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4 51
CHAPTER IX
THE IMPACT OF CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE
The social and political movements. associated with and
subsequent to civil disobedience did not result in any ;
fundamental questioning of woman's role in society. They
enabled the further development of the extended female space
but had little impact on the nature of social reform promoted
by the female mediators from that space. The greater
institutionalization of the associational network through
its utilization of public political activities gave it greater
legitimacy and more bargaining power with the male world of
affairs. Demands from the female world had now been under-
written by the usefulness that the male would have found in
civil disobedience participation. This enabled certain
elements within the female intelligentsia to transform
themselves into a female elite which still depended on the
role of mediator from the separate female space but who now
made demands for the creation of a common space,which were
resisted by both the old guard and younger male nationalists.
Social Reform
Throughout the civil disobedience period, associations
of middle class women concerned with social work continued
to function. Organizations like the Mahila Seva Mandal
continued to run its industrial school at Parel and to hold 1
prize distribution ceremonies,-'-
1 . B.C. F c b rua ry 2 3 , 19 31 , p. 9.
the Bombay Presidency Women's
452
2 Council continued to hold its 'At Homes', the Bombay
3 Presidency Women Graduates' Union to hold lectures, and
organizations like the Y.W.C.A. to6k new organizational
initiatives for sections of women. 4 These organizations did
not share the nationalist ideology and had no reason to
divert their activities to other areas. Prior to the
initiation of civil disobedience women such as Jaishree Raijee,
who was a vice Chairman, Urmilla Mehta, Hansa Mehta and
Ratanben Mehta were all still members of the Womerls Council. 5
However by 1931 organizations such as the Bhagini Samaj, the
Gujarati Hindu Stree Mandai and the Vanita Vishram which
fully supported the civil disobedience programme had withdrawn
their a ffil ia tion from the Women's Counci 1. 6 Referring to
the political climate of 1930 the Chairman of the Bombay
Presidency Women's Council Mrs. Salima Faiz Tyabji who was
later to be a Muslim League candidate for election wrote that
The year . . . has been one of great anxiety and trouble to us all in Bombay. It has been noticeable for the great intensity of political feeling and activities. We have been fortunate in having been able to hold the Council together.? .
The nationalist press was highly critical of what it termed
the needless and self imposed boycott of politics by the
Women's Co unci 1. In practice, it argued, this seemed to allow
2. For instance - B.C. July 9, 1930, p.S; B.C. August 28, 1930, p.S; B.C. July 27, 1931, p.S; B.C. September 21, 1931, p.S.
3. B.C. September 17, 1932, p.7.
4. The Y.W.C.A. organized a club for Indian Nurses. B.C. October 10, 1931, p.7.
5. See the member~;hip list. B.P.W.C. 11·/;h Annual Repo:r•t 1928-29, p.40f.
6. B.P.W.C. 13th Annual Report 1931, p.26.
7. B.P.W.C. 12th Annual Report 1929-30, p.B.
4 l""' ,) .)
the politics of one kind as inthe agit~tion for franchise and
legislation in women's interests and eschew politics of
another kind such as anti-government propaganda and be able
to persuade itself that it leaves politics alone. 8
The Women's Indian Association held itself together by
recognizing four classes of members with differing political
allegiances. 9 It was those members who felt sympathy with
the Parsi woman leader who writing of the constitutional
reforms made it clear that
. . . if our demands are not accepted there is no need for us to join the Congress ... I feel that our agreeing with the view of the Congress on the Franchise question (and no reservation) does not at all mean that we become congressities and accept all their views and their creed,10
who stood aside from civil disobedience and continued with
the society's social work activities.
During the civil disobedience period the Bombay Women's
Association continued its concern with the legal status of
women. The question of Muslim women's right to divorce was
d . d 11 lSCUSSC ; at the annual conferences of the Bombay Women's
Association in 1931 and 1932 resolutions were passed on the
need to create public opinion in favour of the Sarda Act and
in support of the proposed bill regarding Hindu Widows'
Inheritance. 12 At the All India Women's Conference in 1931,
8. B.C. editorial January 29, 1937, p.6.
9. See Chapter VI.
1 0 • ~~. I. A • R c p or t. 1 .9 3 2- 3 3 , p . 2 i .
11. Mrs. Shareefa Hamid Ali sent Note to members of the A.I.W.C. on Muslim women's right to divorce. B.C. September 6, 1930, p.S.
12. B.C. December 7, 1931, p.8; B.C. November 3, 1932, p.S; B.C. Novc;mbcr 7,1932, p.11.
454
1932 and 1933 resolutions had been pass~d regarding the legal
disabilities of women particularly with the regard to securing
""h . 1 f . h . f ] 3 '- e r 1g 1t o·· 1n cr1 tance or women. · When the Bombay branch
met prior to the Conference at Karachi it again moved such
resolutions to be taken to the All India Conference. 14
In 1930 the Servants of India Society took a middle of
the road path and opposed both the civil disobedience movement
of the Congress and the "executive excesses"of the
government. 15 This had little influence among the women of
the Bhagini Samaj who supported the nationalist upsurge. The
ordinary work of the Samaj of lectures and publications
dealing with health and education continued but other projects
were abandoned. The classes which had been held in the Fort
for sixteen years were closed down for want of workers and
funds. A scheme for adult education among women in the poor
quarters of Bombay which was to be worked by lady volunteers
under the direction of Hansa Mehta was abandoned. 16 Social
welfare projects of the Pathare Prabhu Mahila Samaj also 1'7 closed in 1930.
13. Indian Annual Register 1931, Vol. II, p.284; ibid., 1932, p.358; ibid., 1933, Vol.II, p.278.
14. The Bombay branch passed various resolutions regarding educational reform and also that as the Child Marriage Restraint Act was not effective it should be amended and that Ministry of Social Service should be formed in each province in which women have an adequate share. B.C. November 5, 1934, p.S. See also ~ndian·Annual Register 1934, Vol.II, p.339.
15. s.r.s. 1928-30, p.lo.
16. Ibid.
17. Pathare Prabhu Mahila Samaj Golden Jubilee Report 1915-65 Bombay, 1965 (Marnthi).
45S
In 1932 on the recommendation of Karsondas Chitalia a
new management committee for the Bhagini Samaj was appointed. 18
It had taken the upheaval of civil disobedience to elect womeri
office bearers, a measure Gandhi had suggested as early as
1918. 19 Although women themselves were now the chief
executives, under the new committee 20 the work of the Bhagini
Samaj c·ontinued as before. It continued its social work,
running educational and industrial classes and, as once again
an affiliate of the Bombay Presidency Women's Council and the
All India Women's Conference, added its support to progressive
legislation on social matters. It supported bills dealing
. J h b"l" 21 w1t1 untouc a 1 1ty . , .. h . 22 d h . w1aow 1n er1tance an t e protection
f . 1 23 o. young gn· s.
18. Bhagini Scmaj l?th Annual Report 1932-33, p.6. This may have occurred in response to a letter from an Unknown Woman addressed to Gandhi via Karsondas Chitalia dated 29/11/1915 but appears to be written after 1931. This correspondent 1vas a brahman from Saurashtra who abandoned the M.B.B.S. in the final year to work for the civil disobedience movement. She says that in the Bhagini Samaj the men give the orders and the women do the work of collecting money. She says that women should take over the management and that the men should give way to women. Bhagini Samaj papers.
19. M.K. Gandhi Speech at Bhagini Samaj, Bombay February 20, 1918 C.W. Vol.XIV, p.203.
20. The new committee consisted of President, Jaishree Raijee; Secretary Lilavati Banker; Joint Secretary Chanchalben Ghia; Treasure~ Shardaben Desai; Members Hansa Mehta, Urmila Mehta, Mangala V. Mehta, Jayaben Knuga, Moghiben Shah, Vimlaben Damania, Sakaben Shah, Bachuben Lotewala. Bhagini Samaj 17th Annual Report 19.32-33
21. Bhagini Samaj 1?th Annual Report 1932-33, p.8; Bhagini Samaj 18th Annual Report 1933-31, p.13; Bhagini Samaj 19th Annual Report 1935 1 p.lS.
22. Bhagini Samaj 18th Annual Report 1933-34, p.14; Bhagini Samaj 19th Annual Repo~t 1935, p.lS.
23. Bhag~ni Samaj 19!h Annual Report 1935t p.lS Bhagini SamaJ 22nd Annua~ Report 1938-39, p.2~
4 56
Those ladies who had already been involved with social
welfare continued their usual activities but with a broader
base. For instance, in 1919 few women had gone to Kathiawad
to help with famine work. In 1935 the relief fund for the
Quetta earthquake was subscribed to by the usual associations
such as the Women's Indian Association but also by smaller
associations which set up relief funds such as the Muslim-
Khwatin-e-Bomba-i-Quetta Zalzala Imdad Committee and the
Bhatia Stri Mandai Quetta Relief Fund. 24
Certainly an increase in the interest among Gujarati
women in organized activity and public association, corresponded
with the peri6d of upsurge in political activity and
. 1" . 25 nat1ona 1st sent1ment. The alliance between the nationalist
women and the Gujarati Hindu Stree Mandai Has such that the
Gandhi Seva Sena agreed to conduct a Hindi class for the
women of the Manda1. 26
24. B.C. June 10, 1935, p.S; B.C. June 11, 1935, p.5; B.C. August 26, 1935, p.3.
25. Membership of the G.H.S.M. increased slowly during the 1920's until the end of the decade and early 1930'' s when numbers increased rapidly then declined slowly.
Year
1917
1919
1921
1923
Membership Figures for the Gujarati Hindu Stree Mandai 1917-1938*
Members
57 5
782
629
654
Year Members
1925 687
1927 919
1929 1,875
1931 2,130
Year Members
1933 3,789
1935 3,148
1936 2,407
1938 2,444
*based on biennial reports of the Gujarati Hindu Strce Mandai (Gujarati).
26. The Gujarati Hindu Stree Mandal~ Bombay~ a Short Account Bombay, 1936, p.14.
457
The civi.'l disobedience movement had a coroLlary in
constructive work for the nation. The constructive programme
differed little from the social welfare work in which women
had long been engaged. It too stressed education and social
service. The swadeshi ideology overlay what was already
happening within the women's associations in efforts to
create a homecrafts industry for housewives in need of an
additional income.
The stress on constructive work as a means of
participation in the anti-imperialist struggle envisaged by
Gandhi as a struggle also for limited social recon~truction,
provided an impetus to more active social welfare measures.
Throughout the course of the civil disobedience movement
various organizatjons to promote a social_ change among women
made their appearance. The nineteenth century social reform
movement had fostered the first generation of women's
organizations and the social upsurge of the civil
disobedience movement created the opportunity for more women
to move into the orbit of organized social welfare activities.
When the Rashtriya Stree Sabha was declared illegal in
1930 some of its members started the Indian Women's Unity
Club to promote unity and understanding among women of all
communities and
. so that women who had the slightest urge for service in any form should have some place to meet and by interchange of ideas
develop that vision for service and sacrifice which is a stepping stone for all to their higher selves,27
lt ;, 15
This was not its first attempt at ·sponsoring such an
organization. Earlier the Gujarat Ladies' Social Club had
been set up as a non-political front. 28 Later, in 1932
anothet group called the Swadeshi League made its appearance~ 9
This impetus to nationalist social welfare also had an
impact among more moderate women. In September 1930 Mrs.
Nalinibai Dalvi, the wife of V.G. Dalvi principal of the Law
College30 and Mrs. Ranade daughter-in-law of Ramabai and
Justice M.G. Ranade set up the Stree Seva Samaj to combine
swadeshism with the betterment of the economic condition of
helpless women belonging to poor middle class families. 31
27.
28.
29.
30.
31.
The Rashtriya Stree Sabha's Report of the Desh Sevika Sangh., Bombay 1930-31 Bombay 1931, p.16. Mrs. Kulsum Sayani was Secretary. "Kulsum Sayani - data" typescri"Qt. It had the usual programme of classes and lectures ana a branch was started at Dadar where women met for bhajan and prabhat pheries. Ibid.~ B.C. May 29, 1931, p.3; B.C. June 22, 1931, p.S; B.C. November 9, 1937 ,p.4.
It was patronized by such women as Ratanben Mehta B.C. April 4, 1930, p.S; Interview with Indrajit Mehta June 24, 1976.
Women such as Shardaben Mehta, Hansa Mehta and Sunderabai Sirur from the Bhagini Samaj and Arya Mahila Samaj were associated with it. C.I.D. Police to Govt. 5031/H/3717 September 10, 1932, C.I.D. Police to Govt. 5054/H/3717 September 13, 1932.
Nalinibai Dalvi was active in the All India Women's Conference as a member of the Munici~alities Education Committee was particularly interestea in educational questions. At a conference of the Bombay Women's Association in December 1931 she joined with Mrs. G.L. Bahadurji in putting forward a re~olution on the necessity of a hostel for women under graduates of the university. B.C. December 7, 1931, p.8. The Samaj recognized that many small industries without costly machinery could be set up for women and through a free stall at the swadcshi bazaar was able to put on the market articles such as ink, soap, condiments ancl spices made Ly_ women in their afternoon leisure hours. C.I.D. Police to Govt. 4937/H/4717 September 17, 1930, B.C. February 26, 1931, p.9.
The events and personalities of the civil disobedience
movement provided an opportunity to organize meetings of
women many of whom would rarely, if ever, gather together.
