Explain the role of women in the Civil Disobedience Movement.
One of the most important features of the Civil Disobedience Movement was the large scale participation of women.
During Gandhiji’s salt march, thousands of women participated in marches, manufactured salt and picketed foreign cloth and liquor shops. Many went to jail.
In urban areas, these women were from high caste educated family e.g. Sarojini Naidu, Satyavati Devi, Kamala Nehru, Vijaylakshmi Pandit, Kasturba Gandhi, etc. In rural areas, women came from rich peasant households.
Bengal being the nerve centre of female education in India, increased the women’s participation in nationalism. In 1930, women rallied before Bethune College, Calcutta in support of Gandhiji’s Civil Disobedience Movement.
In Bombay, large section of women of Gujarati community was influenced by Gandhiji’s idealism and participated in National Movement. But all these participation were symbolic as women did not hold any position of authority for a long time.
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