Lesser-Known Women Revolutionaries of India

This write-up is a small attempt to highlight a few more names and stories that need to be known, remembered, cherished with pride, and drawn inspiration from.

Lesser-Known Women Revolutionaries of India | Source: The Curious Reader

“The British Rule in India”, said M.K. Gandhi, “could end in minutes if the women of India wanted and understood it”. In these lines, Gandhiji gave a clarion call to the women of India to join the freedom struggle and save the national honour. Although women participation has been substantial throughout the national movement, specially since the days of Swadeshi Movement (1905), Gandhiji’s call gave a further impetus to it.

The first woman to respond to his call was Kasturba, his wife. A pillar of strength to Gandhiji’s striving for non-violence, she was always at the forefront of all his non-violent agitations in South Africa as well as at home.

Others who were an integral part of the freedom struggle included Madame Cama, Sister Nivedita, Annie Besant, Sarojini Naidu, Kamla Nehru, Maniben Patel, Vijaya Laxmi Pandit, Sucheta Kriplani, among thousands of others, who sacrificed their homes to see their country free.

Even those who did not fully subscribe to Gandhiji's dictum of non-violence joined the movement for national self determination through revolutionary methods. These included Durga Bhabhi, Satyavati Devi, Khurshed Behn, Aruna Asaf Ali, and a hundred others.

The story of Madame Cama, popularly known as ‘Mother of Revolution’ is most inspiring. At least a decade before Gandhiji started his struggle in India, she along with Sardar Singh Rana in 1907 unfurled the tricolour flag of India at the International Socialist Conference at Stuttgart, Germany. Followed by this, all the delegates present at the conference rose and saluted the flag of freedom.

Nagaland produced a particularly brave hero in Rani Gaidilieu, who at the age of 13 responded to the call of Gandhiji during Salt Satyagrah and raised the banner of rebellion against foreign rule. The young Rani was captured in 1932 and sentenced to life imprisonment. She wasted her bright youthful years in the dark cells of various jails of Assam, to be released only after Independence in 1947.

Durga Bhabhi, the wife of Bhagwati Charan Vohra, is another such name in the list. She wielded tremendous influence on the minds of Bhagat Sigh, Chandrashekhar Azad, Sukhdev and Rajguru. In fact, Bhagat Singh after killing Saunders, traveled in the Calcutta Mail on December 18,1928, with Dugra Bhabhi herself. To escape from Lahore railway station that evening was nothing short of a miracle. After Bhagat Singh’s execution, she came out in open and decided to kill Lord Hailey, the ex-Governor of Punjab. She was arrested and sentenced to three years imprisonment.

For Stayawati, the illustrious daughter of Swami Shraddhananda whose only passion was India’s freedom, of the 37 years she lived, 12 were spent in prison. “Don’t touch me, I am Agni of India” she shouted at the British police officer who tried to arrest her.

Usha Mehta of Bombay came into prominence during Quit India Movement when she started a secret radio called ‘Voice of Freedom’. The radio continued to operate amidst the most severe oppression from the British Raj for months before it was finally found and confiscated by the police.

Aruna Asaf Ali, another hero of Quit India Movement of 1942 remained underground for a number of years, hoisted the National Flag in Bombay, became Mayor of Delhi and won admiration of all parties. With Dr. Ram Manohar Lohia and Jayprakash Narayan, she founded the Socialist wing of the Indian National Congress.

As head of the famous Rani Jhansi Regiment of Indian National Army, Captain Laskhmi Sehgal was one of the most trusted aid of Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose. Her role in the freedom struggle was finally popularized by the famous show “The Forgotten Army- Azadi ke liye” by Kabir Khan.

Ammu Swaminathan, mother of Captain Laskhmi Sehgal, was a founder member of the All India Women Conference situated in Madras. She joined the Indian National Congress in 1934 and played a leading role in the Quit India Movement of 1942.

Sarojini Naidu, was the poet-chronicler of the freedom struggle, and the historian of freedom movement, and among the only two Indian women (other one being Nellie Sengupta) to hold the post of president of Congress before independence. She further went on to become the first women chief minister of any state in India.

A princess of the erstwhile native Kapurthala state, Rajkumari Amrit Kaur, was Gandhiji’s secretary for 16 years. Imprisoned a number of times and lathi charged on several occasions, Amrit Kaur was drawn towards the freedom struggle during the days of martial law in Punjab (1919).

Another name to emerge was that of Durgabai Deshmukh, during the salt satyagrah. Popularly known as the “Iron lady’, she defies British authority in 1930s and edited a magazine called ‘Andhra Mahila’.

Other names to come up among the revolutionaries were that of Parilita Wadeddar, who died conducting a raid; Kalpana Dutt who was arrested and tries along with Surya Sen in the Chittagong Armory raid case and given life sentence; Santi Ghosh and Suniti Chandheri, school girls of Comilla, who shot dead the district magistrate; and Bina Das who fired point blank at the governor while receiving her degree at the convocation.

At least a hundred more stories and names have missed their mention in this writeup, a thousand more are still undocumented even in the pages of history. The role of women in freedom struggle have been grossly under-explored and under-publicised by the State and non-State actors. The onus now lies upon us to bring other such stories to forefront and make them household names. The feminism drawn from the novels of Jane Austen will render little result in empowering those who are in dire and immediate need unless it is backed and bolstered by such stories of our recent past.

Lets take it as a challenge upon us to elevate many such stories of heroism and sacrifice from the status of “lesser known stories” to “well known legends“!