Women's movement in India: Pre and Post

independence, Contemporary
The social reformers laid the foundation of the women's movement in India.
Social reform movement was the first attempt to remove the obstacles in the life of
women. It created awareness among the people that women must be liberated and
be made equalof men. As a result of the social reform movement of the 1gth
century, the social evils were eliminated and opportunities were provided to
women for their education. The expansion of women's education and their
admission to educational institutions had produced a sizable number of English
educated middle class women by the late 19th century- and they made their
presence felt in political activities. The characteristics of the second phase of
women's movement i.e.the national movement are: for the first time many
women belonging to the middle class, started taking part in the political activities.
Till1919, the national movement was limited to the urban upper class and it was
later with Gandhi's entrance into the national movement, participation of the
masses began to take place. In this phase, political developments and women's
participation in the National movement went hand in hand.
The fight for equality, justice and liberty is going on since long but the nature of
women's movements have been changing over time.
Position of Women in the Vedic Period
The rote and status of women throughout ancient and medieval period has been far from
static ranging from one of authority to freedom to one of subservience. Most of the
historicalsources by and large refer to the elite sections of society concentrating on the
court and the aristocracy and hence when they talk of women they generally refer to
women of this class because women from other classes and tribal backgrounds had
different norms. Tribal women and women from the laboring castes and classes are rarely
visible as they represent those groups which did not have a literary culture and therefore
did not leave behind much evidence. Women had a very high status in the Vedic period
which was a golden age.

Position of Women in the medieval period

No information on the domestic life of ordinary wonmen of medieval times. India
witnessed significant socio-economic changes during the medieval period giving rise
new social groups which could not fit into traditional hierarchy. We have a large number
of inscriptions of the newly emergent groups who prosper because of the changes in the
economy, particularly agrarian expansion and crop diversification. The polities that
appear throughout the subcontinent during the Middle Ages were not the dispersed
fragments of a previous central government, but new formations arising out of the
extension of agrarian settlement and the resulting growth of population. The Mugh
rulers attempted to put down Sati. Humayun introduced a system of licensing to bring it
under some control. Akbar actively pursued the opposition. Jahangir abolished it by law
and Aurangazeb pursued the implementation of this law (Baig 976).
Position of Women in the British Period

The advent of the Europeans into India did not change the situation of women. Like other
Western powers,the primary objective of the British in the earlier days was trade. Later
when they were faced with the administration of newly conquered areas, they thought it
safe not only to keep the existing social structure intact but also to induct its religious
pundits (Brahmins) tointerpret its rules when necessary. The introduction of English
education first started to train Indians for jobs under British administration. This created
upper class elites who began to doubt the rationale of many of the existing practices in
their society. The establishment and expansion of the British rule also encouraged British
missionaries to enter their colonies and start schools, orphanages and destitute homes
especially for widows. They stood against sati, child marriage, purdah and polygamy. The
new Indian elite exposed to European liberalism of the i8rh century through Western
education, felt the urgency for reform of their own society.This produced tangible results
in the subsequent periods.
Contemporary women's movement in India (1975-present) has played an
important role in bringing gender issues to the forefront of development planning and
defining feminist politics.Many women's organizations like the National Federation of
Indian Women (1954) the Samajwadi Mahila Sabha (1559) were formed to work for
championing the cause of Indian women. By 1970 the political atmosphere began to
change in India. Many leading political parties realized the importance of including
women in their struggle for realizing their objectives. It was partly on compassion and
partly for securing their ends that they included women as a vanguard force.
The well-known women's organizations that were formed during this time are the Stree
Mukhti Sangkatana, the Stree Sangharsh and Mahila Dakshata in Delhi. Vimochana in
Chennai, Baija in Maharashtra, Pennurumai in Chennai. The Feminist Network in
English and Manushi in Hindi were some of the first women's newsletters and
magazines toappear. Women have been subjected to implicit as wellas explicit forms
discrimination. However, the pre- independence issues were quite different from the
post independent ones because of the different level of growth and development of the
society. Hence, the form of struggle was also different from each other.
The fundamental Marxist theories believe that when the gap between the haves and
have-nots ceases to exist, the exploitation will also come to an end. So they give
importance to a collective consciousness among women which will definitely oppose
patriarchy and violence in a bigger frame work. In the absence of collective work for
equality, the old system by and large continues even in contemporary India especially in
rural India.
There were three different streamns of feminist orientations:
"The Liberal Stream focuses on demanding reforms in those aspects of the polity which
specificaly affect women.
"The Leftist Stream situates oppression of women within a holisticanalysis of the
general structure of oppression and calls for a coming together of specific movements
for social change in order to effect the revolutionary transformation of society.
"The Radical Feminists concentrate on defining the development of feminity and
masculinity in society as fundamental polarities and experimented with reclaiming
traditional sources of women's strength, creativity, and so on.
 feminists-movement
OHuman rights v/s basic rights- Pre-independence movements revolved mainly
against human rights violations in the form of Satiand mistreatment of widows.
Whereas, post independent movements aim at resolving basic issues like female
education, equal pay for equal work, etc.
OScarcely tomany - Pre-independence movements were led by few social reformers
like Raja Ram Mohan Roy, whereas post independent movements have mobilized masses
in the form of women organizations, NGOs, etc.
OVoice- Pre-independence women needed voice of others for their problems to be
spoken about however, post independent women are educated,opinionated and aware
and are ready to speak and stand up for themselves. Eg- Sabarimala Shrine entry
movement, Haji Ali Dargah Issue etc.
DUse of social media- Pre-independence movements lacked the revolutionary social
media platform unlike present India where these movements can have wider geographical
reach and mobilize the youth on large scale.
OSexual abuses- Pre-independence lacked these issues however the present
movements due to rise in incidents of sexual abuses against women in the form of rapes
pre-marriage or marital - have taken up these issues seriously. News of voice against
Triple talaq by Shamim Ara shows us how women are empowering against draconian
traditional rules.
The major demandsof the contemporary
WOmen movements:

Oissues such as child marriage, sex-selective abortions and dowry-related violence.

OEquality not merely for justice but for development
OThe focus should be on economicempowerment of women
OChildbearing should be shared as a social responsibility
ORecognition of household work as national productivity
OMarriage and motherhood should not be a disability
OEmancipation of women should be linked to socialemancipation
OSpecialtemporary measures for de facto equality.
Indian feminism is still battling with many of the old problems. The recent #Me'Too
campaign showsthe changing face of women's movenments in India.
Government of India suggestions to make National Commission for Women which
was established in 1992, and 73rd, 74th Constitutional Amendments gave
reservation not less than 33% to women in local bodies. This shows "Equality" towards
women. Indiahas evolved as asociety since the last two centuries and so have the
issues and movements revolving women. However, its high time that women of our
society feel safe and secure and the issues despite of evolving in nature are solved
SOoner.
Unlike the women's movements in America and Britain, in India, the
concern for women's freedom was first espoused by enlightened males
during the Bristish era who had imbibed liberal ideas. Upto the 1920s the
struggle was carried on by men. It was only after Mahatma Gandhi's entry
into politics, that the nationalist movement under his leadership was
transformed from amiddle class movement into a mass movement where
women for the first time raised their voices against the disabilities that
they suffered. It is the women's movement in India that has been the force
behind the long struggle of women's advancement from subordination to
gender equality and finally to women's empowerment. Though a lot needs
to be achieved and there are various impediments in making this reality
available to a large section of women, the women's movement has brought
women's issues centre stage and made them more visible.