumb labour. We have ended that ring and
dance! [taken from Radha Kumar, 1993]

The above lines speak of the changing self perception of women during this
era. During this phase the numerical strength of women in the Indian
National Congress was also increasing. A hundred and forty four women
delegates attended the 1921 Congress Session. In 1922, the Bengal
Provincial Congress Committee Session was presided over by a woman,
Basanti Devi. In addition to this, a special Girl Volunteer Corps’ under the
headship of Durgabai Deshmukh was formed.
After suspension of the Non-Cooperation Movement, Gandhi turned his
focus to a constructive programme where he saw a special role for women.
He projected spinning as the key solution to the Indian problems as well as
to the women’s problem. [CWMG, XXV] He was of the opinion that
educated women should turn their attention to the problems of their rural and
poor sisters and should work for their upliftment. He appealed to educated
women to ‘descend from their Western heights and come down to India’s
plains’ and argued that ‘these questions of the liberation of women,
liberation of India, removal of untouchability, amelioration of the economic
condition of the masses, and the like, resolve themselves by penetrating
into the villages and reconstruction, or rather reformation of village life’.
[ taken from Radha Kumar, 1993]

Women’s Participation in Civil Disobedience Movement

The Civil Disobedience Movement, launched by Gandhi in 1930,

gave a new momentum to women’s participation. The movement
started with Gandhi’s historic Dandi March from Ahmadabad to
Dandi to make salt in defiance of the British rule. Initially, Gandhi
was a little reluctant to allow women to participate in the Dandi
March, but his decision was widely opposed by women
organizations and Women leaders like Khurshed Naoroji, Margaret
Cousins and Sarojini Naidu. Ultimately due to mounting pressure
of women leaders and organizations, Gandhi wrote to the Congress
Committee to allow women to participate in the movement. After
removal of the restriction, women from different parts of the
country, beating all previous record of women’s participation, took
active part in the movement. While on his way to Dandi, Gandhi
talked to women at every stop and suggested various ways to them
to contribute to the movement viz. ‘picketing liquor and toddy
shops, boycotting taxed salt and spinning and wearing Khadi.’
[Radha Kumar,1993] Responding to Gandhi’s call many women
groups were formed. The Congress Working Committee, which
was earlier against women’s participation in Salt Satyagraha,
started giving them major responsibilities. Highlighting the
increasing share of women in the movement, Radha Kumar writes
that many women were entrusted with the responsibility to lead the
Cells which were formed to organize Satyagraha. Sarojini Naidu,
Lado Rani Zutshi, Kamala Nehru, Hansa Mehta, Avantikabai
Gokhale, Satyavati, Parvatibai, Rukmini Lakshmipaty, Perin and
Goshiben Captain, Lilavati Munshi, Durgabai Deshmukh,
Kamaladevi Chattopadhyaya were main among those who took up
the leadership role.[Radha Kumar,1993]
Further a number of women organizations like Mahila Rashtriya
Sangha, Desh Sevika Sangha, Nari Satyagraha Samiti, the Ladies’
Picketing Board, Stree Swarajya Sangha and the Swyam Sevika
Sangha were set up by women to mobilize women for political
participation. These organizations had twin goals: political
mobilization of women, and training them in constructive
programmes. Thus, these organizations had a very wide agenda. To
illustrate, the Ladies’ Picketing Board in Bengal was divided into
five sections: the Boycott and Picketing Section, the
Constructive Worker’s Section, Swadeshi Prachar Section ,
Prabhat Pheri Section and a General Section in order to meet
broad objectives of the Board which were ‘to struggle against the
use of foreign goods; to popularize home industries, especially of
spinning and weaving Khadi; to arrange processions and
meetings demonstrating the greatness of liberty and equality of
nations ; to preach to the people the need for removal of
untouchability; to enlist as many people as possible as members of the
Congress; and to work in accordance with the direction of the Indian
National Congress and in affiliation with the Bengal Provincial Congress
Committee.’ [Radha Kumar, 1993]
Organized participation of women in the Civil Disobedience Movement
made it clear that women’s participation was not only a matter of giving
some concession to the weaker sex, rather it was essential to strengthen the
voice of the nation against the imperial power. In fact, brutality inflicted by
the police upon women Satyagrahis who were nonviolently opposing unjust
laws unmasked the ‘civilizing mission claim’ of the imperial power. British
officials themselves accepted that it was participation of women in the
movement which put the British government in a tough position. The
movement got wide national and international attention and sympathy due to
their participation. One of the officials accepted that ‘there is no doubt that
but for them [women] the movement would never have gained the force it
has had. It is due to them that the sympathy of many not otherwise likely to
have been in sympathy has been evoked’. [Government of India, Home
Department, Political File No. 253/30/1930].