For instance, nationalist women addressed a meeting of the
Stree Vibhag of the Shri Lohana Snatak Manda1. 32 These
459
meetings provided the opportunity for women to denounce what
they considered the disastrous traditions which confined
women to their houses like prisoners. 33 Such meetings
sometimes resulted in the creation of organizations for
women's welfare in communities where no such organizations
had previously existed. One such occasion was the organization
of women of the Lad Bania community. Nagindas Master, who
was prominent in Congress affairs and other prominent
reformers of the Lad community, who were members of the Shri
Lad Yuvak Mandai, Bhaidas Muganlal, Hiralal Munim, Narsilal
Jai and Jugmohandas Parekh held a meeting for women at
Zaveribag Hall in Kalbadevi at which the Lad Mahila Samaj was
formed. It started with about 200 members including Kantaben
Khandwalla, the daughter of Nagindas Master and her sister-in-
law Motiben Chunilal Master who became secretary of the
Mandai. Although some members, such as Kantaben, did take
an active part in the civil disobedience movement, most took
an interest rather than participated. The object of the Mandai
was to provide for women's welfare through sewing classes,
32. Lilavati Munshi, Bachiben Lotewala and Dahiben Desai spoke on the life of Vithalbhai Patel B.C. November 26, 1933, p.3.
33. For instance speech of Tehmina Joshi worker with Parsi Rajkiya Sabha at meeting to congratulate women in jail at Vanita Vishram B.C. July 12, 1930, p.7.
lectures and the celebration of relig~ous festivals such as
Na.vratri. 34
An organization with similar objects of bringing needy
women out from their households, providing them with work
and encouraging their education was set up among the
Bhatias. 35 A number of Bhatia women participated in the
civil disobedience movement providing alternate role models
th f } . 36 to e women o· t1e commun1ty. However, it was only
indirectly a result of the social movement associated with
civil disobedience that the Bhatia Stree Mandai was set up
in November 1930 by women encouraged by their husbands who
460
were members of the Bhatia Mitra Mandai, a male organization
long established for charitable purposes. 37
This groundswell among women concerned with their own social
welfare, and the substantialization process of the creation of
34. Interview with Kantaben Khandwalla May 3, 1976. B.C. May 8, 1930, p.3.
35. The Bhatias were a traditional co~~unity originally from Jaisalmer which still married their girls at an early age from 9-14. Ramabai Kamdar for instance was married at 13. Although Public Funds had been set up for Bhatia widows and or~hans and a girls school run by a Bhatia lady to give free education, no organization for social welfare among women had previously been set up in the city. Enthoven R.E. The Tribes and Castes of Bombay fir~t pub. 1926 reprinted Cosmo Pub. Delhi 1975, p.133 f. Interview with Mrs. Rupa Kamdar June 21, 1976. Dadachanji, F.K. List of Hindu Charities in Bombay Girgaum, 1919, pp.l, 18, 84.
36. Ramabai Kamdar, who had long been a member of the Gujarati Hindu Stree Mandal became a Congress war di~tator and her sister Gangaben Ashev also took an active part. Another lady, Lilavati Asher was left a child w1dow and was taken to Gandhi by her brother. She then trained for national service in the Ashram at Wardha and later became a doctor.
37. Two members of this association encouraged their wives Mrs. Jayawantiben Kalyanji and Mrs. Manibai Vagji Shroff along with Mrs. Bachubai Dharamsey Thakkar and Jamnabai Govindji to organize the Bhatia Stree Mandal in November 1930. For a photograph of ladies of the Bhatia Stree Mandai see B.C. April 13, 1932, p.7. Interview with Mrs. Kokila Sampat, June 21, 1976.
461
small communally based associations contiJ1.ued:i.nto the 1930's with
the setting up of the Audichya. Mahila Samaj 38 of Gujarati
Brahmans, the first conference of women of the Bhavsa.r
Kshatriya community, 39 an All India Marwari Women's
Conference40 a conference of Patidar women at which Gangaben
Patel called for social reform in the ~ommunity, 41 and new
organizations among Muslim ladies 42 which brought further
new groups of women within an organized structure.
Constructive work had been envisaged as a means to
involve women who were not prepared to volunteer or go to
jail for the nationalist struggle. As it became clearer
civil disobedience was failing the enthusiasm for jail going
among volunteers flagged.
. . . it is pretty obvious that there are people who are not willing to go to prison whatever the merits of their reasons may be The only point is whether something should be done with them or not.43 ·
Kamladevi wrote to Nehru. She suggested study groups that
would keep intact the original groups of girls she had
38. B.C. June 13, 1936, p.S.
39. This was held in May 1934 in connection with the lOth All India Bhavsar Kshatriya conference. The president was Shrimati Sunnaben Kapurchand Jariwalla. B.C. May 29, 1934, p.S; B.C. May 30, 1934, p.S.
40. This was held in Calcutta. Jankibai Bajaj presided. B.C. October 29, 1933, p.8.
41. B.C. December 18, 1931, p.S.
42. These included the Khojah Women's Association, a committee to celebrate the prophets day, B.C. April 6, 1936, p.S; B.C. May 26, 1936, p.S; B.C. May 26, 1937, p.S; and a ladies section of the All India Muslim League H.C. October 21, 1937, p.13.
43. Kam1adevi Chattopadhyaya to Jawaharlal Nehru September 18, 1933. J.N. papers.
462
organized, provide them with an ideolo.gical perspective and
. bl bl h . d h . . fl 44 poss1 y ena _e t em to Wl en t c1r 1n· uence.
This was not the course followed by most Congress workers
who no longer wished to offer individual resistance. To some
extent the women Congress workers provided the lead in
creating an alternative for male workers in what had been
considered primarily a female area of work. In various
districts of the city under the initiative 6f nationalist
women new organizations were set up to do constructive work
and promote khaddar. 45
The Desh Sevika Sangh had earlier taken refuge in the
addition of the anti-untouchability campaign to the
constructive programme. The question of untouchability had
44. For her central group of girls see Kamladevi to Umabai Kundapur dated 28/11/33 with C.I.D. File No. 3950/H/1937.
45. In August 1933 a meeting of about fifty persons was held under the presidentship of Dahiben Jaikishondas Desai, a lieutenant ~f Gangaben Patel and co-founder of the branch of the Gujarati Hindu Stree Mandai at Santa Cruz. It was decided to form a Sasti Seva Sangh for the district with the object of spreading the use of khaddar and swadeshi articles. At Dadar in March an organization called the National Association was formed to promote khaddar and swadeshi and to support the cause of labour and tenants and the removal of untouchability. Shantabai Vengaskar was the VicePresident of thi.s organization. C.I.D. Police to Govt. 1214/H/3717, March 9, 1934. In 'D' ward it was decided to form a party called 'The Young Nationalist League' to work on the lines of the National Association at Dadar. Sitabai Pabidri was connected with it. C.I.D. Police to Govt. 1932/H/3717, April 20, 1934. B.A. 1933J para 1069(5).
I been taken up before by the Congress. 46 However, it was not
until September 1932 when Gandhi announced his fast against
the proposed Communal Award which coincided with a period of
reluctance for jail going that the middle class through
their loyalty to Gandhi took up this question in a big way. 47
This provided the opportunity for the Desh Sevika Sangh to
transform itself into the Gandhi Seva Sena and adopt the
guise of social welfare work.
At the initiative of Goshiben Captain and Vijayaben
Parikh a meeting of about 200 ladies had been held where it
was decided to form the Gandhi Seva Sena to bring about a
change of heart among caste Hindus and to explain to
untouchables that their interests would be served by
. . . . h. h H. d f ld 48 rema1n1ning wit In t e In u o . The association had
46. The question of untouchability had been taken up before by the Congress. As early as 1923 women had been addressed on their duty in this respect. In 1929 Malaviya and Jamnalal Bajaj published an appeal for temple entry reforms on behalf of the anti-untouchability committee of the Congress and towards the end of the year convened an informal Untouchability Conference at Congress House. In Bombay a temple entry satyagraha committee had been appointed. The question had been taken up again in 1931 by the B.P.C.C. B.C. February 9, 1923, p.5; S.A. 1923 para 578(13); S.A. 1929 para 1065, para 2271; October 25, 1929, p.5. C.I.D. Police to Govt. 5873/H/3717 November 23, 1931.
47. The Rashtriya Stree Sabha had earlier taken a limited interest in the question addressing themselves to the Depressed Classes and Ratanben Mehta and Gangaben Patel had been particularly concerned. B.A. April 6, 1929, p.7; B.C. 1929 para 787 (2). About 200 middle class women participated in the formation of the All India AntiUntouchability League in Bombay. F.R. 2nd half Sept. 1932, 18/12/32. C.I.D. Police to Govt. 5440/H/3717 Oct. 1, 1932. In the earlier satyagraha struggles for temple entry at Nasik in Maharashtra and at the Bhulcshwar Temple in Bombay Harijan women themselves had participated in the struggle. B.C. March 25, 1930, p.12; B.C. March 13, 1930, p.S .
. 48. C.I.D. Police to Govt. 5136/H/3717, Sept.17, 1932.
404
about 100 members practically all of them jail returned
members of the Dcsh Sevika Sangh. 49 Gandhi's emphasis on
women's part in the erradication of untouchability 50 was
particularly apt in· ~iew of the deep seated conservatism among
women on the question. It was asking ~ne of the lynchpins of
the caste system to take the first step in destroying it.
Even the colonial government was acutely aware of the caste
woman's sensibility on the question. It had witnessed the
withdrawal of many women from the D~ndi march when Gandhi
. . d . d . h bl 51 d . . ff 1ns1ste on 1ntro uc1ng untouc a es an 1n 1ts e orts to
break the power of the Homen pickete~s had considered using .?-,
untouchable women to deal with the picketers - a measure to
'~hich Congress could hardly raise objJU;,tions. 52 The Gandhi . :''·~·.
Seva Sena presented this form of social ser~ice as a means
to emancipation for women. 53
' The Gandhi Seva Sena set about addressing meetings of
49. C.I.D. D.I.G., (Intelligence)15/INC/36.,
50. Gandhi believed women would overcome their religious blindness to achieve this. B.C. June 16, 1934, p.l.
51. Telegram Home Special Bombay to Secy. of State and Govt. of India dated March 23, 1930, M.S.A. Home Special 750 (39) 1930.
52. Copy of a secret express letter No.37/C Home, from the Chief Commissioner, Delhi to the Government of India, Home Department dated January 14, 1932. M.S.A. Home Special 800 (48) 1932.
53. Aim No.2 of the Gandhi Seva Sena "Emancipating the women of the country by their oHn service and sacrifice for humanity, by their adherence to the moral code of giving more than receiving and emancipating themselves from many of the non moral traditions of the past." C. I. D. D. I.G. (Intelligence) 15/INC/36.
54 . 1 . f l C 1 A d 5 S women, p1ccet1ng con:ercnces on t1c ommuna war.,··
56 holding ballots in temples and even succeeding in having . 57
one temple thrown open to untouchables.
Despite the possibility of Gandhi's death this issue
did not capture the imagination of any more women than those
alread~ within the orbit of the Desh Sevika Sangh. 58
Nevertheless, the news of the Poena Pact was celebrated by a
54. At one such meeting Kamla Nehru addressed an audience of about 400 women. C.I.D. Police to Govt. 5162/H/3717 September 19, 1932; B.C. September 19, 1932, p.1.
55. At the Conference at the India Merchants' Chamber Hall where leading caste Hindus met under the Presidentship of Malaviya to debate how to make the British Premier change the Communal Award as desired by Gandhi about fifty women of the Gandhi Seva Sena stood at the door with posters to impress on members the necessity of an early settlement. "Report of the Gandhi Seva Sena 11
,
A.I.C.C. 33/1934. C.I.D. Police to G6vt. 5243/H/3717 September 22, 1932.
56. To gauge public opinion on the matter the women of the Gandhi Seva Sena decided to take a referendum. Three or four women remained in charge of two ballot boxes at various temples. One was for those in favour of the temple entry and·the other for those against it. People were requested to drop beetle nuts which were kept ready into either of the boxes. C.I.D. Police to Govt. 5190/H/3717 September 20, 1932. C.I.D. Police to Govt. 5221/H/3717 September 21, 1932. For a table of voting in the'se boxes see 11Report of the Gandhi Seva Sena,. 6p. ait., Appendix 17, or C.I.D. Police to Govt. 5268/H/3717 September 23, 1932.
57. As a result of the efforts of Bachuben Wagle and Ratanben Mehta the old Vithoba Temple at Mahim was thrown open to untouchables. C.I.D. Police to Govt. 5162/H/3717 Sept. 19, 1932. "Report of the Gandhi Seva Sena", op. cit.
58, At a meeting under the Presidentship of Lady Laxmibai Jugmohandas at which it was decided to send telegrams to the P.M. Viceroy and Lady Willingdon appealing to save the life of Gandhi by holding the Communal Award in abeyance until an agreement \~i th the depressed classes was reached only ahout one hundred were present. C.I.D. Police to Govt. 5296/H/3717, September 24, 1932.
meeting held under the auspices of many women's . . 59 assoc1at1ons.
It was only in November when Gandhi threatened to fast
again over the Guruvayur Temple Entry Question and over the
Madras Temple Entry Bill that the old guard Desh Sevikas
were joined by the old guard social welfare workers and a
committee with a progranune for action chaired by Lady
Chimanlal Setalvad was set up. 60 By 1934 women of
4 (>6 -
different alliances, including the Hindustan Seva Dal and the
Bhagini Samaj had come together in the Gandhi Seva Sena. 61
The
included
homes of
programme for etadication of untouchability
invitation of harijan women and children into
caste Hindus 62 persuasion of landlords to
the
acconmwda te Harij ans 63 and lobbying the Viceroy to sanction
the introduction of the Temple Entry Bill. 64 During Gandhi 1 s
59. The Gujarati Hindu Stree Mandal and its Santa Cruz branch, the Jain Mahila Samaj, the Surti Dasha Porwad Bhagini Mandai, the Vaida Stree Samaj, the Bhatia Stree Mandai, the Mahila Mandai; the Hindu Stree Sangathan, the Halai Lohana Sakhari Mandai and the Khadayta Stree Mandai. B.C. September 30, 1932, p.S.
