I. (A) Personal Details Role Name Affiliation Principal ...

I. (A) Personal Details

Role Name Affiliation Principal Investigator Prof.SumitaParmar Allahabad University, Allahabad Paper Coordinator Prof. Rekha Pande University of Hyderabad,

Hyderabad Content Writer/Author (CW)

Dr. Kala Selvi. K.T. Pondicherry University Pondicherry

Content Reviewer (CR) Prof. Rekha Pandey Universiy of Hyderabad Language Editor (LE) (B) Description of Module

Items Description of Module Subject Name Women’s Studies Paper Name Women and History Module Name/ Title, description

Grass Root Women’s Activism .

Module ID Paper-3, Module-31 Pre-requisites The reader is expected to have some idea

about the different social movements of the country.

Objectives To make the reader understand the meaning of grass root women’s activism and its contribution at various levels.

Keywords Grass root women’s movement, pre independence, post independence, patriarchal structure, gender rights.

Grass Root Women’s Activism

This module deals with grass root women’s activism in contemporary India. Women’s

activism in movements has a long history. In the Indian context it is relevant to understand that

the variation in concerns and strategies of women’s activism has been the outcome of the

plurality of perspectives within the movement. Some movements had the support of intellectual

groups and in some places mass movements emerged in support of certain causes while there are

some that existed for years with evolving agendas. The ideologies also vary from socialist,

liberal, radical, Marxist and Gandhian to the new fundamentalist.

While tracing the origins of women’s activism in India, the concept of Shakti, the female

power principle must be taken into cognizance. In this form women’s activism in movements is

to be recognized as the development of positive force inspiring men and women alike rather than

a negative reaction to oppression. Urvashi Butalia (1998) and Ritu Menon and Kamala Bhasin

(1998) have already highlighted the deliberate absence of a record of women’s voice and

contribution to political situations in pre-independent India and the patriarchal nature of our

documented history.

Women’s leadership in the nationalist phase however, emerged from a small section of the

urban, educated middle-class and invariably was in some way linked to movements or

organizations in the west. In the 19th century the middle class women with the support of male

social reformers, who were influenced by western liberal democratic values, initiated the process

to fight against female infanticide, sati, child marriage, widow remarriage and segregation of

women from the public life (Desouza.2011).

There are many special cases where individual women have been leaders in a struggle for

women’s rights, but whose voices have not been accounted for in the patriarchal recording of

history. In Maharashtra Savitribai Phule was an Indian social reformer and poet from dalit

community. Along with her husband Jyotirao Phule a noted social reformer founded the first

women's school at Bhide Wada in Pune in 1848. She also worked to abolish discrimination and

unfair treatment of people based on caste and gender. Savitribai Phule started ‘Mahila Seva

Mandal’ in 1852, which worked for raising women’s consciousness about their human rights,

dignity of life and other social issues (Attri Pardeep Singh, 2010).

In the year 1882 Swarnakumari Devi, less heard of than her brother Rabindranath Tagore,

from West Bengal started the Ladies Theosophical Society (a multi-religion association of

women) and later became a member of the Indian National Congress. Then the Theosophical

Society was associated more with Annie Besant, a British woman supporter of the Indian

nationalist movement. Swarnakumari’s daughter Sarala Devi started training women in the use

of the sword and lathi in 1903, as she was actively involved in nationalism of a militant kind.

Pandita Ramabai from Canara district in the British period (present Karnataka)was one of the 10

women delegates to the Indian National Congress in 1889 and she was instrumental in setting up

of several women’s organizations, schools for girls, and homes for widows, apart from her other

contributions to society.

Middle class educated women initiated a few organizations. Several issues that were taken

up as concerns for social reforms were, in fact, issues that exclusively benefited women of the

upper social classes or those of higher caste. In 1904, a women’s wing was started in the

National Social Conference, which was later called the Indian Women’s Conference. The All

India Women’s Conference opened branches in several smaller states in India. The Women’s

Indian Association, which had links with the British women’s movement for suffrage, was

commenced in 1917 by Margaret Cousins, Dorothy Jinarjadasa and Annie Besant. The National

Council of Women, a branch of the International Council of Women, was founded by Lady Tata

and Lady Aberdeen in 1925. In 1927, the All India Women’s Conference was set up by Margaret

Cousins which later merged with the Women’s Indian Association in the 1930s (Kumar, 1993).

