Samuel's World For the Honour And Dignity of the Soldier: December 2018

FEMINISM IN INDIA THROUGH THE AGES

Col Samuel Dhar

INTRODUCTION

I am writing this essay to primarily drive home the point that Feminism in India is not a concept borrowed from the West and that too, as late as the nineteenth CE, notwithstanding the fact that the Church, especially the Catholic Church, has had a large role to play in the reformation of Indian communities in general and emancipation and empowerment of women in particular.

Most theologians/academics of today attribute the growth of feminism in India to Western influence. The theoreticians disregard the fact that, from ages past, unlike most other countries, feminism in India has been thriving, in a multipolar and multicultural environment. The needs and problems of women of different countries are dissimilar.

Unlike in the West, Feminism in India is age old. The truth is that we Indians do not have to borrow feminism from the West. It has been a set of movements, aimed at defining, establishing, and defending equal political, economic, social rights and to ensure equal opportunities for women. It has been a perennial pursuit of women's rights, within the bounds of the prevailing societies, in general.

Compared to their counterparts in the rest of the world, women in India, in the early middle ages, had greater gender equality: right to work for equal wages, right to equal access to health and education, and equal political rights; most of all, the right to walk shoulder to shoulder with their men folks.

In total contrast to the above, women from the 15^th ce onwards, were pushed to the other end of the Spectrum.

What changed?

In the middle of December 2012, a 23-year-old woman was attacked, gang raped, and an iron bar inserted into her private part, on a public bus in Delhi, India. She and her boyfriend were then pushed out of the bus onto the street. Her boyfriend was lucky to have survived the brutality of the beasts in human garb, but the woman was not, and she died not long after, struggling with massive internal injuries. This incident, which made the headlines worldwide, underlines a serious problem, not just in India, but also in all of Asia and, indeed, the whole world. It was not an isolated incident. A month later, another woman was raped in India, in similar circumstances. There have been countless such cases since then, spread across the length and breadth of the Country.

What changed ?

The Aryans, whose heritage most Indians claim today, were themselves invaders, destroying a flourishing Indus Valley Civilisation and pushing its people not only out of their habitats, but continuously down towards the Southern edge of the geographic India, the present day Tamil Nadu; from where they could be pushed no further. There were other subsequent invaders, like Alexander the Great, who returned back after defeating the mighty Porus, leaving a part of his Army, as rulers. There were also the Gori and the Gazni, who looted as much as they could and returned to their own kingdoms.

Like all other ancient civilisations, the Indian societies, never a monolith, had to face vicissitudes of times. There were ebbs in the tide of women’s status in the Indian multi religious, multi linguistic, multicultural societies, as they reacted and adjusted to the changing times. A steady slide in the status of women has, however taken place since the early 15^th ce.

What changed?

I will first deal with the status of women in India, since the millenniums gone by and then trace its movement to the present days. Much change, some good, some not so, in the practised religion, its culture and traditions, had been wrought by the Muslim and Christian invaders who stayed to rule, perpetuating their regressive patriarchal system.

Education is the biggest tool in the emancipation and empowerment of the poor, the suppressed, the oppressed, the marginalised, the downtrodden, in general the suffering masses, especially the women.

Till the nineteenth century, people from orthodox Hindu families considered education of women almost a sin. They believed that a literate wife would lose her husband sooner than an illiterate one. Even in the eighties of the century the opposition to women's education continued to be strong. It was only towards the end of the nineteenth century that prejudice against women's education abated.

The Christian Church has always striven to spread universal education and therefore, has had a big role to play in the colonial period in India, even when and where the Church did not have a direct role in the process of emancipation and empowerment of women.

I shall deal with the above role of the Church in a separate section of this Article.

PRESENT APPROACH OF THE FEMINIST MOVEMENT

Studies show that in India, 53% of children have been sexually abused even before they have reached puberty. Parents, who do not wish to have female children, routinely abort a female fetus. It is common for female children to be intentionally malnourished and uneducated compared to boys. One of the major causes is the portrayal of women as fetishize sex objects in the most sensational and vulgar ways in the Bollywood films.

While feminists around the world have differed over causes, goals, and intentions, depending on time, culture and country, most feminist historians assert that all movements that have worked/working to obtain women's rights should be considered feminist movements, even if they did not, (or do not), specifically apply the term to themselves. Some other historians limit the term "feminist" to the modern feminist movement and its progeny, and use the label "proto-feminism" to describe earlier movements.

