We stand in solidarity with women all over the world and in our own communities who are impacted by violence, discrimination, misogyny, injustice, and abuse.
This International Women’s Day we focus on the powerful South Asian women who have never received the recognition they deserve and the women in our communities who inspire us every day. Incredible luminaries who are unheard of compared to their male contemporaries, women who have fought to bring about progress and change, women who continue to fight for themselves, their children, and their community.
Sarojini Naidu
Naidu is known as “one of India’s feminist luminaries”. Her birthday, 13th February, is celebrated as Women’s Day to recognise powerful voices of women in India’s history. Poet, activist, politician, orator, feminist, intellectual, child prodigy, writer, founder of the Women’s Indian Association, President of the Indian National Congress, and key figure in the fight for Indian independence from the British. Naidu was born in Hyderabad, now Bangladesh in 1879. When she was twelve, she earned the highest rank to entre university education and at 17 studied at Kings College London and later Cambridge. By 1904 she had become a powerful and popular orator who was arguing for Indian Independence, women’s rights, and social justice. An associate of Gandhi and proponent of the non-violent movement in 1918 she made a powerful and persuasive argument to Congress that women in India should be able to vote: “right of franchise is a human right and not a monopoly of one sex only.” She was ignored by the British government and instead went on to work with provincial councils who approved women’s franchise but with severe limitations. When Gandhi was arrested in 1930, Naidu took over as leader of the campaign for independence. After independence was achieved in 1947, she was appointed Governor of the United Provinces and remained in post until her death in 1949 at the age of 70.
Sarojini Naidu, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
Muthulakshimi Reddy
A Tamil-born women’s activist, writer, social reformer, friend and ally of Gandhi and Naidu, Reddy was the first in a multitude of areas: the first female student to be admitted into a men’s college, the first woman House Surgeon in the Government Maternity and Ophthalmic Hospital, the first woman Legislator in British India, the first Chairperson of the State Social Welfare Advisory Board and the first woman Deputy President of the Legislative Council. Born in 1886, she studied medicine and became one of the first female doctors in India. She went to England to continue higher studies where she met Sarojini Naidu. Later as a legislator she passed a resolution to establish a special hospital for women and children and passed a bill against human trafficking. She set up a shelter to protect and educate women and girls (Avaai) in 1953 and then the Adyar Cancer Institute which are both still highly successful institutions helping thousands across India today. Her book “My Experiences as a Legislator was published in 1930. She continued her work right up until her death in 1968 at the age of 80.
Sophia Duleep Singh
A British-born, pioneering suffragette, Indian princess, key figure in the Women’s Tax Resistance League and member of the Women’s Social and Political Union (WSPU). Singh was born in Belgravia in 1876 and lived in Suffolk. She had a turbulent childhood as her father was forced to abdicate as Maharaja by the British when he himself was a child. He was exiled from India but made several thwarted attempts to return with his family in later life. Singh’s godmother was Queen Victoria who provided her with apartments at Hampton Court Palace. In 1907 she successfully travelled to India to visit relatives and saw first-hand the poverty and injustice people faced. She met with Indian activists during her visit but was unaware that she was being followed by British agents who were concerned by her interactions with dissidents. On her return to England, she joined the WSPU in 1909 and helped to fund the suffragette cause through her own inheritance. In 1910 Winston Churchill ordered her expulsion from the House of Commons along with Emmeline Pankhurst and other activists despite their prior request to meet with the Prime Minister. The government also ignored their Conciliation Bill and so they undertook a protest of 300 women known as Black Friday. During World War I she joined the British Red Cross and supported Indian soldiers working in British fleets. In 1918 the enactment of the Representation of People Act allowed women over 30 to vote and Singh joined the Suffragette Fellowship. She died peacefully at her home in Buckinghamshire in 1948.
Noor Anayat Khan
Noor was a British resistance agent who served as part of Special Operations in France during World War II. She was the first female wireless operator to be sent to occupied France from the UK to help the resistance fight against Nazi occupation. She was born in Russia in 1914, but spent her early childhood in London and Suresnes, near Paris. She studied child psychology and was a writer and composer. She joined the Women’s Auxiliary Air Force (WAAF) in 1940 and was recognised as having an edge over her colleagues due to her perfect, flawless French and skills as a wireless operator at which she was especially fast and accurate. She was sent to France in June 1943 to intercept and disrupt Nazi oppression by transmitting morse code. In October 1943 she was arrested by the Gestapo. Despite two attempts to escape, being shackled and tortured Noor did not give up any information to her captors. In September 1944 she was transferred to Dachau concentration camp and executed by firing squad. In 1949 she was posthumously awarded the George Cross.
Karpal Kaur Sandhu
Sandhu was the first female Asian police officer in Britain and served in the Metropolitan Police service from 1971 until her death in 1973. She was born in Zanzibar, East Africa in 1943 and moved to the UK in 1962. She originally worked as a nurse in Enfield before joining the police force in 1971 at the age of 27. She faced discrimination within the force and disapproval from her own community. Her husband did not approve of her becoming a police officer and one night on her way home from work Sandhu was attacked by him outside her home in Walthamstow. Despite being gravely injured Sandhu recalled herself to duty to arrest him. She died later and her husband was found guilty of her murder the following year. In 1999 the McPherson Inquiry found evidence of institutional racism within the Metropolitan Police and earlier this week the Angiolini Inquiry found evidence of a culture of misogyny.
Metropolitan Police
Photo by stayhereforu
K
This is a story of a woman from Pakistan, a country where an alarmingly high number of women, ranging from 70 to 90%, experience some form of domestic violence, whether it be emotional, financial, physical, or sexual abuse. K was an only child who moved to the UK after finishing her studies and entered into an arranged marriage. Unfortunately, from the very beginning, she suffered abuse at the hands of her husband and in-laws. Like many South Asian women, she attempted to make compromises and adapt to her new family. However, things continued to worsen each day. Despite her hardships, she refrained from confiding in her parents to shield them from harm, and she feared the societal stigma and shame associated with separation. Although she tried repeatedly to reconcile with her husband, the abuse continued, even as she was dedicating herself wholeheartedly to her family and raising her daughter. One day, K gathered the courage to report the abuse to the police and consulted a GP. She realized that the abuse was not limited to herself, as her children were also suffering. She had never anticipated that her daughter would be exposed to such an environment. It became evident that for a marriage to thrive, both partners must be willing to change. Frustrated by false promises and the persisting emotional, physical, and financial abuse, K found herself in desperate situations, including a lack of food and proper care for her and her children. After her husband left her again, when she became pregnant with her second child, she was devastated. Although she attempted to take her own life, she ultimately failed.
During her struggles, K received support from her parents and eventually moved into her own house. When she gave birth to her second child, she once again tried to end her own life, but her attempts were unsuccessful. Eventually, she realized that she needed to fight for the well-being of her children and herself, and to set an example for other women in similar situations. She refused to waste her existence and was determined to fulfil her role as a mother, daughter, Muslim, and contributing member of society. Despite the numerous obstacles she encountered, she vowed to keep moving forward, inspired by her strength as a woman, and the potential to positively impact the lives of others, which she believes led her to work for Maa Shanti.
#InternationalWomensDay2024 #IWD2024 #empowerment #SouthAsianCommunity #SarojiniNaidu #MuthulakshamiReddy #SophiaDuleepSingh #NoorAnayatKhan #KarpalKaurSandhu #InSolidarity #MaaShantiCommunity #feminism