60. The committee included Lady Premila Thakersey, Lady Taragauri Mehta Avantikabai Gokhale and a number of ladies associated with the Bhagini Samaj. "Report of the Gandhi Seva Sena", op. cit.
61. For a list of names of forty women at a meeting with Gandhi in June 1934 see C.I.D. Police to Govt.2921/H/3717 June 14, 1934.
62. This was regarded as one of the most significant steps taken for the erradication of untouc;hab1lity. "Report of the Gandhi Seva Sena" . op, c~t. Dec. 19, 1932, p.1; photo and list of women involved B,C, Dec. 20, 1932, p.7.
63. This was organized by Jamnaben Purshottam and Vijayaben Parikh. B.C. November 24, 1932, p.7.
64. A resolution for such was sent from a women's meeting to the Viceroy. B.C. December 26, 1932, p.l. "Report of the Gandbi Seva Sena", op. c1:t.
fasts in May and August 1933 the Gandhi Scva Sena continued
their prayers for his welfare, and agitation for the removal
of untouchability. 65 They continued their social work by
467
.opening a school for Harijan women. 66 Further ballots were
held.and as a result of this about a dpzen small temples were
thrown open, but the largest and richest temples such as.
Madhav Bag, Babulnath and Bhuleshwar continued to shut their
doors to untouchables. 67
This was the first issue around which nationalist and
moderate women had come together after the first initiation
of civil disobedience. But in fact there had been no wide
breach in the field of associational activity. Kamaladevi
Chattopadhyaya who resigned as secretary of the All India
Women's Conference in 1930 68 was one of the few women to
make such a break, to work fulltime for the Congress. In
Bombay the work of the Bombay Women's Association re~ained
in the hands of moderate women like Or. (Mrs.) Sukthankar and
Miss G.L. Bahadurji and Mrs. Khadija Shuffi Tyabji who had
disavowed buying illegal salt, and Mrs. Faiz Tyabji who had
come to the B.W.A. from the B.P.W.c. 69 But at the first
meeting of delegates to the All Asian Women's Conference at
65. During Gandhi's May fast processions of 25 to 30 women were taken out daily in various wards. F.R. 2nd half May 1933, 18/6/33."Report of the Gandhi Seva Sena", op. cit; C.I.D. Police to Govt. 4208/H/3717 August 23, 1933 (List of names).
66. B.C. October 8, 1933, p.12; B,C, June 15, 1934, p.1. 67. M.S.A. Home Special 800 (40)H A.A. Pt.II.
68. B.C. April 3, 1930, p.l. 69. At the Fifth Conference of the Bombay Women's Committee
on Educational Social Reform, Mrs. Tyahji President of the B.P.W.C. was selected President. B.C. November 14, 1930: p.lO.
468
Lahore which had been organized by the All India Women's
Conference a certain solidarity between women was expressed
when Mrs. Sarojini Naidu, lodged in Yeravada Jail at the time,
was elected President. 70 A similar link of loyalty on a
personal level was expressed when Hansa Mehta through her
relationship with Lady Mehribai Tata agreed to accept the
general secretaryship of the National Council of Women in
India and remain so despite finding herself "caught in the
net thrown country wide by Mahatma Gandhi to rope in women
f t . 1 . 1171 or na 1ona serv1ce. That such co-operation could exist
and continue to exist through the upheaval of civil
disobedience attests to the limited nature of the social
movement associated with bourgeois nationalism fostered by
notions of unity among women.
V This limited spread of social and political consciousness
in the taking up of new issues and the creation of new
organizations can be seen in the informal changes in social
attitudes. The experience of orthodox women who accepted
food from Muslims and Christians in jaiL or of women who had
never left their homes before coping with street life during
civil disobedienc~ was commented upon. 72 Marwari women
70. B.C. January 20, 1931, p.S, for an account of the All India Women's Conference see Indian Annual Register 1931, p.373. Sarojini Naidu also agreed to preside at a public meeting of the B.P.W.C. to protest proposals to repeal or relax the prohibition against early marriages and to support a Bill for the protection of minor girls. B.C. November 30, 1933, p.3.
71. "My Association with the National Council of Women in India". H.M. Papers File No.79.
72. B.C. April 24, 1931, p.12; The Rashtriya Stree Sabha's Report ... 19.30-31, op. cit., p.4.
469
discussed the deleterious effects of their love of ornamcnts~3 74 Muslim women gave interviews on purdah, a prominent lady
refused to give a caste dinner on the death of her husband
which would exclude outcastes, 75 some groups outlined their
history of intercaste marriages, 76 and a Jain women's
conference advocated freedom of remarriage for young widows? 7
Not all public discussion was directed to liberal social
change. The movies, attendance or acting by women
constituted a threat to some communities; 78 · and a section of
P . 1 d d . . 79 arsis strong y con emne Intermarriage.
However, no attempt was made by the female leadership to
interpret these changes. The women leaders merely responded
\d th a call for "seriousness" as resolutions were not enough~O
73. B.C. October 29, 1933, p.8.
74. B.C. June 30, 1934, p.7.
75. Lady Laxmibai Jugmohandas for the Kapol Banias. B.C. June 3, 1934, p.1.
76. The Bhavsar Kshatriya Samaj with the Namdev Shimpi Samaj B.C. December 31, 1935, p.l3.
77. This was such a revolutionary move according to the orthodox women among the Jains of Bombay that some of them held a meeting to express their disapproval of it. B.C. May 10, 1934l p.8; B.C. June 3, 1934, p.1.
78. The Dawoodi Bohra Volunteer Corps picketed a cinema to prevent women of the community attending. C. I. D. Police to Govt. 4125/H/3717, August 24, 1931, A section of Parsis agitated against a movie - Jawani-ki-Hawa -in which a Parsi girl had a minor part. F.R. 1st half September 1935, 18/9/35.
79. A public meeting was held to discuss the threat to the continued existence of the community through intermarriage. B.C. July 17, 1933, p.l.
80. At a meeting under the auspices of the B.P.W.C. Sarojini Naidu declared herself glad that the B.P.W.C. had ~merged from the charming platitudes about reforming society and become serious. A couple of months later at a meeting under the auspices of the Bombay lvomen' s Committee on Educational and Social Reforms she repeated the same sentiment declaring that resolutions were not enough. B.C. December 8, 1933, p.7. B.q. February 20, 1934, p.3.
470
The universalization of the participation of some women in
civil disobedience afforded substance to long propagated
notions of a regenerated spirit among women. The participation
by a small group of women in a political movement lent weight
to the arguments for social change among diverse groups of
women. This provided a base and gave confidence to many
groups· of women to express their opinions more forcefully.
_/ The very participation of women in civil disobedience
had posed the question of the status of women in the society
but the interpretation of that participation and its
consequences offered no understanding of the fundamental
orderi~g of the society through segregation of roles.
The tension between segregation and desegregation had
been played out within the civil disobedience movement. Women '
leaders had participated in a public space with male leaders.
However,when ordinary women had attended large public
meetings or joined in activities with male volunteers they
usually did so within the confines of a segregated public
space reserved for females alone. 81 Few women attempted to/'
transcend these barriers. The conflict between those who
attempted to and those who wished to preserve the separate
space was played out in the rivalry between the two nationalist
81. On the evening of the largest meeting of the salt satyagraha a large number of women remained after dark and were accommodated on a platform especially reserved for them. B.C. April 14, 1930, p.l; When women joined male volunteers in raids on the WadaJa salt works they participated in separate batches. C.I.D. Police to Govt. 2656/II/3717, .June 2,1930.
471
organizations for women in BomhDy, the separatist Rashtriya
Stree Sabha and the common spacist ladies platoon of the
Hindustan Seva Dal. During the course of civil disobedience
several women had called for desegregation. However, this
was in the context of drawing greater ?umbers of Muslim
82 women from the household into the extended female space.
It did not constitute a challenge to the structure of the
society built on separate spaces for men and women. The
female intelligentsia could now articulate the oppression of
women within the prisonlike household but they did not extend
this analysis to encompass the wider spaces of female
existence. The substance afforded by the social movement
associated with civil disobedience, was to demands from the
extended female space.that women's status within her
traditional role of wife and mother should be safeguarded and
that her individual well being, though circumscribed by her
role,be protected.
Civil disobedience as a social movement had never really
dislodged notions of the legal framework ordering change in
I • · 83 women s pos1t1on. As the politics of the national movement
shifted again to constitutional forms and the legislatures
the focus of change in women's position rested again on
tampering with the colonial legal structure.
82, At a meeting to congratulate jailed women Jankibai Bajaj called on Muslim women to follow Mrs. Lukmani's example and throw off purdah. B.C. July 12, 1930, p.7. At a meeting when Sofia Somji appealed to Muslims to send their women to the Hindustan Seva Dal Training Camp she told them "Don't think of a free India .so long as you lock up your women in your houses." The P1~ee Press JournaZ November 24, 1931.
83. Throughout Civil Disobedience A.I.W.C. & B.P.W.C. continued to pass resolutions re legal change. See first pages.
4 '1 2
If the social movement of the early thirties had done
anything it was to provide a firmer base for the assertion of
the individual personality of women. No more were social
institutions to be based on "notions that women are a species
of a property for the benefit of man" it was declared. 84
" . women should realize that they were not merely adjuncts
of men'and as free and independent human beings claim full
scope for the development of their personality." 85 The social
movement had provided the basis to argue that the ideal for
womanhood had to change from one of meekness and submission.J
to one of self reliance.
Previously the argument had been that legal change was
t d t · 1 change. 86 Th t necessary o raw ou soc1a e new argumen was
that it was now necessary to force the law to respond to an
1 d h . . 87 a rea y c ang1ng soc1ety. Woman's social role in the
84. Mrs. Faiz Tyabji at the fourth biennial conference of the National Council of Women held in Bombay. B.C. March 14, 1934, p.S.
85. Maharani of Baroda Presidential Address fourth biennial conference of the National Council of Women. Ibid.
86. See arguments concerning Age of Consent Act and Child Marriage Restraint (Sarda) Act. Chapter III.
87. "The process adopted by the commentators on the Smritis to bring the law in harmony with the changing usages and environments of society had ceased to function and the British Courts of law are bound to impose archaic rules of law, irrespective of their suitability to modern conditions of life. The awakened consciousness of both the sexes and the resultant determination to remove the legal disabilities of women and to raise their social status are responsible for the efforts made both in the legislatures and outside to emancipate the lvomen from the thraldom of custom and to bring about changes in the law in harmony with the changed conditions and environments of society." The lion. S.S. Patkar exJudge of the Bombay High Court presiding at public meeting for All India Women's Day Blavatsky Lodge Bombay, November 24, 1934. B.C. November 25, 1934, p .1.
473
household might not be challenged but it was for the assertion
of her individual personality that it was how argued that the
law should be changed with regard to woman's right to
property and inheritance. Previous legal changes had dealt
with.her protection in marriage now it was hoped to ensure
her individual freedoms within marriage.
Although it was not successful, the call for a Commission
of Enquiry into the plight of women and for the removal of
disabilities under which they suffered, was a precursor of
later attempts to codify women's legal status. The move for
a commission had first been mooted at the All India Women's
Conference at Madras in January, 1932 when a resolution was
passed urging the Government of India to appoint an All India
Enquiry Committee with strong representation of women to
enquire into the legal disabilities of Hindu women in matters
f 1 d · h 88 A t. f ,B b o- persona an property r1g ts. t a mee 1ng o om ay
citizens under the auspices of the Bombay Women's Association
to celebrate All India Women's Day in November 1934, a
Commission of Enquiry was again demanded. The question was
not one which aroused a lot of interest as evidenced in the
only 150 persons present but such old stalwarts on the
question of women's rights such as M.R. Jayakar and Sir
Manubhai Mehta were present. Sarojini Naidu spoke to the
major resolution advocating that the personnel of the
Commission should include an adequate number of women and
that it consider ways and means for the early removal of the
legal disabilities of women as regards inheritance, marriage
88. Indian AnnuaZ Register 1931, Vol.II, p.84.
and guardianship of children and that it recommend such
amendments to the existing laws as will make them just and
. . 1 89 equ1to.o e.
At the annual All India Women's Conference at Karachi
ft74
at the beginning of 1935 the need for a Commission to
investigate the legal disabilities of women was reiterated. 90
In the event no such Commission was appointed and at the
next conference of the Bombay Women's Association a
resolution was passed expressing disappointment at the refusal
of the Government of India to appoint such a Commission. 91
The demand for a Commission was again unsuccessful even after
the Congress ministeries were formed when a memorandum was
prepared by the parliamentary sub-committee of the Bombay
Presidency Women's Council and submitted to the Government
of India. 92 A resolution was introduced into the Central
Assembly suggesting the appointment of a co~~ittee to
investigate and report on the present position of women under
Hindu Law with special reference to rights and disabilities
with regard to ownership and disposal of property and right
of guardianship over children, right to maintenance, right
in respect of joint family property, and right of inheritance
d . 93 an success1on.
89. S.A. 1934 para 1143 (4); B.C. November 25, 1934, p.1; B.C. November 26, 1934, p.11.
90. Indian Annual Register 1934, Vol.II, p.357.
91 • B. C • October 1 5 , 19 3 S •
92. The B.P.W.C. outlined the lines that should be adopted for the purpose of legislation regarding Marriage, Divorce, Guardianship, and Inheritance. B.C. August 27, 1938, p.l3.