STATUS OF WOMEN IN ANCIENT INDIA

Most of us would have read about ‘Swayambars’, (स्वयम्बरम्), being held, up to the early middle ages, (10^th c e), organised by fathers for their daughters, to choose their own husbands, by themselves. There was no child marriage. Girls were married only when they came of age, by which time they were well educated. The evil of women’s oppression in the Indian society, came up only when foreign invaders started ruling the Country and enforced their regressive and outmoded customs and traditions.

From the legendary Amazons of Greek mythology to Queen Boadicea of Roman Britain, warrior women have fascinated the world for millennia. India, too, has her own share of history; of indomitable women, who proved themselves to be skilled leaders and fierce fighters, who crossed swords in battle fields, with mighty men warriors of their times.

From outlining military strategies to storming battlefields, these unflaggingly courageous Indian women were truly a force to be reckoned with. There are many whose deeds of valour and states-woman-ship, are well chronicled and remembered to this day, but there are many more, whose stories, even though chronicled, have been long forgotten.

Here is a look at the fascinating journey of feminism through the Vedic India :

EARLY VEDIC PERIOD

Very few of us would, as children, not have read the story of Sati Savitri and Satyavan, as narrated by Muni Markandey to Yudhisthir in the Mahabharat. Her father, a king, let her choose her own husband, which she did by going out of the Palace to look for a life partner and chose Satyavan. Even when told by Narad Muni, that Satyavan would die within the year, she insisted on marrying him. When the fateful time came near, she fasted for three days and as Satyavan died, as predicted by Narad, she pursued Yamraj, the God of death, carrying her husband’s dead body on her weakened shoulders, (It was the 4^th day of her fast), till Satyavan’s life was given back.

LATE VEDIC PERIOD

There seems to have been some aberration during the Mahabharat period, when the status of women was reduced to that of an object of pleasure. Polygamy and Polyandry were both in practice. Levirate was an accepted custom. A wife was treated as a property to be traded with.

Madayanti, wife of Saudasa, commanded by her husband, went to Rishi Vasishtha and got a son called Asmaka by him.

The daughter of Saradandayana, a warrior woman begot three sons for her husband from a Brahmin ascetic.

Pandu was begotten of a levirate relationship between Vyasa and his mother Ambalika,

Karna was born of a ‘out of wedlock’ liaison between the Sun God and the adolescent Kunti.

After losing everything in a game of dice with the Kauravas, Yudhisthir pawned Draupadi, the shared wife of the Pandavas, for the next round of dice.

There, however, were some exceptions.

Around the time St Deborah (Judg 4:4ff), was blazing a trail of her own in Israel for over 4 decades, in the first millennium, bc, there were several Indian women sage-scholars, making history through public discourses and contributions in the literature of late Vedic period, (1000 bc) ; e.g., :

Lopamudra; Princess of Vidharba, married the sage Agastya. Throughout her married life, she walked in step with her husband, reading, speaking and writing on Vedic theology; she is believed to have written a number of verses of the Rig Veda. St. Deborah

Maitreyi and Gargi Vachaknavi; both believed to be pioneers of feminism in the ancient times. During a public debate with Rishi Yajnavalkya, the foremost Vedic Theologian in ancient times, on बृहदअरण्यक, (Brihad-aranyak), Upanishad, they have been credited for having bombarded the Theologian, with some of the most profound questions on Vedanta – the nature of the Soul (Brahman) and the origins of the Universe. In a court filled with male theologians, Gargi had fired question after question at the great sage, stumping a man who had never before been left at a loss for words. At one point, Yajnavalkya is supposed to have warned Gargi that her head would fall off if she continued but she persisted with her bold questioning since she did not elicit the answer she was looking for.

As Brian Black writes in his book, The Character of the Self in Ancient India,”Gargi was Yajnavalkya’s strongest opponent; stronger than her male counterparts”.

ANCIENT – MEDEAVAL PERIOD (up to 16^th ce)

Queen Didda, despite a severe leg disability, the lame Didda ruled Kashmir with an iron hand for over four decades, in the latter half of the 10^th ce, (958 - 1003). For her tremendous political skills, ability to rule and the stability that she brought in the fractious kingdom, she is sometimes called the Catherine of Kashmir, referring to the ruthless Catherine the Great (The longest ruling female Empress of Russia), even though the latter lived over 700 yrs later. In fact, Catherine should have been referred to as the Didda of Russia. Unfortunately, no picture, painting or statue of the legend Didda, the longest ruling Queen and Monarch in the History of India, has survived the turbulent centuries of Kashmir since her death.