Thus, women’s massive participation in the nonviolent movement gave

validity to the movement and shifted moral authority from the British rulers
to ‘the unarmed, non violent [Indian] subjects.’ [Forbes, 1998] Besides,
women’s unconditional participation gave validity to women’s claims that
women have equal potential and commitment to serve the cause of the
nation which make them fit to demand their equal share in the political
sphere. Forbes rightly comments: “The participation of women in the
freedom movement also shaped the movement for women’s rights. Most
important, it legitimized their claim to a place in government of India”.
[Forbes, 1998]

Nonviolent women soldiers proved that if a citizen is a person who has

commitment to the country, and who gives priority to the cause of country
over the self and can even embrace death for the cause of country, then
women are equally capable to be citizens of the country and thus should not
be denied the right to vote anymore. Sarala Devi Chaudhurani suggested to
women that the best way of attaining rights is through ‘the strength of our
agitation. We must force men folk to concede to our demands and at the
same time carry on propaganda among ourselves’. [Forbes, 1998]

Women’s Participation in the National Movement during Gandhian era

and Movement for Women’s Rights
During the Gandhian phase movement for women’s rights and national
movement were running parallel. A major demand of the women’s
movement was women’s franchise. In 1917 Sarojini Naidu led the
delegation to meet Montague for women’s suffrage. In 1918 due to her
efforts a resolution was passed at the Special Congress Session in support of
women’s suffrage. The arguments she made in support of women’s rights
were not based on sameness principle rather on the complementarity ideal.
Pleading the case for women suffrage, she ensured that right to vote would
never deviate women from their traditional roles. To quote her:
“Never, never, for we realize that men and women have their separate goals,
separate destinies and thus just as man can never fulfill the responsibility of
a woman, a woman cannot fulfill the responsibility of man .... We ask for the
vote, not that we might interfere with you in your official functions, your
civic duties, your public place and power , but rather that we might lay the
foundation of national character in the souls of the children that we hold
upon our laps, and instill into them the ideal of national life”. [Quoted in
Forbes, 1998]
But unlike the moderate tone of Sarojini Naidu, women leaders like Sarala
Devi supported the cause of women’s equal share in the public realm
arguing that women can perform same roles as ‘the fellow workers of men in
politics and other spheres.’ [Forbes, 1998]
During this phase, on the one hand, awareness among women, especially
among the educated women, regarding franchise was taking a concrete
shape, on the other nationalist leaders like Gandhi were in favour of
postponing the demands of women’s franchise and to turn the focus solely
on the fight against the common enemy . Some women leaders were also
of the similar opinion. To quote Madame Cama: “Work for Indians freedom
and independence women will get not only the vote but all other rights.”
[“Madam Bhikaji Cama”, Dictionary of National Biography, Vol. I].
But despite patriarchal oppositions and paternalistic suggestions pro-
franchise women continued their fight. Such women leaders questioned the
policy of Indian National Congress relating to women’s role in the Indian
National Congress and national movement. In fact, the roots of
contemporary demands for equal participation and representation of women
in politics can be traced during this phase. Resenting the Indian National
Congress’s neglect of women’s issues, a meeting was called by women
leaders in Bengal to form a separate Congress. [Amrita Bazar Patrika, April
29, 1931] Sarala Devi Chaudhurani stressed the need of a separate Congress
for women and gave a call to women to join the worldwide women’s
movement. Commenting on the limited role given to women by Congress in
the national movement, she said Congress ‘assigned to women the position
of law-breakers only and not law makers. Therefore, women must demand
equal treatment and equal status.’ [The Hindu, May 3, 1931]
Some of the pro- franchise women activists and leaders advocated equal
rights for women using nationalist arguments. Radha Kumar gives an
account of such views, she writes:
“They [women] used nationalist argument to defend demands for women’s
rights to equality with men.... A series of questions were put to male
nationalists who either opposed women’s rights or counselled caution in the
matter of fighting for them. Those who said women would be given their
rights in due course were reminded of their own arguments that rights had
to be fought for; those who advised a gradual method of gaining these rights
were reminded that the Congress moderates had been criticized precisely for
advocating this, and so on. Moreover, some women now began to express
that women, in order to be free, had to engage in a struggle with
men.”[Radha Kumar, 1993]
Such strong views gradually resulted in some success in securing limited
right to vote for women at the level of provincial legislatures. But the goal of
universal franchise was still a far goal to achieve. Women’s organizations
and women leaders continued their fights for the right to vote but gradually
women leaders themselves got divided on the issue. While leaders like
Begum Shah Nawaz and Mrs. Kamala Subbaroyan agreed on special
reservations for women in place of universal franchise as an interim
measure at the Round Table Conference, women leaders of Women’s
Indian Association , All India Women’s Conference and National Council
of Women in India were against it and were demanding nothing less than
universal franchise.
Thus, the women’s movement during this phase was uniform neither on
issues nor strategies. It was divided into multiple groups like nationalist and
feminist; moderates and extremists; and supporters of sameness principle
and complementarity ideal. Further, the women’s organizations during this
phase did not represent the interests of all Indian women. The ordinary poor,
working, rural, illiterate women actively participated in the nationalist
movement but women’s organizations led by western educated elite women
could not integrate these women and their issues into the women’s
movement. Thus, women’s movement remained ‘too Hindu, too middle
class, and too urban to appeal to or adequately represent all Indian women’.
[Forbes, 1998]

