The narratives of the Indian freedom struggle are hollow and empty if the contributions of women are not mentioned. When most male freedom fighters were caged in jails under sedition charges, women came to the stream and mustered up support.
Their touring enthusiasm was enough to put any lurking lethargic person to shame who had even a tinch of belief that women belong at home. They brought untold glory to our country with their true spirit; hardwork and courage.
If indulging in warfare with Britishers is an illumination of intellect, then Indian women would be one of the greatest stunningly luminous jewels. Women have stitched strand by strand their story of valour and perseverance where they retaliated to set behind freedom struggle.
Women like Maharani Velu Nachiyar turned up into a conflict with the British as early as 1796. Moreover, the mere presence of Gauri Parvati Bai transitioned the dynamics of the room where she asserted on girl child education and eradicating social and educational stigma.
There were many women who not only fought but smashed Britishers to the ground and Bhima Bai Holkar was one of them who defeated Colonel Malcolm in guerilla warfare.
After this event, many women were enduringly engrossed in conflicts with Britishers, including Rani Channama of Kittur, Rani Begum Hazarat Mahal of Awadh, etc. The seeds determine the tree and our tree of independence had the seeds of the First War of Independence in 1857, in which our great women leaders played a pivotal role.
There are many alluring and engaging debates over the inclusion of women in the struggle movement, but the retaliation by conservatives was certainly proven wrong by the epitome of women empowerment—Rani Lakshmi Bai—who heightened her luminosity to the extent that every individual living under the darkness of misogynism got enlightened.
The Britishers thought that they were successful in crushing the revolt, but they ended up flaring the flames of freedom even more. Rani Lakshmi Bai possessed the exquisite ability to express her courage and wisdom and motivated every Indian woman to come forward and raise their voice.
It is said that the true essence of a woman is a mother and Rani Lakshmi Bai embodies it when she carries her twin sons on her back, signifying that motherhood is not a constraint but empowerment.
The Indian movement was like an old vase which was coloured by the sparkles of new and modern tints over time. The stewardship of Sarla Devi, Susheela Nair, Muthulaxmi Reddy, Rajkumari Amrit Kaur, Sucheta Kriplani, Aruna Asaf Ali, etc., were some of the sparkles that weaved the history of India. They actively participated in the non-violent movement.
Moreover, other women like Kasturba Gandhi, Kamala Nehru, Vijay Lakshmi Pandit and Swarup Rani also gave their bit to the national movement. Not only movements, but many women writers also wrote powerful pieces which made readers stand afar wonderstruck by the brilliant wordsmithery.
By the 1930s, the marches for liberty, for breaking salt laws, forest laws and against brutality were organised under the stewardship of women. Processions and Prabhat Pheries used to strategically take place.
Sarojini Naidu was the Nightingale of India. Her mesmerising aura and powerful presence are as vivid as the full moon is in a dark sky; you stare and stare and the image stays on even when the sun is up. She was chosen by The Father of the Nation himself to lead the salt march and also to lay the founding seeds of Dharasana Salt Works in May 1930.
Accompanying her was Kamla Devi who later on picketed the issue of foreign wears and liquors. The contributions of innumerable women organisation’s like Nari Satyagraha Committee, Mahila Rashtriya Sangha and Ladies Picketing Board indelibly marked their applaudable work in the history of India.
It takes similar people to create a revolution and with this motto in mind, many college girls came up and organised revolts at their edge. Many women revolutionaries like Samiti, Suniti, Kalana Dutta and Preetilata Waddedar, raised their voices in Dhaka, Comilla and Chittagong.
It takes threads of ebullience, serenity and abundance of nationalism to weave young girls into these revolutionary women.
It is said that women are outwardly shy yet fierce with their words as eloquence in the pulpit comes naturally to them. One such person was Usha Mehta, a revolutionary nationalist who set up a radio transmitter named “voice of freedom” to proliferate the “mantra of freedom struggle”. She took up the charge of broadcasting every British atrocious act despite her life at stake.
Accompanying these unbelievable women was Annie Besant, whose mastery of the pulpit and exuberant disposition made her the president of the Indian National Congress, where she effortlessly blew the essence of nationalism in the Home Rule Movement, making the initiation of it a successful decision.
Leave alone Indian territory; Madam Cama was such a determined patriot that she unfurled the Indian flag of Independence in Stuttgart, Germany.
The one whose extent of the prowess is remarkably diversified on an array of fronts is Aruna Asaf Ali, who earned brimming applause for her monthly magazine of Indian National Congress Inquilab and she stepped on the dais to take The Bharat Ratna.
There were many women who played a pivotal and indispensable role in the Indian freedom struggle, like Kamaladevi Chattopadhyay, Durga Bai Deshmukh, Dr S Muthulakshmi Reddy, Margaret Cousins, Matanginj Hazra and myriad Mahila-Samitis.
But unfortunately, these women have been marred by the patriarchal trenches of literature and narratives as adequate acknowledgement was not given to them.
The country with one of the highest female foeticide rates in the world would have to mourn for the rest of the time if such women had been killed in the very womb, but somehow, they escaped the maze of patriarchy and misogyny and created a history of their own.