Didda was not the only female Monarch/Queen who ruled Kashmir. There were at least four other chronicled Queens. The first woman ruler of Kashmir was the mythical Maharani Yashomati, during the times of Mahabharata;, the second was Sughanda Devi, who ruled just for two years in the beginning of the 10^th ce; she was murdered by her own courtiers. After Didda, there were two more; Kota Rani , the last Hindu Queen and poetess Queen, Habba Khatoon, (1554 – 1609), the virtual ruler of Kashmir, (The last woman ruler of independent Kashmir), as her husband , the King, had no interest in the administration of his Kingdom.

Queen Naikidevi the Goa born Queen of Gujarat, (daughter of the Kadamba ruler

Mahamandalesvara Permadi of Goa), who defeated the mighty invader Muhammad Ghori, in 1178 ce, (One who later defeated the last Hindu king of Delhi, the legendary Prithviraj Chauhan at the second battle of Tarain in 1192), was the widow of a Solanki king (The dynasty is also referred to as the Chalukyas of Gujarat), Ajayapala,

Queen Naiki Devi

It is sad that to this day, we sing pean to the valour of Prithviraj Chauhan, who was by Mohammad Ghori, but have obliterated from the pages of History, the description of the sagacity and bravery of the Queen, who routed and chased away the same marauding Ghori, in the battle of Gadraghatta, (Kyara), close to the foot hills of Mount Abu, in the Aravalli Range in Sirohi District of Rajasthan, bordering the State of Gurat.

After the death of her husband, King Ajayapala, who hsd ruled for just 4 yrs, till his untimely demise in 1175 ce, Naikidevi ruled as the Regent of her son Mularaja II, who was still a minor.

Empress Rudramma Devi, (1247 – 1296), From her birth, Rudrama, was treated by her

  father, Ganapati Deva, the founder of Kakatiya Dynasty, as a son and given   as the male name Rudradeva. Her father brought her up as a prince and made her learn every art of war, the matters of State and how to administer the kingdom. At the age of 14, she shared the throne with her father with the male name of Rudradeva. She
participated in public   meetings, in order to meet the common people of  her kingdom, to understand their sufferings.
Empress Rudramma Devi
At the age of 15, she succeeded her father to the throne on his death. She led several battles
against the nobles in her kingdom who opposed her rule because of her gender. She was a
great social reform. In those days, South India was dominated by male rulers  but
Rudramma ruled as a Kakatiya Monarch for over three decades.

MODERN FEMINIST HISTORY

Modern feminist history, (International), is conventionally split into four time periods, or "waves", each with slightly different aims, based on prior progress:

\· First-wave; whereas in the West, feminist movement started in the 19th and early 20th centuries, focused on overturning legal inequalities, in India, feminist movement started in the 17^th c.e., aimed at the social evils of ‘sati’ and against culture-specific issues within India's patriarchal society, such as inheritance laws ;

· Second-wave; feminism (1960s–1980s) broadened debate to include cultural inequalities, gender norms, and the role of women in society;

· Third-wave; feminism (1990s–2000s) refers to diverse strains of feminist activity, seen both as a continuation of the second wave and as a response to its perceived failures.

· Fourth wave; (2010 - Present day Me-too wave).

Although patriarchy is deeply entrenched in India since the medieval times , the Country has a very long tradition of women’s empowerment; of women who resisted conformity, even under severe societal pressure. These stories of feminism are as multicultural and diverse, as India itself is.

First Wave (17^th ce to mid 20^th ce)

Bibi Dalair Kaur, a 17th century Sikh woman, formed an all-woman army to fight Mughal forces. When taunted by Mughal commander Wajir Khan about the weakness of women in the battlefield, she is believed to have replied fiercely with the following words: “We are the hunters,not the hunted. Come forward and find out for yourself.”

Maharani Tarabai Bhosle of Kolhapur, (1675 – 1761), famous i Rajaram, son of Chatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Bibi Dalair Kaur

in Maratha history as the indomitable warrior queen. She was the wife of  Chatrapati Shivaji Maharaj. As the Regent of the Maratha Empire from 1700 till 1708, she kept alive the resistance against Mughal occupation of Maratha territories after the death of her husband in 1700 ce.

Maharani Tarabai

Equestrian Statue
of Maharani Tarabai

Queen Anubai Ghorpade of Ichalkaranji, (1700 – 1783), was the daughter of the first Peshwa, Balaji Pant, sister of the redoubtable Baji Rao, (The second Peshwa), daughter-in-law of Narain, (Naro), Mahadeo Joshi-Patwardhan, the founder of Ichalkaranji State, and the wife of Venkatrao Narain, the consolidator of Ichalkaranji as a state.

After her husband’s untimely death, she ruled the State, (A part of the Maratha Confederacy), for over three decades as Regent Queen, first on behalf of her minor son and then for her minor grandson. Fully trained in martial arts, she was not only brave and skilled as a warrior, but also an able administrator, as well as an astute diplomat. Few Queens, in the History of the World, would measure up to Queen Anubai’s qualities of head and heart, as well as her multifarious talents.