To quote other side of women’s movement, in North East after the annexation of Manipur by

British, the history of Manipur was famous for two female’s warfare. In 1904 the House of

British Political Agent ordered the villagers to fetch teak wood, to collect bamboos, thatches,

reeds and other materials. While men collected those materials, women in a group snatched those

materials and threw them in to Nambul River. Though the agitation was controlled, women

disobeyed the orders and demonstration of women continued for several days. The army was

called to restore peace. All the women resorted to strike and bazaar was completely closed.

The second agitation was in 1939 for banning the export of rice. In 1939 excessive rain

had seriously damaged the standing crops which resulted in severe shortage of rice. The rice

export was exclusively controlled by Marwari traders. More than 15000 women demonstrated

before the Darbar hall of Maharaja and shouted slogans to stop the export of rice. Since the

economy of the state could suffer if women continued the boycott the monopoly of Marwari

traders, this monopoly was cut down and export of rice was cut short (Karna, 1998).

In Tamil Nadu the Self Respect Movement under the leadership of Ramasamy who is well

known as Periyar used their conferences to take up women’s issues and encouraged women’s

participation in politics. A demand for equal property rights for men and women was insisted in

its first conference. The second conference at Virudunagar insisted that women should be

inducted into the army and police as well. They also called for local magistrates to identify those

temples which encouraged the devadasi system and proceed with severe actions. Being a

devadasi, Movalur Ramamirthammaiyar emerged as an activist championing the cause of

women, devoting herself to the abolition of the devadasi system. The efforts of the various

women activists have played a role in alleviating the degree of suppression of women in various

spheres. Though many women had actively participated in the Dravidian movement, not much

has been written about them (Seshadri, 2008).

In 1946 Tebhaga movement erupted in Bengal on the eve of the withdrawal of the British.

In rural Bengal, the Kisan Sabha responded to the major threat of crop failure through the

Tebhaga movement which organized sharecroppers. This was a mass struggle against the

landlords’ traditional claim to two-thirds of the crop harvested by the sharecroppers. Mahila

Samitis questioned gender discrimination in the Kisan Sabha by raising issues of domestic

violence and gender discrimination. Women in large scale participated in the movement on par

with men. The landless poor peasant women formed fighting troops called Naribahini and

acquired a front rank role in defending the gains of the movement and in countering the

repression of state (Custers, Peter, 1986).

Women’s activism in Freedom struggle

Women shouldered critical responsibilities in India's struggle for freedom. They held public

meetings, organized picketing of shops selling foreign alcohol and articles, sold Khadi and

actively participated in National Movements. Large number of Grass root women participated

actively in Swadeshi and Civil Disobedience Movements. Swadeshi Movement emanated from

the partition of Bengal, 1905 and continued up to 1908. It was a successful economic strategy to

remove the British Empire from power and improve economic conditions in India through

following the principles of Swadeshi (self-sufficiency). Women joined men to protest this

division by boycotting foreign goods and buying only Swadeshi goods, i.e. goods produced in

the territory of Bengal.

During the Dandi Salt March (1930)Gandhi installed the Civil Disobedience Movement by

conducting the historic Dandi Salt March, where he broke the Salt Laws imposed by the British

Government. Women played an active role in the struggle under the leadership of Sarojini Naidu,

Aruna Asaf Ali and Bhikaji Cama. There were endless number of women who daringly fought

for India’s freedom with their true spirit and undaunted courage. It is pertinent to document a

few women’s militancy during freedom struggle (Milestones in freedom struggle)

Rani of Jhansi Regiment was the women’s regiment of the Indian National Army, the armed

force formed by Indian nationalists in 1942 in Southeast Asia with the aim of overthrowing the

British Raj in colonial India It was one of the very few all-female combat regiments of the

Second World War on any side led by Captain Lakshmi Sahgal. The unit was raised in July

1943 with one hundred and seventy women volunteers from the expatriate Indian population in

South Asia (Wikipedia)

Women’s activism in Post Independence The years after independence proved to be the site of a severe setback for women

activism. Despite the acceptance of the principle of equality between men and women, its

implications were not fully worked out. Women continued to be the victims of several forms of

discrimination in and out of home. Disillusionment was setting in gradually. From the mid 1960s

onwards, new socio-political movements emerged as poverty and unemployment were

widespread and the people were disappointed with the government development policies, the

prevalent economic rights, land rights and the price rise. In the nineteen seventies constitutional

guarantee of equality was critically analyzed and the movement which started in the seventies

and eighties was a very different one, growing out of a number of radical movements of the time.