93. B.C. August 1, 1938, p.4.
4 7 5
The movement among women for legislative change came up
against the same problem that had moved women fighting for
franchise rights. There were no women in the legislatures. 94
The women's associations could protest or give support to
bills as earlier but could not initiate bills. There is no
doubt that Bombay women lobbied hard on bills affecting their
intere~ts. When H.R. Desai introduced a bill into the Bombay
Legislative Council withdrawing the right of adoption for
women this was rigorously opposed by organized women who
attended the Council halls in mute protest and circulated an
appeal to reject the bill. 95 Although the bill was rejected
on administrative grounds this lvas hailed as a victory for
women. 96
The women were not unanimous in their support of
measures for change. The Bombay Women's Association gave
conditional support to Dr. Bhagwandas' bill in the Central
Assembly to provide that no marriage among Hindus should be
invalid by reason of the parties not belonging to the same
97 caste. While Gujarati ladies petitioned Vallabhbhai Patel
that Congress members in the legislatures must block the
94. That is after the 1934 elections.
95. It was opposed particularly by the B.P.W.C. and the Gujarati Hindu Stree Mandai. The appeal was signed by 1,500 women. B.C. October 10, 1935, p.l; B.C. October 15, 1935, p.5; B.C. January 24, 1936, p.7. G.H.S.M. 1933-35, p.22. .
96. A letter to the editor suggested that it was unquestionably the \vomen 's protest that had led Mr. Desai to withdraw his bill. B.C. letter to ed. July 17, 1935, p.10.
97. There were various difficulties with the bill such as whether offspring of such a marriage could inherit. B.C. July 21s 1936s p.7; B.C. August 7, 1935, pp.6, 9; B.C. August 28, 1935, ~.6.
47()
the bill, 98 Dr. G.V. Deshmukh's bill for inheritance rights
for ,-,~omen '"'i thin the Hindu family had widespread support, 99
and in the event Deshmukh's bill was passed and Bhagwandas'
bill squashed. 100
Numbers had not been an important aspect of the
prominence given to women in civil disobedience but they played
an important role in constitutional politics. It was
important to count heads and numbers of organizations for
election and in support of policies. The women were aware
of this and tried unsuccessfully to use the tactics of
political bargaining for social reform ends. In March, before
the Lucknow Congress Hansa Mehta and others, members of the
A.I.W.C. and the Bhagini Samaj, had sent a memorandum to
Rajendra Prasad to place before the Working Committee
regarding the selection of Congress candidates for the '
forthcoming elections. They wanted an assurance that the
reactionary forces in the Congress camp would abide by the
resolution at the Karachi Congress regarding equal rights
for women, and that those candidates elected would use their
power for the removal of women's disabilities. The women made
a veiled threat pointing out that although the All India
98. B.C. July 17, 1936, p.7.
99. It was supported by the Bombay Presidency Social Reform Association, the Bombay Women's Association, the Bhagini Samaj, the Gujarati Hindu Stree Mandai and by women students in city colleges who organized. a meeting in its support. B.C. July 21, 1936, p.7; B.C. July 26, 1936, pp. 8, 14; B.C. July 31, 1936, p.S. The Mandai thought the bill incomplete but acknowledged it would result in some improvement to women's position. G.H.S.M. 1935-3?, p.32.
10d. B.C. February 5, 1937, p.7.
47'7
Women's Conference and other organizations of women did not
accept the principle on which tho special qualifications for
women were base~ they had recommended the enrolment of women
on the electoral rolls with a view to making women's vote as
potent a factor as possible and that the women would be asked
by their organizations to exercise their vote in favour of
those ~andidates who would fight for the abolition of legal,
social and economic disabilities faced by women. 101
The demand that candidates should support measures of
. 1 f . d b l . d lOZ Th socia re orm was reiterate y tie organize women. e
male nationalists regarded the issue of woman's condition
and social reform as of little consequence and took refuge
in the view that independence should come before social change
and would guarantee it. Nehru took the manifesto of the All
India Women's Conference so seriously that it took two letters '
to elicit a reply which then pointed out that the women's
101. Hansa Mehta to Rajendra Prasad dated 2/3/36. A.I.C.C. 6, 1936. This notion was supported by Bombay Chronicle B.C. editorial July 10, 1936, p.6.
102. The A.I.W.C. issued a manifesto to candidates for the coming elections. The women stated that they wanted active support to ensure equal opportunities for all on the basis of both caste and sex. They wanted social reforms in the areas of purdah, early marriage, immoral traffic in women and protection from drunkeness as well as reforms in education, unemployment, communal unity, and protection of civil liberties. ".Manifesto issued on behalf of the A.I.W.C. to candidates for the coming elections. Waltair July 26, 1936'', enclosed with Ammu SHaminadhan to Ja~Vaharlal Nehru dated July 26, 1936 and August 22, 1936, A.I.C.C. G 48 1936. The Bombay Presidency Women's Council which had always stood aloof from Congress issued its own memorandum calling on candidates to support measures for free compulsory education especially for girls, enforcement of the Sarda Act and legislation to remove women's disabilities, ensure their economic independence and to improve the condition of the labouring classes. B.C. December 10, 1936, p.3.
478
demands had long been part of the Congress programme and
that the essential pre-requisite was political freedom to give
full effect to the social and economic freedom of lvomen. 103
Despite the formation of the Congress governments in 1937, and
the election of women candidates there was no change on the
perspective of the law and social reform. Even such
respected lavnnakers as Sir Harisingh Gour had pointed out
that what was needed was a systematic overhaul of the whole
t f H. d L h h . 1 f l 04 b h sys ·em o 1n u a'v rat er t an p1ecemea. re orm, ut t e
priorities of the new Congress governments did not include
such social reconstruction and legislative change continued
to be piecemeal with the addition that now some bills were
. d d b 105 1ntro uce y women.
The lobbying role of the women's assocations remained
unchanged. The standing committee of the A.I.W.C. drew up
a comprehensive legislative progranune· encompassing facilities
for marketing goods to the position of women working in mines,
which was to be submitted to the provincial chief ministers
d 1 . 1 b b h b"ll 106 an women eg1s ators to e roug t up as 1 s.
103. Jawaharlal Nehru to Ammu Swaminadhan dated September 2, 1936. A.I.C.C. G 48 1936.
104. Sir Hari Singh Goua 'Inter-Caste Marriages' B.C. August 7, 1935, p.6.
105. In the Central Assembly Mrs. Radhabai Subbarayan introduced a bill to prevent bigamous marriages. Lilavati Munshi introduced a similar bill in the Bombay LegisJative Council along with one to prevent unequal marriages of great age gap. B.C. July 30, 1938, p.S; B.C. August 1, 1938, p.9; B.C. August 5, 1938, p.7.
106. B.C. August 23, 1937, p.5.
479
In Bombay, various meetings were held under the auspices
of the Bombay Presidency Women's Council; the Bombay Women's
Association, the Bombay branch of the Women's Indian
Association and the National League of women voters to support
the principles of the different bills regarding women's
rights concerning divorce and monogamy before the . . 107
leg1slatures.
Two issues received the particular support of Bombay
women. A bill in the Central Assembly to amend the Child
Marriage Ac~ by providing for a penalty for those connected
with violating the Act and by providing that a child wife
should live separately from her husband who lvas responsible
for her maintenance, was supported by holding public meetings
both before and after the passing of the bill. 108
The other issue concerned property rights. A bill was
passed in the Central Assembly regarding the right of Muslim
109 women to share property. Under the auspices of the Stree
Zarthosti Manda~ a public meeting of Parsi women was held to
appeal to the Conference of Parsi Mandals and members of the
Central Legislature to amend the Parsi Intestate Successor
Law as introduced in the Council of State to remove sex 110 discrimination against Parsi women inheriting property.
107. B.C. August S, 1938, p.7.
108. B.C. editorial July 29, 1937, p.6; B.C. July 5, 1938, p.S; B.C. March 12, 1938, p.20. G.H.S.M. 1937-39, p.ZS.
109. B.C. September 17, 1937, p. 7; B. c. editorial September 20, 1937, p.6.
110. B.C. January 4, 1938, p.S.
480
Despite all these efforts at improving the position of women
through legislative means, the legislative changes did not
even provide a comprehensive protection for the status of
women in the household. Hansa Mehta herself pointed for
instance to the increase in bigamous marriages among the so
called educated classes. 111 She again appealed for a
comprehensive law of marriage "instead of these tinkerings"~ 12
Yet although she recognized the invidious discrimination
against women in social life, as opposed to the little
political freedom in the country which women enjoyed equally
with men, she could prescribe no radical formula for changing
this. The fate of women's status was to remain encapsulated
in the legislatures. Women, said Hansa Mehta at an address
to the Nagpada Neighbourhood House, should make a united
effort to change the law and exercise the vote in her true
interest. The goal of social change should be acquired '
through universal education and an intelligent use of the
f h . 113 ranc lSe.
Women on the streets had little impact on the content
and methods of the social reform message. It did however
provide a wider audience and accelerate the process by
which women were drawn into the associational network of
the extended female space to foster change in their own
communities and support the lobbying tactics of the more
secular organi.zations.
111. B.C. November 8, 1939, p.9.
112. Ibid.
113. B.C. November 29, 1938, p.S.
Political Partjcipation
It has long been taken as a c6mmonplace that the
participation of women in the national struggle ensured their
participation in other aspects of political life. In fact,
the principle of women's participation in decision making
bodies·as mediators in a segregated society had long been
accepted. The quest for constitutional representation lay
in the hands of both moderate and nationalist women long
.before the social movement of the 1930's. Women had
participated at sessions of the Indian National Congress
114 since the nineteenth century and for over a decade had
been represented in areas such as municipal politics.
This principle of the right to participation was formally . 115
accepted by the nationalists. At the Karachi Congress
a resolution that had been lobbied by the women of Bombay was
passed. It was put forward by a number of women who had
supported and participated in the civil disobedience movement
and drew together the strands linking the agitational and
constitutional aspects of nationalism and the question of the
role of women in the new nation. The Bombay women wired
114.For figures on number of women delegates and women in A.I.C.C. see Gopal Krishna ''Development of Indian National Congress as a Mass Organization 1918-23'' J.A.S. xxv, 3, May 1966,pp.421, 422.
11~ A number of women attended the Karachi Congress. There were 23 delegates from the B.P.C.C. including Perin Captain and Ramabai Kamdar. A.I.C.C. File No.65, 1931. Others included Ha11sa Mehta, Snehalata Hazrat, Ratanben Mel1ta, Kantaben Khandwalla, Mrs. A.P. Kothare, Goshiben Cpatain, Kisan Dhumatkar, Kamladevi Chattopadltyaya, Lilavati Munshj and Mrs. Abid Ali Jafferbhai. C.I.D. Police to Govt. 1578/H/3717 March 23, 1931.
482
Gandhi and other Congress leaders, Jawaharlal Nehru,
Vallabhbhai Patel and Mrs. Naidu that the following resolution
should be passed.
That in view of the important part played by the women of India on the political as well as the social side of the National Movement and the unconditional services rendered by them in the cause of non-violence, the heavy and unparalleled sacrifices undergone by them in the cause of the c6untry, this Congress urges that the Indian women be enfranchised on the same terms as men and that as the enfranchisement is consequent on the women possessing property in their own right all possible efforts should be made to confer this right on them to enable them to play part in the future of the nation in an adequate and effective manner.l16
The women asked various women's associations to support
the move asking Congress for equal rights of property and
franchise; some of whom also wired the Subjects Committee of
the Congress at Karachi. 117 The Women's Indian Association
of Madras was specific in its demand and wired the Congress
to include four women in its delegation to the Round Table
118 Conference. The women believed that if political power
was in the hands of those who would stand by this resolution
then the political status of women was assured and proceeded
to support the Congress declaring that woman's task was "to
help these men in their struggle to get the power." 119
116. The 'vomen signing the petition were Lady Laxmibai Jugmohandas, Hansa Mehta, Ramibai Kamdar, Avantikabai, Gokhale, Snehalata Hazrat, Ratanben Mehta, G.M.S. Captain, Nargis Captain, Perin Captain, Kashibai Kothare, Kusum Desai, Jaishree Raijee Kshma Rao, and Annapurna Deshmukh. Hinclustan Praja Mitra 21-3-1931 (Gujarati) Snehalata Hazrats papers. B.C. March 21, 1931, p.l.
117. B.C. March 23, 1931, p.S; B.C. March 27, 1931, p.S.
118. Muthulakshmi Reddy to Jawaharlal Nehru telegram dated March 2ll , 19 31 A. l . C . C. G . 13, 19 31 .
119. I-Iansa Mehta "Political Status of the Indian Woman" in Shyam Kumari Khan (ed.) Our Cause Allahabad Kitahistan 1935, p.344.
Not only was the principle accept~d by Congress in its
Manifesto for the first election after civil disobedience,
the Congress made a declaration of intent as regards women.
At the end of July 1934, the Election Manifesto of the
Congress Parliamentary Board was put forward and placed the
objectives behind capturing the legislatures before the
1 ; 120 e ectorate. The Manifesto dealt with the agrarian
programme and industrial workers and the situation of women.
The Congress has already declared that it stands for the removal of all sex disabilities whether legal or social or in any sphere of public activity. It has expressed itself in favour of maternity benefits and the protection of women workers. The women of India have already taken a leading part in the freedom struggle, and the Congress looks forward to their sharing, in equal measure with the men of India, the privileges and obligations of citizens of a free India.l21
It was not the demand for participation that was the
radical content in all of this, but the move that the kind of
participation expected was not one based on the need for
women representatives in a segregated societ~ but a move
women towards the creation of a common space in which both
men and women were represented. In the negotiations for
franchise rights in the Constitution, the women consistently
made clear their opposition to the treatment of w6men as a
special interest group with reservation of seats; and at the
Karachi Congress, Mrs. Naidu made clear her support for the
resolution and the view of the women who did not want
120. B.C. July 30, 1934, p.l.
121. Congress Election Manifesto, p.4. C.I.D. D:I.G. (Intelligence) 1/INC/36-II(9).
484
discrimination in their favour by protection, reservation or . 122 co-opt1on.