Queen Anubai of Few queens in the World history can equal Anubai’s skillsd Ichalkaranji Kolhapur sagacity, in the midst of enemies and trying times in the

medieval history of India, when the Portugese had already established themselves along the Western regions of the Country and the British, in the guise of East India Company, were trying hard to be rulers of the ‘Golden Basket’ : India.

Anubai was indeed a jewel of India. Unfortunately, no picture or statue of hers is available today, except the painting above.

Velu Nachiyar of Sivaganga, (1730 – 1796), The first Queen to fight the British even before the Rani of Jhansi. She ruled over her kingdom for more than a decade. Rani Velu led her Army in numerous battles and even formed a special women’s army named Udaiyaal, in memory of her adopted daughter, who had perished in a battle with the British. She ensured justice for her female subjects.

Velu Nachiyar was born in Ramnad, (Ramanathapuram in Tamil Nadu), to the royal couple Mannar Sellamuthu Sethupathy and Sakandhimutha. She did not have any brothers and she was brought up like a prince, trained in martial arts, horse riding, archery and handling different weapons. She was also educated in many languages including English, French and Urdu.

When Velu Nachiyar was 16, she married Sivagangai Mannar Muthuvaduganathur. Sivagangai is a district of Tamil Nadu. In 1772, the Nawab of Arcot and the British troops belonging to the East India Company united and invaded Sivagangai. They killed
Rani Velu Nachiyar Muthuvadugananthur in a battle known as the Kalaiyar Koil war.

Velu Nachiyar escaped along with her daughter and lived in Dindugal, from where she
plotted her revenge against the British with the help of the Maruthu brothers of Sivagangai
and some other powerful friends. In 1780, she led the charge against her enemies with an
army she had built with the help of Sultan Hyder Ali of Mysore and was successful in
recapturing her kingdom and became the queen of Sivagangai once again, till her death
more than 10 yrs later due to illness.

Rani Chenamma, (1778 – 1829), of Kittur; the Rani who fought the British on the
Battlefield of Kittur and defeated them in the first battle. Kittur was a princely state in
Karnataka. The Rani was one of the first Indian female rulers to lead an armed rebellion

against the British East India Company and defeated them, at least in the first battle. Chennamma was born in Kakati, a small village in the present Belagavi District of Karnataka. She belonged to the Lingayat community (Who reject any form of social discrimination, including the caste system, and received training in riding, sword fighting and archery from a young age. She was trained not only in archery, but aquickly became known for her bravery and skills.lso sword fighting and horse riding. Statue of Rani Chennamma She At the age of 15 years, she was Rani Chennamma in the Indian Parliament married to Mallasarja Desai, the ruler of Kittur.Twenty three years later, in 1816, her husband passed away leaving her with a young son. Her son too died a few years later in 1824. Chennamma, then, adopted a boy named Shivalingappa and named him the heir to the throne.

From here on, the life and times of Rani Chennamma is a precursor to the last two years of the life of Rani Laxmibai of Jhansi, which happened a good 33 yrs later.

To both, the British applied their infamous ‘Doctrine of Lapse’. Both had adopted sons, who were locally declared heirs to the throne of their respective demised fathers. Both declarations were summarily rejected by the British, leading to war. Whereas Rani Laxmibai of Jhansi lost her battle, Rani Chennamma won her first battle at the age of 46 yrs, against a British force of 20,000 troops and 400 guns; she lost the subsequent battle though, leading to her imprisonment and subsequent death in 1829, a year after Laxmibai was born.

Rani Lakshmibai of Jhansi, (1828 – 1858), a legend of the First War of Independence of India, she is an inspirational figure of the Country. Her legendary bravery is enshrined in the opening verse of the famous poem “Jhansi ki Rani”, Subhadra Kumari Chauhan :

बुंदेले हरबोलों के मुँह हमने सुनी कहानी थी,
खूब लड़ी मर्दानी वह तो झाँसी वाली रानी थी।
(I had heard stories from bards of
Bundelkhand, of the valiant battles
that Rani of Jhansi fought like a man)
Colonel Malleson of the British Indian Army wrote in The History of the Indian Mutiny; vol. 3; London, 1878, 'Whatever faults of Lakshmibai in British eyes may have been, her countrymen will forever remember that she was driven into rebellion by ill-treatment and that she lived Rani of Jhansi
and died for her Country, We cannot forget her contribution
to Ind ia’s ‘Glorious History’.”