A large number of women’s organizations emerged and old ones revitalized by the nineteen

eighties. A special category of women’s activism arose characterized by new dimensions.

During the late sixties and early seventies many older women’s organizations like All

India Women’s Conference (AIWC), The Young Women’s Christian Association (YWCA) and

the National Federation of Indian Women (NFIW) activated a new phase of activity marked by

increasing interaction and cooperation with one another. This time the focus was not only on

mobilizing women but also on understanding and attacking the sources of their oppression.

During 1970s and 1980s, the women’s movement highlighted marginalization of women from

the economy. The efforts of women activists were directed in agitation and propaganda for

women’s rights, street-fighting against escalating violence against assertive women and team-

building to counter sexual harassment at work-place. In the 1990, the women’s movement was

demanding its legitimate place within the mainstream with its own agenda of empowerment of

women with partnership with men (Khullar, 2005).

In Independent India there have been concerted struggles waged by different communities in

different parts of the state for control over resources and land. Women’s activism in those

movements proved their involvement and commitment towards the cause. Women on par with

men played an active role in peasant movements, eco movements, trade union movements,

women’s rights movements and social movements. When they raised their voice for social

justice, they critically analyzed gender roles and able to ascertain their gender concerns. Brief

look at following movements highlight grass root women’s activism in modern times.

Peasant movements

Immediately after Independence, the land rights militant movement in Telangana (Andhra

Pradesh) in 1946 posed relevant questions to the newly formed Indian state. Speaking of feudal

and cultural domination, the central focus of the Telangana struggle was the liberation of women

from violent subjugation. And the participation of women in this struggle is historic - Mallu

Swarajyam and Chityala Ailamma continue to be widely revered icons. Three decades later,

Telangana, more specifically Hyderabad, was the centre of the emergence of the autonomous

women's movement which put the articulation of women's rights in place nationally - the agenda

that was drawn up then continues to influence public policy and party politics across the board

even today(Kannabiran,2010).

The Bodhgaya’s peasant Movement was commenced in 1978 demanding the state to

release the Math lands to peasants in the Ganga district of Bihar. In 1982 at the Vahini’s Bihar

State Conference, attended by Bodhgaya women activists and peasants, a decision was taken that

women should be given land in their own names in any future distribution. Women’s

participation in the struggle was recognized by the men due to the growing solidarity among

women and their articulation of their gender specific interests. It was the first land struggle in

South Asia in which women’s land rights were explicitly taken into account and carried forward

with some success. Women got equal rights on the land released from Math (Agarwal, 1994).

The movement of adivasis and the growth of Sharmik Sanghathan in Maharashtra’s

Dhulia district in 1972 is another significant pre- emergency movement. In essence, it was a

movement for the restoration of the social anti- economic dignity of the disinherited tribal

peasantry of Shahad whose lands and assets had been appropriated by the settlers from outside.

The frequent sexual violation of the tribal women was a symbol of the humiliation of the entire

tribe triggered the movement eventually (Joseph, 2006).

.Eco movements

Chipko Movement, started in 1970's, in Uttarakhand was a non-violent movement aimed

at the protection and conservation of trees and forests from being destroyed. In the case of

women's role in the Chipko Movement, Chipko, a Hindi word meaning "hugging", is used to

describe the movement because local village women literally "hugged" trees, interposing their

bodies between the trees and the loggers to prevent their being cut down (Uttarakhand

Encyclopedia).

Ganga Mukthi Movement in 1980s has been waging non-violent battle against

monopoly of water lords over Ganga water and for acquiring fishing rights. Women played an

active role and succeeded in getting fishing rights. The fisher women asserted themselves and

secured more than 50% of seats in the committee, which was conducting the movement and

gained control of the fund collected for the movement, as they felt that men squandered the

money over useless things. They even succeeded in picketing local liquor shops which was

responsible for many wrong doings on the part of the men folk. The movement also incorporated

several women related issues. In 1990 nearly 80 kms of area under Panidari system was freed

and the movement spread to other areas along the Ganga River. In January 1991 Bihar

government had declared that the fisher folk would be given free fishing right in all rivers

passing through the state. The process of acquiring fishing rights had truly empowered the fisher

women, as it led to capacity building, autonomy in decision making, access to and control over

their valued productive resources and the fruits of their labour deriving from control over their

lives. But they did not stop here, now these empowered women came forward with fresh energy

against ecological degradation and destruction of the micro eco-system of the Ganges, which

resulted into a call for factories that polluted the Ganga. This movement was revolutionary that

initiated a process in which women were both subjects of change and agents of social change

(Shrivastav, 2013).