A few women, such as Sarojini Naidu, who came to politics
from the segregated sphere of the household posed no threat
but in fact offered an advantage to male politicians who
through them gained access to that sphere which they would
not otherwise have had. However, an increase in numbers from
this sphere into the decision making arena posed a no
~ncertain threat to the traditional patriarchal social order.
In a sense the exigencies of civil disobedience with
its demands of centralized control and the use of both men
and women to play the role of Congress dictator in the war
council, created a situation of common space in which limited
participation by women was acceptable. This happened despite
the care taken to stress that in working for the nation woman
was not stepping outside her household role. The very
exaggeration and universalization of women's civil
disobedience participation that had served the propaganda
purposes of Congress now added magnitude to the threat of
women operating in this newly growing common space.
Vallabhbhai Patel expressed this fear of the male nationalists
when he commented on how surprising women's participation in
civil disobedience was and that it looked as if Indian women
vied with men in the struggle thinking that if they lagged
behind they would not get a proper share in the swaraj
government. 123
122. B.C. March 23, 1931, p.S.
123. B.C. July 15, 1930, p.S,
48 5
The movement of women into decision making areas was
quite marked. Gandhi had always travelled with female
escorts. When he was released fr6m jail and went to Allahabad
to discuss the national situation with the delegates who had
returned from the Round Table Conference prior to the Gandhi
Irwin talks, 124 he took with him Sarojini Naidu, a
representative of the old style women politicians, and Hansa
M ht d t 1 . . f . 1 lf 125 1e a, a new woman rawn o po 1t1cs rom soc1a we are.
At the time when the withdrawal of civil disobedience
and a return to constitution making and parliamentary politics
were being considered, women involved themselves in the
discussion of a new nationalist programme. In May 1934, a
conference of Congress workers was held at the initiative
of Sarojini Naidu to decide on the mandate to be given to the
A. I.C.C. regarding the future programme of the Congress.
About ninety people attended this meeting including women
such as Gangaben Patel and Avantikabai Gokhale. 126 In June,
following the Working Committee's May resolution withdrawing
civil disobedience, 127 the ban on associations forming
constituent parts of the Congress organization was removed,
and confiscated buildings were to be restored. This was the
124. For negotiations between the Congress and Liberals at this time see Low, D.A. "Sir Tej Bahadur Sapru and the First Round Table Conference" in D.A. Low (ed.) Soundings in ModePn South Asian HistoPy, Australian National University Press, 1968, p.294.
125. C.I.D. Police to Govt. 570/H/3717 January 28, 1931.
126. The meeting discussed whether the resolution of boycott of legislatures passed by the Lahore Congress should be rescinded ancl whether the Swaraj party should be formed or not. C.I.D. Police to Govt. 2311/H/3717 May 14, 1934; F.R. 1st half May 18/5/34.
127. B.C. May 19, 1934, p.12; F.R. 2nd half May 18/5/34.
~86
awaited signal and the B.P.C.C. and District Congress
Committees set about reorganizing. Sarojini Naidu, Shantabai
Vengaskar and Ratanben Mehta were involved in these
d . . 12 8 TJ . f 1scuss1ons. 11s pattern o participation of the long
time representative women and the women like Shantabai
Vengaskar, newly politicized through civil disobedience is
even more clearly seen in the entrance of women into the
B.P.C.C.
In 1929, the only woman representative on the B.P.C.C.
("' ... N .d 129 was 0aroJ1n1 a1 u. In 1931, following the first phase
of civil disobedience and the Karachi resolution, women
asserted themselves in the Congress organization of the city.
The major conflict in the B.P.C.C. elections was that
between the King makers, those men who had remained out of
the'public eye and secretly directed civil disobedience
. · th "t 130 d h G dh.t h 1 d th operat1on 1n e Cl y an t e an 1 es w o e e
Congress to jail. The civil disobedience movement had brought
many individuals both male and female into Congress politics
and there was keen competition as 150 nominations had been
received for 75 seats. 131
128. F.R. 1st half June 18/6/34; C.I.D. Police to Govt. 2849/H/3717 June 11, 1934.
129. She was elected from 'A' ward S.A. 1929 para 1915 (2)
130. For the 'King makers' case following their arrest see N.A.I. Home Political 5/JX/1931.
131. C.I.D. Police to Govt. 2444/H/3717 May 15, 1931.
487
In'C'ward where the King-makers w~re ·hoping to establish
b th d "d t 132 a ase ere were no women can 1 a·es. In the other wards
there were nine women candidates. All had taken an active
part in the civil disobedience struggle. Yamunabai Chodekar
who had worked consistently in the mill area, and Jamnaben
Purshottam of the Rashtriya Stree Sabha were standing for F
ward.· Mrs. Shantabai Vengaskar who had played a prominent
role in Dadar, and Mrs. G.M.S. Captain stood for'G' ward.
Avantikabai Gokhale, Perin Captain and Ratahben Mehta for 'D'
ward, Urmilla Mehta for'E'ward, and Sofia Somji for'W ward
had all gone to jail as Congress war dictators. The election
was the occasion of a great deal of rivalry between the
d "ff f . 133 p· 1 d134 b d . 1 erent act1ons. 1ve women were e ecte ut esp1te
the Congress eulogization of the role of women in the struggle
only Perin Captain and Sofia Somji, one a separatist, the
other a new woman in a common space, participated in the
first council of the B.P.C.C. which discussed restarting
the Congress Bulletin and the ensuing constructive prograrnme~ 35
The B. P. C. C. elections of 1934 genera ted much excitement
as these were the first since 1931. Many more women offered
themselves as candidates than ever previously. Two of these,
Kamladevi Chattopadhyaya and Urmilla Mehta were standing for
132. C.I.D. Police to Govt. 2342/H/3717 May 11, 1931.
133. C.I.D. Police to Govt. 2693/H/3717 June 1, 1931; B.C. June 1, 1931, p.l.
134. These were Sofia Sornji, Perin Captain, Jamnaben Purshottam, Shantabai Vengaskar and Mrs. G.M.S. Captain S.A. 1931 para 2027 (9).
135. B.C. June 3, 1931, p.7; C.I.D. Police to Govt. 3406/H/3717 July 17, 1931; S.A. 1931 para 2393 (4).
488 '
the Congress Socialist Party. The Bombay Presidency Socialist
Group, which had achieved a notable success at the May
conference of Bombay leaders by securing an amendment by which
the lifting of boycott was made subject to the adoption of a
programme of national independence having as its objective the
establishment of a socialist state in which power would be
transferred to the masses, had been dissolved and replaced by
the more formal Congress Socialist Party. It was carrying out
appeals to Congress members to vote only for C.S.P.
candidates at the forthcoming B.P.C.C. elections. 136
Some of the candidates such as Perin Captain and Ratanben
Mehta had long been associated with Congress politics, while
others such as Hansa Mehta, Urmilla Mehta and Sofia Somji had
been drawn into political life through the civil disobedience
movement. In all, eleven women were standing for election, a
high proportion considering the actual numbers of women who
participated in the civil disobedience struggle comp~red with
the 102 candidates in all.
Ward
A
B
c D
E F
G
B.P.C.C. Elections 1934137
No. of Candidates Women
8 Kamladevi Chattopadhyaya
18 Hansa Mehta; Sofia Somji,
23
27
46
44
36
Mrs. Mungiben Mavji; Mrs. Urmilla Mehta
Perin Captain
Bachubai Wagle
Mrs. Soonabai Velkar; Mrs. Ratanben Mehta
Mrs. Kaveriben Divecha; Shantabai Vengaskar
136. F.R. 1st half May 1934 18/5/34; F.R. 1st half June 1934 18/6/34; 1st half July 18/7/34. "For Kamladevi's views on preparations for forming the party see Kamladevi to Purshottam dated 26/9/33 with C.I.D. File No. 3872/H/IV.
137. From B.C. August 8, 1934, p.8.
. 489
The interest of women was not confined to being
candidates. On the day of election 10,000 people were said
to have voted and it was reported that a noteworthy feature
was the keen enthusiasm shown by women voters. 138 The
election again reflected the differences between the behind
the scenes Congress workers and the others, and s~veral
promirient Congressmen who had taken an active part in civil
disobedience failed to secure election. 139 Kamladevi was not
returned, but later co-opted. Hansa Mehta, Sofia Somji, Perin
Captain, Urmilla Mehta, Shantabai Vengaskar and Kaveriben
140 Divecha, all were returned. Although there was some
dissention regarding irregularities in the electio~ it was
decided to hold the first m~eting of the newly elected
members in September. The women acquitted themselves well
with Perin Captain, Sofia Somji, Shantabai Vengaskar, Hansa
Mehta and Urmilla Mehta securing seats on the Council of the
Committee and Perin Captain appointed to the Estate and
Finance Sub-Committee and Urmilla Mehta on the Labour
Sub-Committee. 141 In subsequent elections women continued
to be well represented on the B.P.C.c. 142
Women who had participated in civil disobedience also
found their way to tl1e Bombay Suburban Districts Congress
Committee. Gangaben Patel, who became President, and
138. F.R. 1st half August, 1934 18/8/34; B.C. August 13, 1934, p.1.
139. F.R. 1st half August 1934 18/~/34.
140, B.C. August 14, 1934, p.l.
141. B.A. 1934 para 870 (8).
142. For details of the 1936 and 1937 elections see C.I.D. D.I.G. (Intelligence) .4/INC/37(III).
490
Dahiben Desai were elected and Ratanben Damania and Pra~ilabcn
Mehta co-opted to the Santa Cruz Congress Committee. Both
Gangaben Patel and Dahiben Desai were elected as
representatives to the Suburban Districts Committee. 143
The movement into municipal politics represents
a different trend but still one associated with the drive by
the female leadership to attain wider decision making powers
in the society. At the Municipal ~lections the B.P.C.C.
declared that it would not contest them as suc~but appealed
to voters to support the candidature of such Congressmen "as
have rendered services and undergone sacrifices in the cause
of the country." In Bombay the C.S.P. issued a manifesto
appealing for support for its 7 candidates standing on a
party ticket, 144 including Kamladevi who was to contest from
G ward. 145 Three women also contested the Bombay Municipal
election as quazi Congress candidates - Lilavati Munshi in
'C'ward, Jaishri Raijee in'D'ward and Kaveriben Divecha in
'G' ward. 14 6
Only one of these, Lilavati Munshi, was elected. The
other two women elected were Dr. (Mrs.) Sukthankar, a social
worker of long standing and Maniben Kara from the Labour
movement. 147 Within the next few years Lilavati Munshi was
143. The Sun 26/7/34; C.I.D. File 3847/H/1935.
144. F.R. 1st half December 1934 18/12/34.
145. . . November 19, 193.5, p.S; C.K. NarHyanswami to Kamladevi dated 24/11/34 with C.I.D. File 3872/H/IV.
146. B.C. January 22, 1935, p.J.
147. B.C. February 14, 1935, p.l.
491
to advocate that women alone should administer the
. . 1' . 148 mUnlClpa ltlCS. This was a move not into any common space
but to enlarge the arena of separate space from the female
jurisdiction of the households into the municipalities. The
women.of Bombay had earlier demonstrated their concern with
municipal politics when they supported the move to
enfranchise more women by bringing the municipal franchise
in line with the new voting rights for the Legislative
Assembly. 149
This demand for a separate female administrative sphere
was reiterated by Mrs. Vidyagauri Nilkanth who asked for a
province for women to govern exclusively with the rationale
that "if women's power was only organized and mobilized it
would transform the world.''lSO She further argued that there
148. Speech at Ahmedabad B.C. September 28, 1937, p.4.
149. One of the anomalies of the extension of franch'ise under the new constitution was that a large number of women and Harijan citizens in the city had the right to vote in election for the provincial Assembly but were still debarred from exercising the franchise in the local City Municipal Corporation elections. When the Minister for local self government introduced an amendment in the Bombay Legislative Council reducing the qualification for franchise for the Municipal Corporation from pa~1ent Rs. 10/- rent to Rs. 5/- and extending the franchise for the Local Boards no one commented on the discrepancy between Municipal Fr~nchise and the Legislative Assembly Franchise. However, in the Corporation itself K.F. Nariman tried to remove this anomaly by proposing that adult franchise was the best solution to end such discrimination but that the future Municipal franchise should at least be brought into line with the franchise for the new legislatures. In this he was supported by various women's organizations and on 13th October a public meeting of 16 women's associations under the Presidentship of Hansa Mehta was held for this purpose. B.C. September 23, 1936, p.13; B.C. October 13, 1936, p.5; G.H.S.M. 1935-3?, p.33; Bhagini Samaj 21st Report 1937-38, p.25.
150. Speech at Al1medabad B.C. July 11) 1938, p.12.
492
was no disunion or jealousy among women and that they had no
greed for power. She contrasted this with the men who had
been fighting all these years for freedom and failed; who
went to the Round Table Conference and raised the communal
question instead of swaraj.
Despite the acceptance in principle and the declaration
of intent, the Congress offered no uncertain resistance to a
significant entrance of women into the higher echelons of
nationalist decision making. The formation of the Congress
Parliamentary Board was greeted with scepticism by those who
expected that women's participation in civil disobedience and
consequent Congress eulogization now entitled them to greater
representation.
Mrs. L.R. Zutschi of Lahore issued a press release.
The Congress Parliamentary Board has been formed and the claims of women ignored again. Only one lady Mrs. Naidu has been nominated to represent the women of India. If that is so, why should a board be formed at all? If one woman can represent all the women of the country, surely one man is enough for the men? But men are always ready to ignore us. Their age long habits, old fashioned traditions are hard to break. During the Civil Disobedience movement women left their homes threw off the shackles which bound them and took their rightful place beside men bearing the brunt of the battle shoulder to shoulder with them. Even that was not enough for the men to recognize us as a separate entity. When Pandit Malaviyaji called the Unity Conference at Allahabad women were calmly ignored and it was only Mrs. Asaf Ali's forceful protest which made him realize that women had come into their own.