During the 19th century, the Indian woman’s quest for civil, political and religious rights arose from the belly of the great social and religious reform movements of the era. Historians refer to the abolition of Sati as the first water
shed moment in India’s modern feminist movement.

Much of the feminist struggle in the 19^th century, saw educated middle class MEN in the forefront, such as :

· Raja Ram Mohan Roy, (1774 – 1833), widely considered as the father of the Indian Renaissance, who crusaded against social evils like Sati, purdah system, polygamy and child marriage through the 18th and the 19th centuries. A child, who was born in an orthodox brahmin family and had

wished to be monk at the age of 14, Ram Mohan is a
shining example of how one can be totally transformed
by exposure to all round education. Initially educated
in a village school, he went to study the Quran and
other Muslim religious texts in Arabic and Persian.
Thereafter he mastered Sanskrit and English while
studying at Benares Hindu University and got educated
in the Hindu religious texts. He later studied the Bible and the works of many Renaissance authors. This all
round education opened him to the larger world and led to his successful crusades against pernicious social practices of the time. Founding of the Raja Ram Mohan Roy
Brahmo Samaj by him led to sweeping changes n the society, bringing both low and high caste men and women together under the same roof.

· Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar, (1820 – 1891), was as one of the pillars of Bengal renaissance who, managed to continue the social reforms movement that was started
by Raja Ram Mohan Roy in the early 1800s. An ardent

advocate of women education, he viewed education as the primary
tool for women’s emancipation out of oppression they had to
face for centuries before. He exercised his influence and
  lobbied hard for schools  for girls, to not only educate them,
but also enable them to be self-reliant through vocational
training. He went door to door, requesting heads of families
   to allow their daughters to be enrolled  in schools.

Vidyasagar opened 35 schools for women throughout
Bengaland was successful in enrolling 1300 students.
initiated Nari Siksha Bhandar, a fund to lend support
to the cause. He lent full support to John Elliot
Drinkwater Bethune to establish the first   Ishwar Vidyasagar Chandra   permanent in India, in May 7, 1849.

· Mahadev Govind Ranade, (1842 – 1901),
founded the Widow

Marriage Association,           in 1861.

· ·   Keshav Karve Dhondo, (1858 – 1962),
a Bharat Ratna, who,  while teaching Mathematics in Ferguson College, Poona, tirelessly worked towards eradicating bias against widows and education of the girl child.
Keshav Karve Dhondo   He pioneered  widow remarriage and
   established a home for widows who could

not get married. He himself married a widow. established the first Mahade Govind Ranade,
university for women (SNDT); and

· Behram Malabari, (1853 – 1912), a judge and a member of the Bombay Legislative Council. Poet, publicist, author and a social reformer, best known for his ardent advocacy of protection of the rights of women and for his campaign against child marriage. He demanded legislation to prevent it.

Behram Malabari

During this time some of the women who continued to challenge the status quo, struggling for their place in the sun and went on to become feminist ideals, include :

Savitribai Phule, (1831 – 1897), an inspiring woman, who is often described as one of the first modern Indian feminists.

At a time when people hardly acknowledged the grievances of women in India, she, along with her husband Jyotirao Phule,
fought injustices against women with all their might and resources. In those days, widows had to shave their heads, wear a simple white sari and live a life of austerity. It was Savitribai who decided to stand up against this practice and organized a strike against the barbers in order to persuade
them to stop shaving the heads of the widows, most of whom Savitribai Phule were still children.

Savitribai also noticed the plight of sexually exploited women who, after becoming pregnant, either committed suicide or killed the new born due to fear of banishment by society. To cater to such women, she opened a care centre (called Balhatya Pratibandhak Griha or Infanticide Prohibition House) for pregnant rape victims and helped deliver their children. She also founded the first school for women at Bhide Wada in Pune in 1848.

Kamini Roy, (1864 – 1933), who spearheaded India’s suffragist,

(Universal suffrage), movement  and fought for a  woman’s right to education.

Anandibai Joshi, (1865 – 1887), from a middle class family, was
married at 14. She was the first
Indian woman to study abroad, (In
America), and was one of the first
women to become a physician at 21.
Unfortunately, she died at 22.