APPIKO movement

APPIKO is a 25-year-old movement, which reminds the people of the need to conserve

sensitive eco sphere. In 1983, the villagers in Sirsi taluka of North Kanara district launched an

'embrace the trees' campaign. In 1950, forests covered more than 81 percent of the geographical

area in Uttara Kannada (or North Kanara) district. But being declared a 'backward' district, the

area was selected for major industries and a chain of hydroelectric dams constructed to harness

the rivers. Women participated actively in the agitations and stopped the cutting of trees by

embracing them. Appiko is seen by some as a kind of echo of the more prominent Chipko

movement of north India (One India, 2008).

Narmada Bachao Andolan (NBA) is a non-governmental organization (NGO) that mobilized

tribal people, farmers, environmentalists and human rights activists against the Sardar Sarovar

Dam being built across the Narmada River in Gujarat. In 1987 it originally focused on the

environmental issues related to trees that would be submerged under the dam water. Recently it

has re-focused with the aim to enable the poor citizens especially the ousters to get the full

rehabilitation facilities from the government. Women played an equal role on par with men in

defending their rights (Suyoggothi, 2013).

Trade Union Movements

Nipani is a town situated in Kerala with a population of 40,000 ruled by tobacco merchants

who wield more power than the government. In 1980s against the mechanization of beedi

production women irrespective of religion and caste united together and demanded for job

security, raised income and put an end to sexual harassment in the work place. The economic

necessities forced women to change their value systems and adopt new values. The experience of

Nipani beedi workers, Tamilnadu construction workers, Rajanandgaon textile workers all base

themselves on trade union structure. The sheer size of the women membership exerts a pressure

on the union to take up trade union and social issues that focus on women. From the Nipani

struggle an attack on social practices that oppress women such as the devadasi system has

emerged.

The Kerala Workers Movement developed out of the crisis in the traditional fisheries

sector in the wake of mechanized fishing. Although women in Kerala don’t fish, they undertake

the major responsibility for marketing the catch. As far as women specifically are concerned the

organizers took up the issue of women’s rights to public transport for vending fish. Within the

movement too, a significant debate took place on organizational models for women’s

involvement. The demand that women be accorded full union membership began in the

Trivandrum unit where women were the strongest in leadership positions (Shah, 2004).

Chattisgarh Dalli- Rajhra manual mines women constitute almost half the work force. From

the first executive itself, Chattisgarh Mines Shramik Sangh (CMSS) had women in its committee

which is rare in Indian Trade Union movement. In 1979 the active involvement of women not

only fought for better working conditions such as wage increase, fixed working hours but also

practically eliminated the sexual violation of women by contractors and their henchmen, once the

scourge of Dalli-Rajhara mines. Due to widespread alcoholism among the male workers the

increased wage was of no use. It was against this background that the CMSS took up an anti-

liquor campaign. The campaign and its effective implementation was made possible by the

participation of women workers (Niyoki Shankar Guha, 1991).

The Self-Employed Women’s Association (SEWA) movement in Ahmedabad led by Ela Bhatt,

which was a sort of pioneering women’s trade union movement that began in 1972, was another

such landmark in the history of the contemporary women’s movement. It is a membership-based

organization from a combination of the labour, women, and cooperative movements, to organize

self-employed women in the informal economy and assist their collective struggle for social

justice, equality and fair treatment. Women involved in various trades in the informal sector were

brought together by their shared experiences such as low earnings, harassment at home,

harassment by contractors and the police, poor work conditions, non-recognition of their labour

to list just a few. Apart from collective bargaining, the movement strove to improve working

conditions through training (Chapter.7. Self Employed Women Association, 2011).

Women’s Rights Movements

Between 1977 and 1979 new women’s groups emerged in the cities like Delhi, Banglore,

Hyderabad, Bombay, Ahmedabad, Patna, and Madras. They organized protest actions against

dowry murders, beauty contests, sexist portrayal of women in media, pornographic films and

literature imported from abroad, the introduction of virginity tests by the U.K. immigration

authorities, custodial rape and pitiable condition of women in prison.

