Most Indians may not know that today is Jhansi Rani lakshmibai’s birthday. She was born in 1828, this day in Varanasi to a Maharashtrian Brahmin couple. She was named Manikarnika who became motherless at four. lakshmibai had mastered horse riding and archery during teenage as she loved bravery. At 14, she was married to Raja Gangadhar Rao, the Maratha ruler of Jhansi. In 1851, she gave birth to a boy who died after four months. Gangadhar, after adopting his cousin’s son named Damodar Rao, died young. The British, citing the ‘Doctrine of lapse’ rejected Damodar as heir and annexed Jhansi. lakshmibai was given a pension and told to leave the palace and evacuate her fort. But she chose to fight and protect her state.
In a book titled The Rani of Jhansi, Rebel against Will, author Rainer Jerosch puts her role into context: “The entire life of the Rani is intimately linked to the causes and the events of the 1857 revolt. However, it should be noted that she only emerges as a leading actor on the historical stage in the latter phase of the insurrection. It moreover appears reasonable to assume that it was only over the course of the Mutiny that she developed into the personality which we encounter in the history books. The ‘highly civilised, polite lady’, as the well-schooled eyes of Political Agent Sir Robert Hamilton, perceived her before the Great Mutiny, provides little, if any, indication of the resolute warrior who would one day challenge British rule with such determination and military prowess.”
With news of the mutiny reaching Jhansi, the Rani sought British permission to gather a force of armed men for her protection. In a letter to Major Erskine, she expressed her deep regret at the killing of British civilians and officers by the mutineers. While the forces of Orchha and Datia were attempting to take advantage of the chaos and capture Jhansi, lakshmibai appealed to the British for help. But by then, the British camp was sure that she was part of the rebel force.
The British forces arrived to capture Jhansi, and the assault on the fort began on March 24, 1858. A force of 20,000 men led by rebel leader Tantya Tope came to Jhansi’s aid but could hardly match the might of the enemy. After fierce fighting, the Rani decided to tactically withdraw and escape to strike the enemy from another front.
She joined the rebel forces at Kalpi which too fled out of fear. lakshmibai, Tantya Tope, Rao Sahib and others camped at Gwalior which they held for a while, but the British attacked them on June 17 and took control over the city. Near Gwalior’s Phool Bagh area, the rebel forces led by lakshmibai fought the squadron of the 8th Hussars with all might, but they killed her. Governor General lord Canning’s account makes inspiring reading today: “Ranee of Jhansi. Killed by a trooper of the 8th Hussars who was never discovered. Shot in the back, her horse baulked. She then fired at the man, and he passed his sword through her. She used to dress like a man (with a turban) and rode like one ... Not pretty, & pockmarked with smallpox, but beautiful eyes and figure. She used to wear gold anklets…Her tent was very coquettish...Two maids of honour rode with her. One was killed…”
The Rani was dead at 29. By dying young on the battlefield during the greatest revolt against British rule the country had ever witnessed, lakshmibai became immortal in the hearts and minds of her countrymen.
Similarly, Begum Hazrat Mahal born in 1820 was yet another brave queen of the princely state Awadh, who had rebelled against the British. After the death of her husband Nawab Wajid Ali Shah, she had taken over the affairs of Awadh. During the rebellion, the supporters of Begum seized control of lucknow as an act of rebellion against the British East India Company and declared her son Bijris Qadra as the ruler of Awadh. later, it was recaptured by the Company and Begum was exiled to Calcutta. She had drawn everyone’s attention towards the demolishment of temples and mosques by the Company to make way for construction of roads, thus hurting religious sentiments of Indians. Karl Marx had remarked that “during the national liberation uprising of 1857-1859 in India, Begum Hazrat Mahal’s sacrifice would remain recorded in history”. Today, any routinely educated historian would hardly know the great Begum.
The other great Indian woman is Madam Bhikaji Cama, a Parsi philanthropist and an active social worker born in 1861. During the epidemic of bubonic plague that hit Mumbai in 1896, she herself got infected with the disease while providing aid to patients and had to go Britain for treatment. Throughout her life, she struggled for Indian Independence from abroad. While working as secretary to Dadabhai Naoroji, she supported the founding of Shyamji Krishna Verma’s Indian Home Rule Society. On August 22, 1907, she unfurled the Indian flag in Stuttgart, Germany while attending the International Socialist Conference. There, she made people aware of the aftermath of the famine that had hit the Indian Subcontinent and raised her voice for human rights and equality in India. She was an active freedom fighter and sent to exile in Europe until 1935. She toured the world on her own and gathered support for Independence of India. She became very ill and returned to Bombay in1936 to die after a few months. Bhikaji Cama would have been forgotten but for a living road named after her in Mumbai. Interestingly, Indira Gandhi too was born today in 1917.
India is called the land of Shakti meaning ‘woman power’. But truly, it is infamous for being the worst country for women as lawmakers. Data show that even countries like Syria, Rwanda, Sierra leone, Niger and Somalia have more women in its parliament. Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) revealed just days before the world celebrates the International Women's Day that there are only 96 women representatives in both Houses of Indian Parliament ranking abysmally low - 103rd in the women in Parliament.
India where only 12% of parliamentarians are women in both Houses (65 in lok Sabha and 31 in Rajya Sabha) can learn from its immediate neighbours. Pakistan ranks 64th with 84 women parliamentarians. China too is much better than India ranking 53rd with 699 members.
Nepal ranking 35 is a shining example for the developing world. Almost one in three is a woman. Most surprisingly, Afghanistan is better than India, ranking 39th with 97 women parliamentarians, which is 28%. Around one in five parliamentarians in Bangladesh is a woman. The US ranks 72nd with 84 women, both in the Senate and the House of Representatives. The UK has nearly 28% in both the Houses. Rwanda has more than 60%. In 1995, Europe dominated the top 10 spots. By 2015, four of the top 10 countries have been bagged by Sub-Saharan Africa.
The number of male-only parliaments has also dropped from 10 to five.
Women MPs have gained ground in nearly 90% of the 174 countries. Americas witnessed the greatest progress with women MPs rising from 12.7% in 1995 to 26.4% in 2015. The percentage of women MPs increased from 9.8% in 1995 to 22.3% in 2015. Africa has the third highest regional average for women MPs. There are now five countries with more than 40% women MPs and one country, Rwanda, with 63.8%. Asia with the fourth highest average at 18.5% of women MPs has slipped in the rankings since 1995 by not keeping pace. Singapore, meanwhile, has seen the biggest jump in women's representation in 20 years with an increase of 21.6%.
Hopefully, Modi would bring true Achhe Din by promoting women in India to occupy half the Parliament soon.
(The writer is a core member of Transparency International, Odisha)