  Kamini Roy

Kadambini Ganguly, (1861 – 1923), one of the first women to   Anandibai Joshi

study Western medicine and, one of India’s
first two women graduates,

Dr Muthulakshmi Reddy, (1886 -1968); a rebel with a cause, a Padma Bhushan awardee, who, in the 1900s, broke barriers in

education, medicine and law; she studied in a men’s college to become a doctor and went on to ensure abolishment of the devadasi system. She was the first woman legislator of Madras Presidency. Kadambini Ganguli
Muthulakshmi, daughter of a Devadasi

Chandrammal and Narayanaswamy, Principal of Maharaja’s College in Pudukkottai, became the first girl student of the college. Also, Dr Muthulakshmi Reddy she was the first Indian girl student in the Department of Surgery at the Madras Medical College. When she was admitted to Maharaja’s High School, parents of boys threatened to withdraw their children from the school. Her father had been ostracised by his family for marrying a Devadasi and Muthulakshmi became closer to her maternal relatives and saw the situation first hand. After she became a doctor, among the first things Muthulakshmi began to fight against was the system of wet nursing, where women of the upper class got Dalit women to breast feed their babies. She fought to raise the age of marriage for girls, women’s right to property and for choice in the matter of education and career.

Muthulakshmi Reddy was appointed to the Madras Legislative Council in 1927. For her, this nomination marked the beginning of her lifelong effort to "correct the balance" for women by removing social abuses and working for equality in moral standards. She was one of the women pioneers who fought for liberating India from the British. She was a women's activist and a social reformer.

Muthulakshmi had many firsts.

Ø She was the first female student to be admitted into a men's college;

Ø the first woman House Surgeon in the Government Maternity and Ophthalmic Hospital;

Ø the first woman legislator in British India;

Ø the first Chairperson of the State Social Welfare Advisory Board;

Ø the first woman Deputy President of the Legislative Council; and

Ø the first alderwoman of the Madras Corporation’s ‘Avvai Home’.

Other Women include :

Pandita Ramabai, (1858 – 1922) who started a centre to support widows and studied the Kindergarten method of education,

Dr Rukmabai Bhikaji, (1864 – 1955), who, like
Anandibai, defied her child marriage to become
India’s first practising lady doctor. A child bride at
11, she became India’s First Practising Woman Doctor. In the 1880s, at a time when Indian women hardly had any rights to speak, Rukhma, a gutsy and determined woman did the impossible. Rukhmabai Pandita Ramabai Bhikaji contested her husband’s claim to conjugal rights in an an iconic court case that led to the passage of the Age of Consent Act in 1891.

Cornelia Sorabjee, (1866 – 1954), the first female graduate

from Bombay University, the first woman Dr Rukhmabai Bhikaji to study law at the Oxford University and the first Indian woman lawyer to practise in India and UK.

Cornelia Sorabji

Early 20th Century;

This too saw the rise of many courageous and strong-willed women who were instrumental in India’s freedom struggle. The stories of these women revolutionaries, a trade union activists, and nationalists have long been an unsung part of the historical legacy that independent India inherited.

Swarnakumari Devi Tagore, (1855 – 1932). Rabindranath

Tagore’s sister, is a little known figure, but played
a committed life as a social worker,. She started
an initiative, Sakhi Samiti, in 1896, to help
widows, orphan girls and poverty stricken women
of Bengal. She also played an active role in the
Indian nationalist movement.

Swarnakumari Devi Tagore

Sarala Devi, Chaudhurani, (1872 - 1945), Swarna kumari’s daughter, also grew up to be an independent and confident woman who believed in following her convictions. An

accomplished musician and poetess, Sarala completed her
education at Calcutta and challenged the social
conventions of her time by taking up a job in a school in Mysore at the age of 23. After she returned to Bengal, she actively participated in the militant nationalist movement of the state. She also attended meetings of societies that had all male members and presided over boxing, judo, swordplay and wrestling matches organised by her.
Sarala Devi
Chaudhurani   Sarala Devi also formed Bharat  Stri Mandal in 1910 Women
of this Era, within the national movement had begun insisting on greater political and economic participation and pioneered a number of other
Sarala Devi also formed Bharat  Stri Mandal in 1910 Women like the :

· Women’s India Association, founded in 1917; and

· All India Women’s Conference (AIWC) on Educational Reform, founded in 1927.

The first meeting of AIWC, held at Pune, under the Presidentship of Maharani Chimnabai Saheb Gaekwar of Baroda, saw resolutions passed relating, almost without exception, to education, ranging from matters concerning Primary Schools up to those relating to College and Adult Education. The sole and notable exception was the resolution supporting Sir Hari Singh Gaur’s Age of Consent Bill. While considering the educational requirements, it was found that social reform was inevitably bound up with it. It was felt that early marriage was among the main impediments in the path of education of girls.

Some of the leading lights of the Era were Annie Besant, Dorothy Jinarajadasa, Malati Patwardhan, Ammu Swaminathan, Mrs Dadabhoy, Mrs Ambujammal, Maharani Chimnabai Saheb Gaekwar and Sarojini Naidu.