Quit India Movement and Women’s Participation

After the active participation of women in the Civil Disobedience
Movement, participation of women became an accepted fact and in fact
essential for the success of the movement. Being disappointment by the
British war policy and their neglect of Indian demands, All India Congress
Committee in Bombay Session on August 8, 1942 passed the historic ‘Quit
India’ resolution and urged for a mass nonviolent struggle. But this time it
was made clear that people should be prepared for all odds including the
arrest of Congress leaders. After the arrest of Congress leaders on August 9,
1942, the outrage of people resulted in a country–wide protest wherein
women’s participation was remarkable. They were involved in this
movement in different capacities–from participating in mass protests, strikes
and demonstrations to running parallel government and conducting secret
underground activities:
“The women not only took out processions and held demonstrations but also
organized camps in which women were given training in Indian constitution,
civic duties, first aid, democracy and women’s organizations. Training in
Lathi and Drill was also imparted in these camps”. [Hindustan Standard,
1942]
Women Self Defence Committees were set up to impart training in self
defence in Barishal, Hooghly, Bally, Chinsurah and Maheshtala in 24
Pargana district, Bengal. To coordinate these self defense committees
Mahila Atmaraksha Samiti was formed. Thus, Gandhi’s ‘Do and Die’
speech had an electrifying impact on all women – rural- urban, illiterate –
literate, working class and peasant.
Women leaders like Usha Mehta, Aruna Asaf Ali, Matangini Hazra, Sucheta
Kriplani and Sarojini Naidu led campaigns in a very strategic manner
which proved that by this time women were fully capable of not only
participating in the movement, but rather of leading the movement. Apart
from these big names there were a large number of women who led
campaigns at the local levels. Usha Mehta, who joined the movement as
volunteer, set up a radio transmitter ‘Voice of Freedom’ to broadcast news of
protests and arrests which became a major medium of spreading patriotic
feelings. Aruna Asaf Ali along with Jaiprakash Narayan, Ram Manohar
Lohia, Achyut Patwaradhan and Sucheta Kriplani went underground with
the objective of avoiding detainment and hence to control and direct the
movement. Sucheta Kriplani relentlessly worked to maintain contact with
different groups engaged in the movement to keep their moral high and to
prevent these groups from turning violent. She wrote that her aim ‘was to
bring the government to a standstill by any method, excluding violence
against individuals.’ [Forbes, 1998]
Thus, during the Quit India Movement women participated with new vigour
as self-disciplined soldiers who could take their own stands in absence of
leaders. In the movement women’s role was beyond the complementarity
ideal advocated by Gandhi. Unlike the previous movements, this time there
was no demarcation like men’s role and women’s role, they almost took up
the same responsibility and roles. Further, the cause of the nation took a lead
over the cause of women and hence barring a few exceptions women leaders
and organizations got united on the point that this was the high time for
thinking in terms of the nation and so to put a temporary stop on the feminist
agenda. Analyzing the nature of women’s participation in the Quit India
Movement and highlighting how it differed from women’s participation in
earlier movements of Gandhian era, Forbes writes:

“In contrast to 1930, when women were asked to wait until men completed
the March to Dandi and then assigned special duties, in 1942 women fought
along side men and suffered the same consequences. Activist women were so
caught up in the struggle; they ignored gender issues or, like Sucheta
Kriplani, put them aside until independence had been achieved”. [ Forbes,
1998]