We are surprised that eminent politicians like Dr. Ansari and P.M. Malaviya could forget our claims. In the Parliamentary Board care has been taken to make the Board as representative a body as possible and whatever differences of opinj.on existed
between two groups, two men ~ere chosen to represent their separate interests. We do not desire the Board to increase its numbers and become an unwieldy body, but we do demand that women be taken from other parts of India in whichever proportion Pandit Malaviya thinks best. We hope that the Congress Parliamentary Board will realise its mistake and take early steps to make amends and that in future women will not be so completely ignored,l51
49:'>
This demand was ignored and at the Legislative Assembly
elections, when it was declared that not to vote for Congress
f th d .d 152 was a vote -or government, ere was no woman can J. ate.
Margaret Cousins of the Women's Indian Association declared
in Karachi at the All India Women's Conference that her only
regret regarding the Congress victory in the recent elections
was that no women had been elected and asked for women
d . d . h b 1 t. 153 can 1 ates 1n t e y-e ec 1ons.
The high com1nand of the Congress, although prepared to
acquiesce in women's move into local decision making bodies,
not only ignored their claim to wider powers but actively
propagated against the notion of extended areas of powerfulness
of women. The Congress opposed the attempts by Bina Das to
shoot the Governor in Bengal for political reasons but they
also opposed this image of the boldness of women. At a
meeting of Bombay women Vallabhbhai Patel advised that it did
not become women to wield the weapons of death and destruction.
Women should rather handle the charka he said. 154
151. B.C. June 11, 1934, p .12.
152. B.C. November 23, 1934, p .1; Indian Annua Z Register 1934, Vol. II, p.363.
153. B.C. December 5' 1934, p.10.
154. C. I. D. Police to Govt. 6311/H/3717 December 6' 1931.
494
jThe old guard had very clear ideas on the role of women
in Indian society which were threatened by the new spirit
among women. They set about reinforcing the traditional role
of woman using the very nationalist ideology that had
mobilized women and provided the base for their new confidence.
They had praised woman's contribution to the struggle
acknowledging even that "Whenever men had lagged behind being
exhausted women who were supposed to be illiterate and weak
and confined in purdah redeemed the honour of our country." 155
But they argued this contribution of women at a time of crisis
should not obscure woman's true role. The call now to women
in accord with the new politics of negotiation was not to
come on to the streets to save the nation, but to achieve I
swaraj through their domestic duties in the world of the
household. At a meeting of Bombay women at which Sarojini
Naidu presided Rajendra Prasad, now the Congress President,
acknowledged the presence of women in public life by stressing
their role as nation builders, and ambassadors of national
unity and communal accord but went on to idealize domestic
life prior to the introduction of new domestic technology. 156
The crudest swadeshi argument was extended to the sphere of
domestic production. According to Rajendra Prasad many women
had abandoned their ancient domestic duties in the name of
modern fashions which had resulted in the importation of
foreign products. Therefore, women sho~ld lend a hand in
~ighting the problem of unemployment. This they could do by
155. RajenJra Prasad Convocation adJ.ress at Prayag Mahila Vidyapith, Allahabad. B.C. February 19) 1935, p.17.
156. The meeting was reported to consist of about 150 women and 200 men. C.I.D. D.I.G. (Intelligence) 4/INC/34.
495
reverting to their nncient domestic chores, which would save
India crores of rupees. "India was a land of prosperity once
when women plied the charkha, cooked the food, stitched the
cloths, ground the rice, and nursed the children."157 At the
same meeting Vallabhbhai Patel spoke in a similar vein. He
said that it was disastrous that villagers had forsaken the
ancient native handicrafts and tried to imitate city
dwellers. "It was up to the women of Bombay to set an
example by going back to the ancient hand made products., 158
he said.
Paradoxically, the old guard were aided in their efforts
to contain women in the household by women themselves. With
the return to constitution making and the demise of the mass
movement the basis for the mobilization of women, rooted in
the intensity of nationalist ideology in times of struggle,
fragmented. Through their inability to supplement oi replace
the nationalist ideology as the basis for the movement among
women with an ideology linked to an analysis of woman's role
in society, the women leaders failed to consolidate the
movement as a basis for a changing female participation.
The fate of the women volunteers illustrates this.
Volunteers were required at the sessions of the A.I.C.C. and
the Indian National Congress. The presence of women
volunteers lent credence to the continuing link between the
national movement and women's situation as was also required
157. B.C. December 30, 1935, p.l.
158. .Ibid.
496
1n the case of peasants and workers to. retain them under
Congress hegemony. Bombay women acted as volunteers at the
B b 159 d F . 160 . f h C b om~ay an ·a1zpur sess1ons o t e ongress ut the
belief was common that the women's section of volunteers was
mere show. 161
The volunteers acted only as a service category. 162 Gone
were the days of brave deeds. Sarojini Naidu led the way in
undercutting the potential of the volunteer movement to act
as an arena for politicization or a training ground for
future leadership. Using the nationalist slogan equating
service of the Congress as service of the country she told the
women volunteers to be content to do the duty of sepoys and
not aspire to be leaders. 163 She invoked the role of women
in the household and told them you represent shakti the . 164
Jagatmata and you should prove worthy of the name.
159.
160.
161.
162.
163.
164.
A Volunteer Sub-Committee of the Reception Committee for the 1934 Bombay Congress was formed which was also to be responsible for training three hundred or so women volunteers. B.C~ August 31, 1934, p.8; B.C. September 9, 1934, p.12.
B.C. August 25, 1936, p.4; B.C. September·12, 1936; B.C. December 23, 1936, p.S; B.A. 1936 para 887. 40 women volunteers were trained at a camp near Poena in preparation for the Faizpur session of the INC. F.R. 1st half November 1936, 18/11/36. Avantikabai Gokha.le took a number of women from the Hind Ma.hila Samaj to Faizpur.
B.C. October 22, 1934, p.l.
The work of the volunteers was to check admission tickets, fetch water for women attending meetings, find missing wives, husbands and children and during hours of duty at the sessions they could pick up instruction in politics, rules of procedure for conducting discussions and voting. Margaret Cousins "Our Women Volunteers" B.C. November 2, 1934, p.6.
B.C. October 7, 1934, p.1.
Ib·id.
497
This resistance to political participation by more than
just representative women was not confined only to the old
guard within the Congress. The reaction from the business
community to Jawaharlal Nehru's declaration as Congress
P "d t f h" . 1" d165 h d d h . resr en. o rs soc1a 1st cree overs.a owe t e rssues
surrounding the composition of his working committee.
Jawaharlal Nehru's working committee included no women.
This was a break with the tradition of including individuals
to represent women and Muslims and the first time Sarojini
Naidu had been excluded from the committee. 166 This departure
was not acknowledged openly by Nehru who at first suggested
that at the Lucknow Congress his wishes had not been carried
out, 167 and then after numerous complaints from women
165. Bipan Chandra "Jawaharlal Nehru and the Capitalist Class 1936" E.P.fi. Vol.X, No.33-35, 1975, p.1307.
166. In a letter from Gandhi to Nehru it was made clear that the decision was in fact Jawaharlal's himself. Gandhi deplored Nehru's throwing the blame for the noninclusion of women on to others. "You even went so far as to say that you did not believe in the tradition or convention of always having a woman and a certain number of mussulmans on the committee. Therefore as far as the exclusion of women is concerned I think it was your own unfettered discretion. No other members would have had the desire or the courage to break the convention." Gandhi went on to state certainly he would never have had the courage to exclude Sarojini Naidu. M.K. Gandhi to Jawaharlal Nehru dated 29/5/1936. J.N. papers.
167. In May J.N. met with a group of women and asked them why they had not asked him why no woman had been included in the working committee and explained that at the Lucknow Congress there had been a great number of difficulties and his wishes had not been carried out. The Hindu, May 19, 1936 with Gandhi to Jawaharlal Nehru dated 21/5/1936. J.N. Papers.
4 98
d . h . 1 . f 168 . d regar 1ng tenon-Inc us1on o: a woman· 1ssue a statement
that he had done so for women's own good. 169
This statement drew the fire of Kamladevi who pointed
out that Nehru's declaration that he had deliberately omitted
women was in contradiction to his address to the women of
Bombay where he had talked of forceful circumstances making
him do so. She accused him of having little real knowledge
of the affairs of women in the country and the possibilities
of his statement being exploited by those opposed to social
reform. 170 In her public statement Kamladevi argued forcibly
against the characterization of women relying on other's
goodwill pointing out that women fought against the reservation
of seats for women and the wifehood qualification as violently
as against the communal electorates; "it was their sense of
168. In April Ansuyabai Kale complained to Gandhi that there were no Homen on the working committee and expressed the wish that women were in opposition like the socialists and could have gained seats on this basis. B.C. April 18, 1936, p.Z. Rajkumari Amrit Kaur, an organizer of the All India Women's Conference, was also preparing to raise the question of the non-inclusion of women at the half yearly meeting of the A.I.W.C. at Waltair. Amrit Kaur to Jawaharlal Nehru dated 30/5/36. J.N. papers. In the meantime Nehru had also received a letter of protest from several ladies of Gujarat regarding the non-inclusion of women in the working committee. B.C. June 14, 1936, p.7.
169. Nehru's statement explained that he had decided to break the tradition as this would be good for women themselves who should not rely on others' good will rather than on their own efforts and rejected the idea of a special sub-committee of Congress women that would be premature as it would lull the women into thinking that other people were working on their behalf. Nevertheless he acknowledged that social reform would be harder than their participation in the freedom struggle had been. B.C. July 7, 1936, p.1.
170. Kamladevi Chattopadhyaya to Jawaharlal Nehru dated July 7, 1936. A.I.C.C. G 48, 1936.
499
self respect that made them oppose such measurcs." 171 She
also pointed out that in no province had the women asked
special favours from the Congress organization and stated
than when important bodies are nominated such as the Working
Committee and the open door is deliberately shut then women
have a just complaint especially in the case of those such
as Jawaharlal Nehru who hold progressive views and should not
d f . 1 . . 172 create prece ent or soc1a react1onar1es.
Nehru appeared to have rejected the idea that women
should have special representation but with little vision of
a changing political and social role for women. This is clear
for when later in the year Kamladevi was being lobbied as a
member for the Working Committee not as a representative
woman but as a political candidate operating in a common
space she was rejected not becaus~ of her ability but on
171. B.C. July 16, 1936, p.l2.
172. Ib1:d.
500
d fl ll .fl73 . } groun so· 1cr persona 1:0 -an 1ssue t1at was certaj.nly
not a hindrance to many a male politician.
The 1935 Constitution and the complicity of nationalist
men in accepting special representation reduced the threat
of the movement of women into decision making bodie~. The
establishment of reserved seats for women meant that women
would be elected to and sit in the legislatures not as women
operating in a common space but as representative women from
the segregated world of the household. 174
The nationalist women had portrayed an ambivalent
attitude to the question of reservation of seats, but
eventually offered a strong opposition to such special
173. When two vacancies were caused by the resignations of C. Rajagopalachariar and Jai Prakash Narayan the President, Jawaharlal Nehrus adopted a queer procedure of asking the A.I.C.C. members to select 2 candidates from among themselves. This was contrary to the usual practice of the President selecting the members and Nehru was accused of shirking his responsibilities. There was much canvassing by the Congress Socialists in favour of Kamladevi Chattopadhyaya and it was thought that Nehru had avoided his responsibility because of his supposed opposition to the admission of female
·members to the Congress Executive, C.I.D. D.I.G. (Intelligence) 1/INC/36-11(9). At the time it. was also suggested that Jawaharlal Nehru did not want Kamladevi on the Working Committee "as her private life is altogether too blatantly jmmoral for his taste." "Notes on a conversation with a casual source in respect of the recent meeting of the Congress Working Committee Bombay sgnd. N.P.A. Smith Central Intelligence Office August 25, 1936." C.I.D. D.I.G. (Intelligence) 1/INC/36-II(9). In fact it was Gandhi who vetoed her. M.K. Gandhi to Jawaharlal Nehru undated 1936. M.K. Gandhi to Jawaharlal Nehru dated April 4, 1937. J.N. Papers. It appears that an earlier attempt to get her onio the A.I.C.C. was baulked by her co-option to the B.P.C.C. in 1934. It was suggested that a place on the A.I.C.C. might be possible if she resigned the B.P.C.C. scat and membership of the 'A' ward District Congress Committee C.K. Narayanaswami to Kamladevi dated 1/10/34 with C.I.D. File 3872/H/IV.
174. See Chapter V.
501.
representation. Earlier, the women had demanded franchise
for an aggrandizement of the power of the segregated household.
It was only in the post civil disobedience period that the
female nationalist leaders opposed the constitutional
treatment of women as a separate entity and demanded to fight
the elections on equal terms. However, as preparations for
the implementation of the Constitution gathered momentum,
some sections of women took a pragmatic view, accepted that
they should gain whatever benefit they could from the
Constitution and even demanded an extra reserved seat.
~;} In a limited way, though confined to the middle classes,
the civil disobedience movement did represent a mass movement
among women in that it extended public participation from the
female intelligentsia to other groups. It was only on the
consolidation of such a mass movement for social change that
a common space into which women might move could have been
sustained. The tragedy of civil disobedience is that it had
created the possibility of a social movement to underwrite
the demand for equal status in a common space but the demands
that were made by female leaders for social change were made
within the old legalistic framework and were easily dismissed
by the bourgeoise nationalists who maintained the stance of
political freedom before social reform.
The universalization of the category woman during civil
disobedience created the illusion of an homogeneous group.
