Women in the Constituent Assembly
Also called: Women members of the Constituent Assembly · Topic: Framing the Indian Constitution · NCERT: Class 12, Ch 4 "Framing the Constitution"
Meaning
The Constituent Assembly, which wrote India's Constitution from 1946 to 1949, had fifteen women members. They included Sarojini Naidu, Hansa Mehta, Dakshayani Velayudhan, Begum Aizaz Rasul, G. Durgabai (Durgabai Deshmukh), Rajkumari Amrit Kaur, Sucheta Kripalani, Vijayalakshmi Pandit, Ammu Swaminathan and Renuka Ray. Dakshayani Velayudhan was the only Dalit woman member. Begum Aizaz Rasul was the only Muslim woman member. These women spoke on many issues, including caste, separate electorates, language and women's rights.
Example
Hansa Mehta of Bombay said women did not want reserved seats or separate electorates: "We have never asked for privileges. What we have asked for is social justice, economic justice, and political justice." G. Durgabai of Madras warned that people in the south strongly opposed the push for Hindi.
Don't confuse with
- Women's reservation: the women members did not ask for reserved seats for women. They asked for equal justice.
Related concepts
- Rajendra Prasad
- B.R. Ambedkar
- Drafting Committee of the Constituent Assembly
- K.M. Munshi
- Alladi Krishnaswamy Aiyar
- B.N. Rau
- S.N. Mukherjee
- Rajkumari Amrit Kaur
- Vijayalakshmi Pandit
- Sucheta Kripalani