Women’s Movements in India During British Era
Social movement is defined as an organized effort by a group of people to bring or resist change in the society. These movements make use of protest, confrontation or conflict as tools to bring changes in the traditional structures and social relationships. Women’s movements are a variant of social movement that seeks to bring changes in the institutional arrangements, values, customs and beliefs prevalent in the society. Differences based on caste, class, religions and ethnicity have created many problems for women in different parts of the country. In this context of a culturally diverse and unequal societal set up that the emergence of women’s movements needs to be understood. Many reform movements that took place in the 19th century and early 20th centuries like the Brahmo Samaj, Prarthana Samaj, and the Arya Samaj took up women’s issues.
Reform Movements highlighting Women’s issues in 19th and early 20th centuries
Many social evils concerning women were prevalent in the 19th century such as Sati, child marriage, polygamy, ban on widow remarriage etc. With the advent of British rule came the spread of English education and Western liberal ideology apart from the spread of Christianity and missionary activities. These changes resulted in the emergence of number of movements for social change and religious reform with the broad objectives of caste reform, emancipation of women and attack on social practices that led to social and legal inequalities. However, various debates on women’s education in 19th and early 20th centuries reveal that the reform movements do not have their origins from the influences of Western education only. The social reformers of the time also realised that religious reforms cannot be separated from the social reform movement. The British followed a policy keeping different religious communities separate from each other. They therefore maintained each system of family laws that related closely to the religious and customary traditions of each community. As a result, social reform movements never developed into a unified movement but developed within each community.
Reform Movements spearheaded by male reformers
Initial impetus for the social reform movements of the 19th century largely came from male reformers like Raja Ram Mohan Roy. This particular time period saw the proliferation of many organisations that took lead to address important social issues that adversely affected the status of women. Reformers like Raja Ram Mohan Roy, M.G. Ranade and Swami Dayanand Sarawati eulogised the position of women in ancient India. Others like Ishwarchandra Vidyasagar, Jyotirao Phule and Lokhitvadi Gopal Hari Deshmukh attacked the caste system and held it responsible for the subjugation of women. Jyotirao Phule held that Sudras and Women were denied education so that they would not understand the importance of equality and freedom and accept the low status accorded to them in law, custom and traditions. Ishwarchandra Vidyasagar worked actively for the promotion of widow remarriage. Brahmo Samaj and the Prarthana Samaj were the outcomes of the reaction of urban, western educated men who aimed for emancipation of women.
Brahmo Samaj
Brahmo Samaj was founded by Raja Ram Mohan Roy in 1825. Brahmo Samaj tried to remove restrictions and prejudices against women like child marriage, polygyny, limited rights to inherit property and seclusion of women. It viewed education as a important tool for emancipation of women. Brahmo Samaj promoted education of women at home and started a women’s magazine called Bamabodhini Patrika. It also solemnised inter-caste marriages which attracted the ire of Hindu orthodox groups. Opposition from the orthodox groups resulted in the passage of Civil Marriage Act, 1872. This act allowed inter-caste marriage and divorce. It fixed the minimum age of marriage to girls and boys as 14 and 18 respectively. However, the influence of Brahmo Samaj was visible only in Bengal and North India.
Prarthana Samaj
Prarthana Samaj was founded in 1867 and its influence was confined primarily to western India. M.G. Ranade, R.G. Bhandarkar and N.G. Chandravarkar were the prominent figures of this movement. R.G. Bhandarker and N.G. Chandravarkar became the vice chancellors of the first Women’s University established by Karve in Bombay in 1916. In 1869, the Bombay Widow Reforms Association was established. It arranged the first widow remarriage in 1869.
Arya Samaj
Dayanand Saraswati founded Arya Samaj in 1875. Unlike the above two movements, Arya Samaj was a religious revivalist movement. It rejected Hindu religious orthodoxy, idol worship and the caste society. This movement highlighted a glorious position of women in ancient India and advocated remarriage of child widows, compulsory education for men and women, prohibition of child marriage, reforms in caste system. However, the movement was opposed to divorce and widow remarriage in general. Though it called for reforms in caste system, it never demanded its abolition. It also advocated for separate school for girls and boys. It established Arya Kanya Pathashalas and contributed to women’s education. The movement has its influence mainly in urban areas and also extended to semi-urban and rural areas.
Shortcomings of the above movements
All of the above mentioned movements had their influence limited to urban middle class and did not have significant influence in rural areas. Moreover, most of these movements had a very limited perspective of changing the position of women within the family and did not do much to challenge the social structure and caste inequalities which perpetuated women’s lower position in the society. Also, these movements were inclined to argue for women’s education so that their efficiency as housewives and mothers. But gender equality was not on their agenda. These movements viewed women’s question as a social problem. They did not conceive a radical onslaught on the religious orthodoxy.
Reform movements spearheaded by women
By the end of the 19th century women from the reformed families began to start women’s organizations. One of the first women to do so is Swarnakumari Devi, daughter of Devendranath Tagore and sister of Rabindranath Tagore. In 1882, she formed the Ladies Society in Calcutta for making widows and other poor women economically self reliant. She also edited a women journal named ‘Bharati’ and thereby became the first Indian women editor.
In 1882, Ramabhai Saraswati founded the Arya Mahila Samaj in Pune and Sharda Sadan in Bombay.
Many women’s organisations were formed in the early 20th century and were closely linked with both social reform movements and nationalist movements. Many women who were active in freedom struggle founded women’s organizations in various parts of the country. An individual named Jyoti Singh played an active role in Gujarat. Other communities like the Parsis, the Muslims and the Sikhs formed their own women’s organization.
National Women’s organizations
The early national women’s organizations were confined to specific areas. In 1910, Sarala Devi Chaudhurani established the Bharat Stree Mandal (Great circle of India Women) with the objective of together women of all castes, creeds nd classes together. Branches were begun in different cities all over India like Lahore, Amritsar, Allahabad, Hyderabad, Delhi, Karachi etc. Sarala Devi considered Purdah to be the main obstacle for women’s education. But the Bharat Stree Mahila Mandal was a short lived organization.
The Women’s India Association (WIA) was founded by Annie Besant, Margaret Cousin and Dorothy Jinarajadasa, all three Irish women Theosophists in 1917. The three women were joined by Malati Patwardhan, Ammu Swaminathan, Dadabhoy and Ambujammal. In a sense, WIA is the first all India women’s association with the objective of securing voting rights for women. National Council of Indian Women was established in 1926 and All India Women’s conference was established in 1927. Bharat Mahila Parishad was the women’s wing of the National Conference inaugurated in 1905. The National conference was formed at the third session of the Indian national Congress.
Shortcomings
Though, women’s participation in national movement helped to break several old barriers of tradition and custom, these organizations were dominated and run by women from urban middle and upper classes. These organizations neither had their influence in rural areas nor did they take into account the problems of poor working class families.
Muslim Women and Social Reform
In the 19th century, social reform movements began within the Islamic community as well. But, the stress on purdah system and slow education penetration among Muslim women delayed the development of a progressive movement to improve the opportunities for Muslim women. Reformers like Begum of Bhopal, Syed Ahmad Khan and Sheikh Abdullah in Aligarh and Karmat Hussain in Lucknow assumed leadership to various movements to improve women’s education. In 1916 Begum of Bhopal founded the All-India Muslim Women’s conference. The conference passed a resolution in 1917 to abolish polygamy which enraged many traditionalists. Awareness created by these reformers made several Muslim women to take part in the freedom struggle and non-cooperation movement against the British.
