Women Pioneers of the Indian Constitution

News: The Indian Constitution was crafted by 299 members of the Constituent Assembly, including 15 extraordinary women from varied backgrounds. It included leaders like Sarojini Naidu and Sucheta Kripalani and Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit.

It also included lesser-known women from across the country who actively contributed to debates on gender, caste, and reservations. The article discusses five of them.

About 5 Notable Women in the Constituent Assembly

1. Ammu Swaminathan (1894-1978)

• She was born in Palakkad, Kerala.
• She co-founded the Women’s India Association in 1917 alongside leaders such as Annie Besant.
• She advocated for women’s education rights and opposed restrictive widowhood practices.
• In the Constituent Assembly, she spoke about the Hindu Code Bill and gender equality.
• Post-independence, she was elected as an MP from Dindigul in Tamil Nadu.
• She also served as India’s goodwill ambassador to countries like Russia, China and the US.

2. Annie Mascarene (1902-1963)

• She was born in Travancore (now Thiruvananthapuram) into a Latin Christian family from the lowest caste.
• She supported universal adult franchise and opposed caste-based voting rights.
• She joined the All Travancore Joint Political Congress and later the Travancore State Congress.
• As a Constituent Assembly member, she advocated for a strong central government and autonomy for local governments.
• She elected as an independent candidate in 1952 from Thiruvananthapuram.

3. Begum Qudsia Aizaz Rasul (1909-2001)

• She was born into Punjab’s royal family.
• She pursued formal education despite facing opposition, including a fatwa against her attending convent school.
• As a Muslim League member, she campaigned for women’s issues and opposed religiously separate electorates.
• She remained in India after the partition and joined the Indian National Congress.
• She was elected to the Rajya Sabha from Uttar Pradesh in 1952
• She played a key role in promoting women’s hockey.

4. Dakshayani Velayudhan (1912-1978)

• She was the first Dalit woman to graduate in science in Cochin (now Kochi) and the first Dalit woman in the Cochin Legislative Council.
• In 1946, she was elected to the Constituent Assembly from Malabar.
• She opposed Ambedkar’s call for separate electorates, believing it would cause division and weaken nationalism.
• After independence, she stayed active in the Dalit movement and continued to advocate for social justice.

5. Renuka Ray (1904-1997)

• She was born in Pabna, present-day Bangladesh.
• She Joined the freedom struggle after meeting Mahatma Gandhi in 1920.
• She was active in advocating for women’s rights, including divorce and inheritance.
• She represented women’s organisations in the Central Legislative Assembly in 1943 and later she elected to constituent Assembly.
• As a Constituent Assembly member, she supported the Hindu Code Bill. However, she opposed reserved seats for women in legislatures, seeing it as an obstacle to their progress.