Nationwide anti-rape campaign in 1980 resulted into the emergence and proliferation of the

autonomous women’s organizations in several cities and towns of India. These groups such as

Forum Against Oppression of Women (Mumbai), Saheli (Delhi), Stree Shakti Sangathana

(Hyderabad), Vimochana (Banglore) managed to get tremendous publicity in the print as well as

the audio-visual media because at that time ’violence against women’ was the most sensational

and the newest issue(Patel, 1985).

Vachathi is a Dalit dominated village situated in Dharmapuri district, Tamilnadu. In 1992 a

team comprising forest personnel, policemen and revenue officials entered in, searching for

smuggled sandalwood. Under the pretext of conducting a search, the team ransacked the

villagers' property, destroyed their houses, and raped 18 women. Women with the help of

activists filed a case against the violators. Nearly two decades after the incident, a special court

sentenced 215 men from police, forest and revenue department to jail terms ranging from one to

10 years for atrocities on tribals and women. Women faced the trials with determination and

courage (The Hindu, Sep 30, 2011).

North East women struggle:

In 2004, a group of middle-aged Manipuri women protested against army by stripping naked in

front of an army barracks in Imphal and unfurling a banner that read: “Indian Army: Rape Us.”

After torching government buildings and parading naked to protest the suspected custodial rape

and killing of a woman by federal soldiers, women in Manipur vow to intensify their fight

against frequent atrocities in the restive northeast Indian state (Hussain, 2004).

The Gulabi Gang (known as pink army) was founded by Sampat Pal Devi in 2006. Since

then, it has grown to over 20,000 members. Mainly comprised of female activists, the women

vigilantes are reported to have originated from Bundelkhand, Uttar Pradesh, but are now active

across North India. Wrapped in bright pink saris, the women are often seen protesting patriarchal

culture, rigid caste division, female illiteracy, and domestic violence, child labor, as well as

dowry demands. And in 2008, the gang stormed into an electricity office and forced officials to

turn back on the power which had been cut in order to extract bribes. The women proudly

proclaim that they are not a gang in the usual sense of the term but a gang for justice. Their

fearlessness has touched the lives of many and has even inspired media makers (Froelich, 2013).

Social Movements

The Anti Price Rise Movement

In 1972 the Anti Price Rise movement mobilized large numbers of women in cities like Bombay

and Ahmedabad. Loosely organized and flexible in structure the movement adopted innovative

forms of protests but failed to sustain itself in the absence of a solid organization structure. This

movement called for a total revolution. Gender discriminatory practices, family violence, rape,

unequal distribution of work and resources were debated openly and created a widespread

ferment among its women cadres.

Nava Nirman Movement

The Nav Nirman movement of 1974, which began as a student movement in Gujarat, chiefly

against corruption, was another such turning point in the history of agitations for ‘rights’ and

‘lokniti’ (people’s rule of law). Influenced by concepts of ‘revolution’, the movement critiqued

the caste system and religious rituals. Besides involvement in political and economic issues it

was also concerned with those that were considered private such as family violence, domestic

roles and challenged patriarchal stereotypes.

Anti Arrack Movements:

Since mid seventies, tribal women in different parts of country – Andra Pradesh, Manipur,

Maharashtra have been fighting against alcohol/liquor sale inducing alcoholism among men

resulting into devastation of families and domestic violence against women and children. In

Andhra Pradesh, the anti-arrack movement was strong in 1992 to 93 and it spread into other

states at different levels. More than 40,000 women uniting and blocking the arrack auction in

Andhra was a historic chapter in the Indian women’s movement. In Maharashtra, the elected

women representatives in local self government institutions, Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs)

have forced the state government to declare their block/village/taluk ‘alcohol free zone’ if 50%

of women in the area give their vote against sale and distribution of alcohol (Patel).

In Tamilnadu elected women representatives networking with SHGs showed tremendous

changes in their village panchayats. Using the social capital with the support of family and other

stake holders a few women could able to ascertain their position. Though the percentage is less

the 73rd amendment’s thirty three percent reservation for women in local governance provided

an excellent opportunity for grass root women’s’ activism in local governance (Kalaiselvi,2013).

Conclusion

In short it is evident that grass root women’s activism was invisible due to the patriarchal

documented history in pre independence movements. There is a clear cut distinction between pre

independence movements and post independence movements. While the pre independence

movements were essentially about social reforms, initiated by middle class educated women

without challenging the patriarchal structure on the other hand the post independence movements

demanded gender equality, questioned gender- based division of labor involved grass root

women at various levels .Conscious efforts are required to be taken by scholars to document and

archive grass root women’s activism otherwise their part will be invisible, neglected by

mainstream history.