Annie Besant, (1847-1933), led the Home Rule League

and was elected President of the
Calcutta Congress session in 1917.
After the death of its original American
founders, Annie Besant took over the
helms of the Theosophical Society of
India. She was the first woman President

of the INC (1917-18).

Sarojini Naidu, (1879 – 1949), also
became known in 1917, as a significant figure, leading  a delegation of women
to meet the Montagu-Chelmsford
Annie Besant    Committee to demand a series of
reforms in the condition of Indian   women. Sarojini Naidu
In 1925, Sarojini Naidu was the first Indian woman to be elected President
of the Indian National Congress of the Indian National Congress
It is easy to dismiss some of these achievements by pointing out that most of these women came from affluent, educated and urban households. But even within their spheres, they all fought uphill battles to establish themselves as ·different and to speak out against the established norms.

2^nd Wave : Post Independence (1960s -1980s)

The question of women’s rights appeared to retreat from public discourse for a few years. The second wave of the women’s rights movement began in the mid 1960s. The issues raised this time were wide ranging – from land rights and political representation to divorce laws and child custody to sexual harassment at work, dowry and rape. The women’s movement interrogated the existing laws, with their questions becoming central in public discourse.

Indian feminist writers, also made their presence felt globally, especially:

·   Toru Dutta   :  1856 – 1877; ·   Ismat Chugtai    : 1915 – 1991

·   Lalithambika Anantharajanam   :  1909 – 1987; ·   Mahasweta Devi :   1926 – 2016

In 1974, the Committee on Status of Women presented its findings in the form of a

watershed report ‘Towards Equality’ that laid the foundation of women’s movement in
independent India, highlighting discriminatory socio-cultural practices, political and
economic processes. Its authors included :

· Vina Mazumdar, and |   the duo later founded the ‘Centre for Women’s
· · Lotika Sarkar, |   Development Studies in Delhi’

In 1980, an anti-rape campaign was launched that led to emergence of autonomous women’s
organisation in several cities of India. There was Saheli in Delhi, Vimochana in Bengaluru,
and Forum Against Oppression of Women in Mumbai among others. Special Interest
Groups that focused on legal aid for women also came into existence and several legal
reforms took place.

3^rd Phase : (1990s – 2000s)
The thrust on the issues taken up in the 2^nd Phase continued to be pursued vigorously. A
great example is that of the landmark Vishaka Guidelines, that came into being in 1997,
outlining the process for dealing with sexual harassment at the workplace. (later superseded
by the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace Act of 2013).

Entering the 21st century, Indian feminism engaged with a host of issues – from domestic
violence and rape, (Including marital rape), to victim shaming and consent.
  Indira Jaisingh’s tireless work was instrumental in the framing of the Domestic
Violence Act (2005). Jaisingh was also the first woman to be appointed as an Additional

Solicitor General of India in 2009.

Meenakshi Arora a senior advocate at the
Supreme Court of India, made persistent
efforts for the framing of the Vishakha

Guidelines, which later culminated in the
legislation of the Sexual Harassment of

Women at Workplace Act (2013).

Indira Jaisingh Meenakshi Arora,

Vrinda Grover, a senior lawyer, identified by TIME magazine as

one of the 100 most influential women in 2013,
was influential in the drafting of the Criminal
Law Amendment, 2013. ,

Kavita Krishnan, an activist and Secretary of the All India Progressive Women's Association (AIPWA), set in motion a series
of protests and uproar after the 2012
Nirbhaya rape case, which eventually led to
the legislation of the Criminal Law Amendment, 2013, that made changes
Vrinda Grover in the existing rape laws in the Nation. Kavita Krishnan
4^th Phase : Me Too Movement.

A regional precursor to the "Me Too" movement in India was a 2017 rape case in the Malayalam film industry in the state of Kerala. While the case did not gain national coverage or social traction on a large scale, it did inspire a select number of individuals within the industry to speak out against abuse of women and to take a stand for women's freedom, similar to the Harvey Weinstein case in the US.

After allegations against Harvey Weinstein, the use of the MeToo #(hashtag) on social media with respect to the event spread quickly in India.

Jasmeen Patheja, an activist is head of Blank Noise, stated #MeToo's power is in demonstrating India can no longer ignore the scope of the problem.

Sheena Dabolkar, a blogger; her #Me Too tweet went viral and

resulted in the boycott of Khodu Irani's popular
Pune pub, High Spirits, by several well-known performers. Jasmeen Patheja

Several women mentioned Mahesh Murthy, which initiated a police
case in January 2018.

Sheena Dabholkar

Trends Desk of The Indian Express wrote that many Indian men are speaking up as a part of #MeToo, including discussions about consent and how some men are also abused.