Women and Gandhian Movements: An Appraisal

On the basis of the above account it can be concluded that the Gandhian era
created a wide space for women in mainstream national movement. This
time their participation was neither limited nor symbolic. But the scholars
have shown their reservations on the nature of women’s participation in
Gandhian movements and on Gandhi’s view on women’s role in the
movement. Everett criticizes Gandhi’s idea of complementary sex roles
which supports different set of duties and roles for men and women and
argues that ‘he was not always so supportive of women’s participation in
public life.’ She, further, charges that though Gandhian movements
encouraged women’s participations but he was not in favour of giving them
leadership roles. Though there were women like Sarojini Naidu and Anasuya
Sarabhai who held leadership position, they were not independent leaders, as
‘Gandhi was always the supreme commander. He included women in most
of his Satyagraha campaigns but he carefully orchestrated their participation
and responded angrily when women wanted to step over the limits he set’.
[Everett, 1995]
Further, most of the women holding leadership positions in Gandhian
movements were allowed to assume leadership positions only when their
male relatives got arrested. Everett even argued that most of women leaders
who joined Gandhian campaigns were relatives of prominent male leaders
and were acting as representatives of these male leaders and not as
independent leaders. She argues: “The encouragement of female relatives to
participate in the Gandhian campaigns appears to have been motivated in
part by the desire of the leaders to maintain their positions of influence.”
[Everett, 1995]
Similarly Gail Omvedt argues that Gandhi, though an advocate of political
revolution, wanted to keep the Indian social structure and relations intact and
thus appeared to be a conservative in the social realm. To quote Omvedt:
“...the social function of Gandhian nonviolence in Indian history has been to
allow India to achieve a political revolution without having a social
revolution.” [Gail Omvedt, 1973]
However, despite the above criticisms, it cannot be denied that the Gandhian
era unfolded new vistas for women in the political and public realm and
created a niche for women in post- independence Indian politics. Madhu
Kishwar writes that Gandhian movements created ‘for women a new dignity
in public life, a new confidence, and a new self-view’ and thus transformed
women ‘from passive object’ to ‘active subjects or agents of reform’.
[Madhu Kishwar, ‘Gandhi on Women’, here taken from Radha Kumar,1993]
SUMMARY
 Gandhian era transformed Indian national movement into a mass
movement and women across region, class and caste became a major
force of the national movement.
 In the non-violent Gandhian movements women’s qualities of love
and nurturance were projected as their major strengths making them
the most perfect candidates for Satyagraha.

 The credit of including the illiterate, poor and rural women in the
mainstream national movement goes to Gandhian movements.

 Gandhi initially did not assign the same role to men and women.
Rather, he appealed women to support the cause of Swadeshi
through their traditional roles as wives and mothers.

 During the Non-Cooperation Movement women actively participated

throughout the country, but the nature of their participation had
regional variations.

 During the Civil Disobedience Movement women’s participation

took a very organized shape.

 Nationalist movement and women’s movement were running parallel

during this phase.

 The nature of women’s participation in Quit India Movement was

different from previous movements as they took up the same activities
like their male counterparts and were not expected to perform a
different set of duties.
 The Gandhian era gave a new dimension to the private realm by
giving it a political character.
 The greatest contribution of the Gandhian era is that it transformed
women from ‘passive objects’ to ‘active agents’.
References

 Forbes, Geraldine. Women in Modern India, U.K.:Cambridge

University Press, 1998.

 Kumar, Radha. History of Doing, New Delhi: Zubaan, 1993.

 Bala, Usha. Indian Women Freedom Fighters, New Delhi: Manohar,

1986.

 Everett,Jana, Matson. Women and Social Change in India, New

Delhi: Heritage Publishers, 1995.

 Kriplani , Sucheta. Oral History Transcripts, NMML.

 Mitra,N, N. The Indian Annual Register, Vol. I, Calcutta, 1920.

 Gandhi,M.K. Collected Works of Mahatma Gandhi , Vol. XV, New

Delhi: The Publication Division, Ministry of Information and
Broadcasting , 1964.

 Omvedt,Gail. “Gandhi and the Pacification of the Indian Nationalist

Movement”, Bulletin of Concerned Asian Scholars, 1973.

 Government of India, Home Department, Political File No.

253/30/1930.

 Hindustan Standard, 1942.

 ‘Bengal Women’s Conference’, The Hindu ,May 3, 1931.

 ‘Future of Indian Womanhood’, Amrita Bazar Patrika, April 29,
1931.

 “Madam Bhikaji Cama”, Dictionary of National Biography, Vol. I.

 Young India, 14 January 1930.