With no ideology drawing all women together, and the down-
grading of the women volunteers, the only remnant of the
1930's upsurge, the diffcrcntes between the leadership and
502
other women were no longer obscured in the heroics of struggle.
With most women contained within the household and its
ideology, the leadership could be only a representative one.
The female elite remained only a representative one, a group
of leaders emerging from a truncated movement for social
change. In any case the women had gained their leadership
position as a function of segregation and although they tried
to move from being merely representative leaders to being . common leaders, too strong a challenge would have undermined
the basis for their very leadership.
The struggle for women's participation in a separate or
common space was not articulated by women. They were
subservient to the needs of a bourgeoise nationalist ideology
which was bringing all groups under its hegemony and which
would not tolerate the potentially divisive social demands
of different categories and classes.
The women had no choice but to capitulate on the reserved
seats issue and subsequently, despite earlier attempts to
utilize a threat of woman's political power to ensure a woman
on the current Congress Parliamentary Board and Congress
nomination of women candidates, 175 the 1937 election campaign
175. The Secretary of the A.I.W.C. sent its "Manifesto issued on behalf of the A.I.W.C. to candidates for the coming Election" to Nehru with a request for information regarding Congress nominations of women as candidates and suggesting that even now a woman could be nominated to the Parliamentary Board and liaise with the A.I.W.C. Ammar Swamina.dhan to Jawaharlal Nehru dated July 26, 1936 and August 22, 1936. A.I.C.C. G 48, 1936. The A.I.W.C. sent a memorandum to the Working Committee suggesting they could not vote for other than social reform candidates. Hansa Mehta to Rajendra. Prasad dated 2/3/36, A.I.C.C. 6, 1936.
503
was devoid of any issues regarding wom.en' s social or pol it ica 1
status. The Congress required women participants only as
voters and token representatives.
The B.P.C.C. had recommended to the Working CoTillnittee
the issue of detailed instructions regarding propaganda for
securing enrolment of the largest possible number of voters
and was said to have formed a "Brains Trust" to elaborate
a scheme to awaken mass political consciousness among the
residents of the city. 176 The Congress was joined by the
women's associations in this effort to ensure a "perfect roll"
of those who would vote for Congress.
B.P.W.C. had earlier suggested that women might be helped
to enrol themselves by the appointment of women enrolling
officers. 177 This work was instead taken up by the women's
associations on a voluntary basis. The Bhagini Samaj 178 and
the Bombay Women's Association179 were particularly active.
In the various wards of the city various Committees were
set up to propagandize for a perfect electoral roll. In 'C'
ward i.e. Bhuleshwar for instance, a pamphlet was issued by
the Secretary of the Election Propaganda Committee saying who
-----------------------------------------------------------------176. F.R. 2nd half July 1935 18/7/35.
177. B.P.W.C. Annual Report 1935s p.10.
178. The Bhagini Samaj initiated its 'perfect roll' campaign under the leadership of Mrs. Annapurnabai Deshmukh and Mrs. Yamunabai Hirlekar. B.C. August 3, 1935, p.S; B.C. August 6, 1935, p.9.
179. Miss Amy Rustomji was appointed convenor of a subcommittee to open centres and undertake house to house visits. "Bombay Women's Association. Half yearly Report 21/6/35 sgnd. Gulbanu J.R. Doctor" Indian Annual Register, 1935, Vol.l, p.384.
50~
could vot~~ 80 and asking that the special forms to be filled
in by women i.e. the application to vote should be returned
to the Committee or the centres staffed by women volunteers
which were set up in different places within the ward. 181 One
Sunday a "Women Voters Day" was declared and volunteers
including Sofia Khan Somji 7 Lilavati Munshi went around
collecting the application forms of hundreds of voters. 182
The All India Women's Conference advised that women
should enrol under the literacy provision and avoid the
wifehood qualification. The Bombay Women's Association issued
an appeal addressed to "sisters" to tell them "It is a
sacred duty as well as a grave responsibility for all men and
women who are prospective voters to g~t their riames correctly
registered." 183 They listed who could vote and appealed also
to fathers and husbands as well as doctors and health visitors
to broadcast the information to women and help them enrol.
"Become a voter" 7 they appealed and remedy the ills of
society from inadequate sanitation 7 housing and medical care
to ensuring inheritance rights and economic independence.
180. (i) "The lady who can read and write in some languages selected by her, has a right to vote.
(ii) The lady whose husband is an income tax payer or a payer of rents Rs. 10/- per month has a vote."
B.C. June 3, 1936, p.5.
181. They were manned by Shantaben Snatika, Laxmiben Snatika, Kumari Promila Mohanlal, Mrs. Nathiben Girjashankar, Mrs. Savitribadi Chavda and Smt. Bhagirathibai Nirgude. B.C. June 26 7 1936, p.S.
182. B.C. June 23, 1936, p.S.
183. Text of appeal issued by the Han. Secy. of the Bombay Women's Association. B.C. June 13, 1936, p.11.
505
Despi.tc all these appeals women were not very enthusiastic
about any gains to be had from the new constitution. At a
meeting of the Bhagini Samaj Jaishree Raijee deplored the
apathy of women in understanding their constitutional position
and the apathy towards the campaign to get women entitled to 184 vote. In Dadar Shantabai Vengaskar found it difficult to
find women volunteers for the perfect roll campaign. 185
The elections for both the Legislative Council and the
Legislative Assembly, the upper and lower house were set for
February, 1937. This was to be the first election under the
1935 Act. By October the previous year, the Bombay Provincial
Congress Parliamentary Board had received applications and had
. d . d"d t 186 nom1nate 1ts can 1 a es. In the General Urban constituency
reserved for women Mrs. Lilavati Munshi was nominated to stand . 187
from'C' ward and Mrs. Annapurnabai Gopal Deshmukh from'~ ward,
Mrs. Deshmukh was standing against .Mrs. Malinibai Sukthankar
who was standing for Girgaum as an Independent. 188
There was mild pressure from the Bombay ChronicLe that
since women had played such a significant part in the freedom
struggle they should be helped by Congress ·to stand for as
d t · bl 18 9 Th 1 C many non reserve sea s as poss1 e. e on y ongress
184. B.C. July 13, 1936, p.10.
185. B,C, June 13, 1936, p.5.
186. Applications and deposits were received from 4 women who were willing to contest the elections to the Bombay Legislative Council of nominated by the Congress. Maniben Mulj i (Karlfla) '"as the unsuccessful applicant. C.I.D. D.I.G. (Intelligence) 24/INC/34.
187. B,C, October 30, 1936, p.7.
188. B.C. December 19, 1936, p.24.
189. B.C. Editorial, December 3, 1936, p.6.
506
woman candidate standing for a general ~onstituency was Mrs.
Hansa Mehta who was a candidate for the Bombay Legislative
Council, from the Bombay City and Bombay Suburban
Constituency. 190 The remaining woman candidate was Mrs.
Salima Faiz Tyabji, President of the Bombay Presidency Women's
Council 1933-34 who stood uncontested in Girgaum as the Muslim
League'nominee for the Muslim reserved seat set aside for
women. 191 She was the wife of Mr. Faiz B. Tyabji a judge of
the Bombay High Court and demonstrated that government servants
were not required to be responsible for the views of their
dependents and that their wives could take part in political
t . . . d ff J 1 f 1 t. 192 ac 1v1t1es an o er t1emse ves or e ec 1on.
The attributes of the three Congress women nominees were
that they were wives of prominent Congress-men - K.M. Munshi,
Dr. G.V. Deshmukh and Dr. Jivraj Mehta and came from
sufficiently wealthy families to pay their deposits and
r· h • 1 • • 193 r1nance t e1r e ect1on campa1gns. They had all been
190. B.C. October 30, 1936, p.7.
191. B.C. December 19, 1936, p.24.
192. The government had earlier formulated measures to prevent government servants and their dependents from taking part in any activity which might be a potential threat to the government. See N.A.I. Home Public 50/13/32; Home Public 367/34; Home Public 50/14/36; Home Public 50/25/37; Home Public 136/37 and Reforms Office 97/36 G(B); W.I.A. Report 1932-33, p.l4.
193. It has been suggested that Gangaben Patel of Santa Cruz had been approached as a candidate but for financial reasons was unable to stand. Ititerview with Miss Dhiruben Patel, June 24, 1976. Out of the sum of Rs. 2,000/- which a candidate to subscribe as electiort expenses Rs. 700/- was retained by the Finance Committee of the Bombay Parliamentary Board and Rs. 1,300/- was to be spent by the candidates themselves on election day. C.I.D. D.I.G. (Intelligence) 4/INC/37 (III).
507
involved in women's organizations and both Lilavati Munshi
and Hansa Mehta had been prominent in the civil disobedience
movement.
The Congress undertook an intensive propaganda campaign
prior to the elections with the main slogan "Vote Congress
and Veto Slavery". Although election meetings of women were
held, the campaign among women was certainly not as intensive
as that to gain their participation in the civil disobedience
t S t • h ld • h I • • 194 movemen . orne mee 1ngs were e w1t women s assoc1at1ons
b t tJ t 11 . . . 1930 195 u -1ere were no grea ra 1es or meet1ngs as 1n .
The occasion of the election was not used to extend the
influerice of the women's associations. Congress had by this
time bound them sufficiently close to its policies to ensure
widespread support for the Congress women candidates. On
election day the Bombay Chronicle estimated that women played
a more important part than men in obtaining votes for the
Congress. 196
194. The Bhatia Stree Mandai was addressed by Hansa Mehta, Gangaben Patel, Lilavati Munsh~ Bachuben Thakkar and Kantaben Khandwalla. B.C. January 25, 1937, p.S.
195. One procession in 'G' ward led by Shantaben Vengaskar and Gangaben Patel included a strong contingent of Koli women who had not earlier been brought within the influence of the organized women of Bombay. The group of Koli women from Worli was lead by Sakhuba~ Jethabai, Gangabai and Kasibai. B.C. February 8, 1937, p.S.
196. In the South of the City where Hansa Mehta was canbassing in 'A' ward lvi th other women volunteers there were also a large number of Parsi women working and voting for Parsi candidates. In the north of the city, where there was the most enthusiasm there were also some women working for independent candidates. In the suburbs proportionately more women than men entitled to vote actually cast their votes but in 'E' ward women voters were so indifferent that before midday little more than fifty women had voted. B.C. February 18, 1937, p.7.
508
The result of the election was an overwhelming victory
for tl1e Congress. All of the Congress women candidates were
returned and out of the fourteen seats in the city and
suburbs Congress captured eleven. 197 In the Bombay
Legislative Assembly the Congress had a clear majority of
88 out of 175 seats. 198 After resolving the issue of office
acceptance, B.G. Kher was elected in the face of the Nariman , dispute to lead the Congress Parliamentary Party in government
in the Legislative Assembly.
The crowning irony of the determined stand of women
against being enfranchised as dependents of men during the
tedious constitutional negotiations was that one of the first
acts of their representative in the Legislative Assembly was
the attempt by Mrs. Deshmukh to have a Bill passed to amend
the Acts governing the Municipality to enlarge the franchise
for women through a wifehood and literacy qualification. 199
Political participation for women or rather the
participation of the female leadership, was now ensured . .._
Reserved seats ensured that the female elite would remain in
the parliaments and deal with the legislation for social
reform. This participation linked with the hollow shell
that the universalization of women's participation in civil
disobedience had become, obscured divisions among women and
their real social condition. The participation of the elite
197. B.C. February 2 5' 1937, p.l.
198. B.C. Februaxy 2 7' 1937, p .1.
199. The bill ·was not deemed practicable. B.C. July 5 ' 1937~ p.S; B.C. .t'\ugus t 26, 1937, p. 2.
509
substituted for the movement for social change. The female
intelligentsia in its failure to analyse society and women's
condition was an accomplice to the illusion that the
participation of a few elite women in the decision making
bodies of the nation conferred high social and political
status on all women.
Alternatives
Political participation was to remain the province of the
few, of the female elite. There was no alternate ideology
for the mass of organized women who remained under Congress
hegemony led by the old guard and young radicals who both
rejected the image of a strong and active womanhood
unshackled from her separate space. We have argued the
failure of the women intellectuals· to interpret the experience
undergone in civil disobedience by a significant number of
women in terms of its impact for new roles and new potentials
and the confining of the social order to legislative change.
Yet some women did attempt to explore roles for women that
provided an alternative to the traditional household. That
these women, both those who dealt in the politics of
experience and those who linked women's role with socialism
were unable to make any impact among organized women attests
to the strength of the Congress, the divorce of their
ideological questionings from any social movement, and
relates to the failure of the left in the nationalist period.
All prescribed economic independence for women which in the
existing economic order was not possible.
From her own experience Lilavati Munshi portrayed a
new vision of the marriage relationship based on mutuality
d d h . 200 A 1 II an comra es 1p. t a ecture at Poena on Women's Part
510
in the National Struggle" Lilavati Munshi examined the
situation of women not wanted at birth and as daughter, wife
and widow entitled only to maintenance and the life of a
drudge: Since civil disobedience she said there was a growth
of confidence among women. She put the practical questions
of women's status.
Do you treat women as equals in life? Do you devote the same attention and money after the education of your daughters as of your sons? Do you consider your wives as co-sharers of your life as of your wealth?201
She outlined a notion of womanhood different from the Gandhian
reinforcement of the traditional role plus dignity. Lilavati
argued that there was need of marriage reform to eradicate
the idea that the wife is the property of the husband. The '
relationship between husband and wife would be more loyal if
based on freedom with the right to secede. For women to be
free they must have economic independence.
