Women in the civil disobedience movement
Topic: The National Movement: Gandhian Era · NCERT: Class 10, Ch 2 "Nationalism in India"
Meaning
During the Civil Disobedience Movement of 1930–34, women joined the national movement in large numbers for the first time. They marched in protests, made salt against the law, and picketed (stood outside to block) shops selling foreign cloth and liquor. Many went to jail. Most came from high-caste families in towns and from rich peasant families in villages. Yet the Congress gave them only a symbolic role and few positions of power. Gandhi himself believed that a woman's main duty was to home and family.
Example
Kamaladevi Chattopadhyay persuaded Gandhi not to keep the protests for men only. She then broke the salt law herself. In May 1930 Sarojini Naidu led volunteers in a raid on the Dharasana salt works in Gujarat.
Don't confuse with
- Women in Quit India (1942): in Quit India, women led underground work and took direct action. Examples are Aruna Asaf Ali, Matangini Hazra in Bengal and Kanaklata Barua in Assam. In 1930, most women took part in mass protests rather than leading them.
Related concepts
- All India Kisan Sabha
- Swami Sahajanand Saraswati
- FICCI
- G.D. Birla
- Jamnalal Bajaj
- All India Trade Union Congress
- Communist Party of India
- Meerut conspiracy case
- Women's Indian Association
- All India Women's Conference