One of the views about women's emancipation, as expressed by
Rina Chandran of Reuters is, "‘#MeToo’ ignores the 600,000 sex
workers against their will, and are typically poor without education or
family.

A number of cases have come up of late and it is yet to be seen if the movement will gather momentum in India. Rina Chandran

ROLE OF THE CHURCH DOWN THE CENTURIES

Over the last few centuries, the Church in India has played an important role in the empowerment of women, specially through education, but it must be acknowledged that India is a much older civilisation than the antiquity of Christianity. The first Christian to land in India was Apostle Thomas in 52 ce. As we know now, St.Thomas the disciple of Lord Jesus Christ had visited the palace of Gondophorous during his journey to India. This fact has found a place in the history text books of primary schools in Gujarat. Historian George Mark Moraes in his “History of Christianity in India” makes mention of a community called ‘followers of Thumma Bhagat’, which once lived in the Kutch-Sindh area. It is believed that Thumma Bhagat was none other than St.Thomas. St Thomas, then sailed to the port of Muziris, (Present-day Pattanam).

After Apostle Thomas landed on the shores of Kerala in 52 ce and converted a considerable number of Indians to Christianity, the numbers grew substantially over the years till the arrival of the Portuguese in Goa, who then spread along the Western coast till Daman and Diu.

Unlike St Thomas who befriended Indians and made a large numbers as his followers, the Muslims and the Europeans, imposed their own culture at the point of their swords. There was a concerted effort by the Colonial rulers to change the religion, language and culture of Indians; first by the Muslims followed by the Portuguese, the French and the Dutch. The last three went to work, to change the Indian Christian Church to Roman Christian Church, leading to religious and cultural strife. Their areas of influence, therefore, remained confined to their subjects in their Principalities of Goa, Daman and Diu, Chandonnagar, Pondichary, the Dutch Ceylone, the Dutch Coromondel, the Dutch Bengal and the Dutch Malabar, where Roman Catholicism, along with the European culture, were imbibed by substantial numbers.

After the Synod of Diamper in 1599, convened by the Archbishop of Goa, which imposed Latin Rites on the Syro-Malabar Church, the local patriarch of the Church was forcibly deposed and was replaced by a Portuguese Bishop. Most of the literature, documents and archives of the first Churches in India, were systematically reduced to ashes by the Portuguese, in an effort to obliterate the existence of the Church. No written records remain of the antiquity of the Church.

But for the oral traditions, we will have known nothing of the past of the only indigenous Church in India established by Apostle Thomas. And yet the Church survived and is flourishing to this day, due to the committed defiance of the members of the Church in those dark days.

What we know through the oral tradition is, that in the 20 years of his Ministry in India, Apostle Thomas established seven churches in Kerala and then moved Eastward, preaching and converting members of all castes and communities till he reached Mylapore in the present day, Chennai, where he was speared to death by the Hindu ‘Kali’ priests. His followers built a tomb there, around which, a shrine was built and rebuilt more than once and stands today at Santhome, as the Cathedral Basilica of St Thomas.

What has the Syro-Malabar Church contributed to the cause of women in Kerala? Through conversion to Christianity, the extreme excesses of the extremely regressive Hindu caste system were brought under a modicum of control by the casteless Christian faith. he old divisions, however, remain till date, with all its prejudices.

CONCLUSION

Although we must be proud of our heritage of feminism of the ancient times, there still remains a lot of work to be done towards emancipation. Empowerment of women in India has been showing some encouraging trends and has come a long way, thanks to those mentioned here and many more inspiring and fierce personalities, aided and abetted by the Church in India, especially from the 15^th ce onwards. The empowerment of women in India gained upward mobility by their relentless struggle against the forces of patriarchy.

Today, the Church, especially the Catholic Church, which committedly works among the poor, the down trodden, the marginalised, the deprived lot and the youth, is in the forefront of women’s emancipation and empowerment, and its efforts are paying off.

First, increasing economic liberty is allowing women to fight stereotyping;

Secondly, what women want is changing – from economic rights to social and sexual rights;

Thirdly, women are not vacating their spaces – they are negotiating harder to expand their field of activities;

Fourthly, there is genuine partnership and collaboration among men and women, particularly youngsters, to embrace meaningful gender equality; and

Finally, the internet and information revolution is helping women form communities and networks, giving them a bigger voice and tools to organize themselves, forge partnerships and demand their rights;

Throughout history, Indian women have asserted themselves in multiple ways and broken free of oppressive social norms. These whispers of rebellion were bypassed or ignored by patriarchal documentations, but they were always there and they must be remembered.

Monday, 24 December 2018