The women who brought the British Goverrunent to its knees will find it easy enough to bring their fathers husbands and sons to their knees. They are awake now; they know their strength; they have tasted power and liberty. And you can rest assured that they are not going to be docile any longer. They are willing to suffer all, they are willing to give all; they are willing to lay down their lives so that man may be happy strong and true. But they are conscious .of their
200. For an account of Lilavati's first marriage and her marriage to K.M. Munshi see Dave, J.H. et al (ed.) Munshi His Art and Work Vol.l Bombay, 1956, p.77. Her portrayal of the position of Indian women and their economic serfdom can be seen in her volume of short storcis Jivanmanthi Jadeli (Stories from Life) collected in 1932.
201. B.C. May 23, 1931, p.12.
strength and they will only do so if they are no longer slaves. Bond slaves, they will be the curse of your life. Free, they will be your companion in ambition and in love, conquering together, suffering together and if need be, dying together comrades in life and death.202
Lilavati's vision of women's determination to claim their
freedom was not fulfilled.
511
Lilavati Munshi was not the only woman to portray an
alternative in a literary form. Gangaben Patel came from an
orthodox village background with only one year of formal
education in Gujarati medium. In some ways she espoused a
more determined feminist view than those concerned with
legislative change. She argued that women were subservient
to men because of their craving for ornaments, and that they
should instead be economically independent. In one short
story she put the case for economic independence by asking
why women should look to their marriage in-laws for support,
for if men can type and get a job why can not women. 203
A new style marriage was not the only alternative social
arrangement for women to consider. Since the time of the
Seva Sadan and the Bhagini Samaj Sevikas,the idea that there
should be an alternative form of organization of the service
role of woman other than in the household and its extensions
had been put forward. Only in the Jain community did the
202. Ibid. 203. Gujarati Typist and other stories (Gujarati) 1935,
from interview with Dhiruben Patel June 24, 1976. "Review of Gujarati Typist 11 IHndustan Praja Mitra September 1934 (Gujarati) papers of Gangaben Patel.
512
_idea of female religious ministrants h-ave any currency. 20 4
These new schemes envisaged a secular organization of
celibate women devoted to social service. Thjs was also the
ideal embodied in Gandhi's recruitment of women workers to
his Ashram. Prema Kantak was one such woman who for the
duration of the civil disobedience struggle remained at the
Ashram at Gandhi's behest. 205 Prema Kantak, herself a
celibate, was trying to integrate current questioning of the
role of women in society with the movement that was taking
place among women in the form of service to the Congress.
In 1936 she was appointed in charge of the women
volunteers under the Maharashtra Provincial Congress Committee
and outlined a scheme of training for women volunteers for
the Faizpur session of the Indian National Congress. In her
appeals for volunteers in the English and Marathi press she
went beyond Sarojini Naidu's view of the volunteer and
appealed to "all those, Hho are fighting for equal rights,
for those public spirited women whose motto is service, for 206 these tender hearted souls who are pining for their country. 11
However her plans for a woman's camp came under criticism
from the local Democrat party when she planned to inviteS.
Dange to address them on "The Revolution in Women's Life."
204. In March 1930, a public meeting of women under the auspices of the Jain Mahila Samaj, the Gujarati Hindu Stree Mandai, the Bhagini Samaj, the Rashtriya Stree Sabha, the Pat.iclar Stri Mandal and others was held to mourn the death of the Jain Nun Srimat.i Naganbehn Manekchand Ponachand. B.C. March 25, 1930, p.S. For a short account of Jain female ascetics see Towards Equali-ty New Delhi, Govt. of India, 1975, p.46.
205. Interview with Prema Kantak, May 5, 1976.
206. n.c. August 17, 1936, p.12.
The Democrats were wary of the socialist domination in the
Congress but declared that they did not mind their economic
views.
What we are afraid of arc their views on sex and the mutual relations between man and woman whether personal or social . . . In Russia they feel no sanctity for the holy marriage vow. Divorces are more frequent than marriages. They don't recognize the difference between legal or illegal children. They want licence and not liberty reasonable liberty ... We distrust your organization. We therefore are not willing to send our daughters and sisters and women folk to your corps or camp and that is why we are making an appeal to the guardians at large to beware of your movement.207
513
The Congress was prepared to accept the service role of women
but it was not prepared to countenance any social questioning
when it threatened delicate political balances. When she
looked for support from Nehru, who had declared himself a
socialist, Prema Kantak received none. He asked what
socialism or marriage had to do with volunteering and
declared that so far as the volunteers w~re concerned such
. d . 208 quest1ons o not ar1se. It was clear that the pragmatic
concern of politicking was to be placed above that of
questioning the social order. Politics triumphed again in
the politics or social reform debate. Even socialism was to
be defined only in its politico-economic sense according to
Nehru.
207. Prema Kantak's summary of the arguments of the Democrat Party. Prema Kantak to Jawaharlal Nehru dated September 22, 1936. A.r.c.c. G 49, 1936.
208. Jawaharlal Nehru to Prema Kantak dated September 25, 1936. A.r.c.c. G 49, 1936.
In a wide sense of the word socialism is a philosophy of life and therefore it covers and includes all aspects of life. But ordinarily socialism means a certain economic theory. When I talk of it I mean that economic theory and all this talk of religion and morals in connection with it is absurd.209
What was the socialist view of woman so emphatically
rejected by the Congress? The Communist Party of India had
earlier included the "emancipation of the toiling women" in
its platform for action. 210 At the All India Women's
Conference at Lucknow in 1933, a C.P.r. group, the Women's
Emancipation group had issued a manifesto. This demanded
that marriage be a free and voluntary union, and that the
concept of illegitimacy be discarded along with economic
demands regarding property, employment and wages. 211 The
manifesto was highly abstract, not at all specifically
related to Indian conditions, had little influence, but
209. Ibid.
514
210. "Noting that the present bourgeoise national women's organization, the 'All India Women's Conference' led by Sarojini Naidu, one of the leaders of the National Congress, is not carrying on a genuine struggle to emancipate women but in reality is co-operating with British Imperialism, the Communist Party of India calls upon the working masses of India to join the common revolutionary struggle of the toiling masses under the leadership of the Communist Party for the overthrow of the social order and social system which give rise to the slave conditions of Indian women." Extracts from a Draft Platform of Action of the C.P.r. distributed at the Nav Jawan Bharat Sabha Conference March 27, 1931, Karachi. Appendix to the Bombay Police Secret Abstract of Intelligence dated April 4, 1931. In the same year Durgabai, a woman member of the Navjavan Dharat Sabha which during civil disobedience had published a broadsheet Revolt which was regarded by the B.P.C.C. as subversive of Congress ideals declared the necessity of economic independence for women. B.C.B. 3 No.63 July 5, 1930; B.C. September 16, 1931, p.9.
211. For the text of the Manifesto see Appendix E.
515
published in the newspapers was appare~tiy sufficient to
frighten all guardians of sacred Indian womanhood.
The Congress Socialist Party was slow to raise the issue
f I • . • I d' . t 212 b . K ] d . o woman s pos1t1on 1n n 1an soc1e y ut 1n am_a ev1
Chattopadhyaya gained a major spokeswoman on the question.
As Kamladevi began to clarify her socialist ideas she also
questioned the traditional role of women in society. Her
views remained theoretical and did not deal specifically
with the social fabric of India. Nevertheless, she stated
the importance of economic independence to a free womanhood.
During the civil disobedience movement care had always
been taken to stress that woman was not stepping out of her
role in the household. Post civil disobedience, women were
still regarded as creatures of the household for whom
legislative safeguards were all that was necessary. Kamladevi
questioned not only the structure of Indian society but the
role of women within it. Kamladevi believed that true
freedom for women would come only when society was
reconstructed on a classless basis and when woman ceased to 213 be private property and was able to stand on her own legs.
212. In 1934, class war, the necessity of Congress adopting a mass outlook and the organization of workers and peasants were discussed but not the woman question. Purshottam Trikamdas "Statement at All India Congress Socialist Party" Conference. B.C. October 22, 1934, p.l3.
213. Kamladevi Chattopadhyaya "Socialism and Women's Role in it" address to women's meeting at Bellary, Karnataka. B.C. September 2, 1935,_p~4.
What will the women of India choose? Poverty, degradation or oppression for the many or a golden cage for the few or freedom for all? If the latter then let them organize themselves and throw in their lot with the entire mass struggle for freedom.214
The women's problem is the human problem and not merely the sex problem .. It is not literacy or franchise which will fundamentally change their position to their advantage and satisfaction but the root basis and entire construction of society.215
To emphasize that the traditional social order was not
immutable but could change, Kamladevi traced the changes in
women's position from primitive society as one social order
516
gave place to another, and showed how the economy influenced
their status. 216
One could trace the social evils of purdah, child marriages, husband-worship as embodied in the widow ~1o could not re-marry, and a host of other things which had obtained the stamp of tradition and religion, to the one factor, namely the structure of society.217
In dealing with primitive society she fell into the same
trap of idealization of the unique position of woman as did
later anthropologists. She described woman's role in
capitalist society in both its imperialist and fascist
. d J f d . 1 . 218 per1o s, as t1at o a repro uct1ve mac11ne.
214. Handwritten signed by Kamladevi entitled For Malati's magazine, n.d. N.S. Hardikar papers.
215. Kamladevi Chattopadhyaya "Future of Indian Women's Movement" in Shyam Kumari Nehru (ed.), op. cit.
216. Kamladevi Chattopadhyaya "Socialism and Women's Role in it'', op. cit.
217. "Report of a speech to the Bombay AduJt Educatjon Association", B.C. October 30, 1936, p.14.
218. Ibid.
.517
Class society was the touchstone to woman's position,
according to Kamladevi. She argued that neither the middle
class feminist movement in the West, nor the movement among
Indian women dealt with the fundamental problem.
. . . all those demands for right to property, removal of legal disabilities, equality of status which formed the basis of the Women's movement in India did not go to the roots of the problem.219
While taking the view that the liberty of all women was
curtailed, Kamladevi was careful to differentiate herself from
a feminist position.
I am not a suffragist, I am a Socialist and I know that the women's question is intrinsically a part of the entire human problem and that the ultimate liberation of women can be achieved only by the liberation of all the exploited classes,220
she wrote in combating Nehru. Yet she did not take a hard
line class view of the oppression of women and argued that
all women were in some way oppressed.
I do not hold that the interest of women is separate from that of men. Fundamentally their interest is determined by the class they belong to. But due to a variety of circumstances they have become a suppressed element on their own and doubly subject. Although a working calss woman is socially freer because of her economic independence than a Maharani who is a pitiable prisoner in a gilded cage, still in her own proletariat class, she is at a disadvantage socially as compared with men. Men are still the masters because tradition dies hard. This is what creates what is called the women's problem.221
219. "Report of a speech to the Bombay Adult Education Association", op. cit.
220. B.C. July 16, 1936, p.l2.
221. Ib1:d.
The C.S.P. did not hold a totally· abstract view of the
question and at a socialist study camp in Gujarat in 1937
the curriculum included a study of l·JOmen 's activity as part
of a wider study of the history and method of working of
I d . . . 222 n 1an organ1za t1ons. · In her addresses to women's
associations Kamladevi advocated that such organizations
should not hold off from the national movement but should
link themselves with the fundamental problem of the country
518
and in some way try to strengthen the democratic struggle of
the vast vasses to free themselves from poverty and
. 223 oppreSSIOn.
The Royist group was the only other faction that put
forward a theor~ical view of the position of woman in
d 1 . . . 1 d 224 society linke to 1er econom1c role in the soc1a or er.
Maniben Kara, perhaps the best known woman representative
of the group, did not have much to say on the question but
in the Royist weekly edited by Charles Mascarne~ Lilavati
Chitnis published an article on the "Economic Emancipation
of Women''. In it she described both the spiritual and
material condition of woman.
222. C.I.D. D.I.G. (Intelligence) 3/CSP/3711.
223. B.C. March 6, 1937, p.8. 224. Later M.N. Roy in his humanist phase presented a view
of the destruction of the family by capitalism and of the need to preserve and change the economic basis of the family. Roy, M.N. "The Ideal of Indian Womanhood": Fragments of a Prisoners Diary, Vol.II, Dehradun 1
Indian Renaissance Association, 1941.
Woman from very ancient times, is considered to be the tempter of man whom she leads to the evil path. She is looked down upon as an obstacle in the spiritual attainment of man. She prevents man from attaining to perfection and drags him down in the mire with her.225
519
The r~ality is different from this she argued as the division
of labour within the family in favour of the husband created
a slavish mentality in the woman. To change this by giving
women economic freedom the whole system would have to change
and capitalism be destroyed she concluded.
The failure of these groups to develop a further
theoretical understanding of the position of woman in Indian
society is linked to their relationship with the theories
of revo'll::itionary change and failure to analyse Indian society.
The working class movement which could have provided the social
base for a revolutionary change was restricted to wage
demands and was fast being brought under Congress he~emony.
Hence the failure to provide an alternative to the bourgeoise
women's movement which Kamladevi described was linked to a
wider political failure to provide an alternative to
bourgeoise nationalism. There were no women working class
intellectuals and the female intelligentsia was too closely
linked with both the reform movement among women and with
political currents that considered "workers" and "peasants"
as far more important issues than "women". Such was the
failure to analyse the situation of women and reach political
conclusions that within another decade and Independence
gained, Kamladevi herself was espousing a v~ew of equality
225. Lilavati Chitnis "Economic Emancipation of Women" Independent IndiaJ Vol.l, No.1, August 30, 1931.
achieved without struggle.
Women's biggest advance has been in the political field, where they, unlike the women of the west, have met with practical (sic) no opposition in acquiring their rights. Their heroic participation in the freedom struggle, side by side with men, has also been an additional factor in securing for them their equality of status with men.226
226. Kamladevi Chattopaclhyaya "Status of Women in India" Asian Relations Conference March-April 1947, Indian Council of World Affaj.rs, New Delhi, 1947.
520