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The league of extraordinary women
| A photo- tribute to women freedom fighters from Tamil Nadu revealed
remarkable tales of valour
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PHOTO: SPL ARRANGEMENT
SHOULDER TO SHOULDER Women displayed exemplary courage during the
freedom movement
S.N. Sundarambal of Tirupur was pregnant when she was arrested
for taking part in Individual Satyagraha in the early 1940s. Ammapon
alias Leelavathi was 11 years old when she took part in Neil statue
Satyagraha in 1927. She was later arrested and kept in a children's
home. Saraswathi Pandurangan lost her two-year-old daughter and son of
19 months while she was in prison for taking part in the Quit India
Movement, Civil Disobedience movement, Salt Satyagraha and Individual
Satyagraha. The list of ordinary women who pitched in their support for
the freedom struggle is long, but regrettably, is little known.
These women freedom fighters from Tamilnadu took centre stage in the
photo exhibition ogranised by the Mahatma Gandhi Study Centre of
Kumaraguru College of technology and Mahatma Gandhi museum of the
Mahalingam Mariammal Manivizha charitable trust as part of Coimbatore
Vizha.
That Velu Nachiyar of Sivaganga battled bravely against the British
forces after the death of her husband and that Rani Lakshmi Bai took on
many a battle with her son strapped to her back is well-known. But how
many of us know that Pappammal from Karur took active part in Individual
Satyagraha? C. S. Ramakrishnan from Mahatma Gandhi Study Centre said,
"According to the book ‘Kongu naattil Indhiya sudhandhira porattam', the
Coimbatore region alone had about 21 women taking part in the freedom
struggle." The exhibition had photographs along with short descriptions
on the lives of women such as Akilandammal, Engammal, S. Kamalam and
Alamelu Mangai who were imprisoned for opposing the British rule.
For a lot of these women, stepping out of their homes to fight for a
cause required monumental effort and grit. Kaliammal, for example was
from an oppressed section of the society. Inspired by Kasturba Gandhi,
she came forward to fight for the cause of her people.
Madurai-born Sornathammal, is yet another unsung heroine. Along with
Lakshmi Bai Ammal, she organised a women's march in 1943, raising the
quit India slogan. The women were arrested by the police, beaten and
humiliated. It was only after midnight that they were cast off near
Alagarkoil. Undaunted, they continued their fight for freedom.
Photographs of D.K. Pattammal, M.S. Subbulakshmi and M.R. Kamalaveni,
who used music to instigate nationalistic fervour, were displayed. In
fact, Kamalaveni was jailed with a one-year-old infant.
Other women freedom fighters from the South included Dr. Lakshmi
Swaminathan who was the commandant of Rani Lakshmibai's regiment, S.
Manjubashini who was in charge of prayer and food when Gandhiji visited
Chennai in 1946, Vijayalakshmi who provided shelter for freedom
fighters, Kannavaram Ammaiyar who worked for the welfare of Harijan
children in Sivaganga and Sakuntala who entered the freedom struggle as a
college student.
AKILA KANNADASAN
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