The 19th Century Social Reform Movements and Early Women’s Organisations

The 19th-century social reform movements in India raised a wide range of issues concerning women — you have already studied these in earlier chapters. These movements created the intellectual and social ground on which early women’s organisations could grow. By the early 20th century, women’s organisations began to appear at both the national and local levels.

Three major organisations from this period are:

• The Women’s India Association (WIA) — founded in 1917
• The National Council for Women in India (NCWI) — founded in 1925
• The All India Women’s Conference (AIWC) — founded in 1926

Many of these organisations started with a limited focus, but their scope expanded over time. For example, the AIWC initially believed that ‘women’s welfare’ and ‘politics’ were separate and should not mix. A few years later, however, one of its presidential addresses declared: “Can the Indian man or woman be free if India be a slave? How can we remain dumb about national freedom, the very basis of all great reforms?” This shift shows how the movement’s understanding deepened.

There is debate about whether this period of activity constituted a full social movement. Some argue it did not; others argue it did. If we recall the features that characterise social movements — organisations, ideology, leadership, a shared understanding, and the aim of bringing about change on a public issue — this period had all of them. What these organisations succeeded in doing together was to create an atmosphere where the women’s question could no longer be ignored.

It is often assumed that only middle-class, educated women are involved in social movements. Part of the struggle of the women’s movement has been to remember the forgotten history of women’s participation. Women participated alongside men in struggles and revolts that originated in tribal and rural areas during the colonial period. Examples include:

• The Tebhaga movement in Bengal
• The Telangana armed struggle against the Nizam’s rule
• The Warli tribal revolt against bondage in Maharashtra

After 1947, a common question arises: if there was an active women’s movement before independence, what happened afterwards? One explanation is that many women activists who were also involved in the nationalist movement turned their attention to nation-building tasks. Others cite the trauma of Partition as the reason for a lull in the movement.

In the mid-1970s, there was a renewal of the women’s movement in India. Some call this the second phase of the Indian women’s movement. While many of the concerns remained the same, there were changes in both organisational strategy and ideology. Apart from organisational changes, new issues came into focus — most notably, violence against women.

Over the years, numerous campaigns have been taken up. For example, school application forms today have space for both the father’s and mother’s names — this was not always the case. Important legal changes have also taken place thanks to the campaigns of the women’s movement. Issues of land rights and employment have been fought alongside rights against sexual harassment and dowry.

There has also been a growing recognition that while all women are disadvantaged in some way compared to men, not all women suffer the same level or kind of discrimination. The concerns of an educated middle-class woman are different from those of a peasant woman, just as the concerns of a Dalit woman are different from those of an ‘upper caste’ woman. Take the example of violence — its forms and impacts vary across these groups. …