1. Janaky Athi Nahappan

She was among the first women to join the Indian National Army organized during the Japanese occupation of Malaya to fight for Indian independence. The leadership of Rani of Jhansi Regiment was handed over to Janaky in 1944 from Captain Lakshmi. Hailing from a well to do Tamil family Janaky began by donating all her jewelry for the funding of the Indian National Army. Even after facing fierce opposition from her family members she joined the Regiment and worked hard to become the command of the Burma contingent. After World War II she appeared as a welfare activist. She was a founding member of Malaysian Indian Congress and one of the earliest women involved in the fight for Malay independence. Later in life she became a senator in the Dewan Negara of the Malaysian Parliament. The Government of India awarded her the fourth civilian honor of Padma Shri in the year 2000. The courage of these powerful women are remarkable and are worth remembering on this International Women’s Day. They were putting their lives at stake.

2.Rasammah Bhupalan

She is the first female fighter for the independence of Malaya. At the young age of 16 she joined the Rani of Jhansi Regiment of the Indian National Army and served in Burma during World War II. She started to teach at the Methodist Boys School from 1959 to 1964.

She co-founded the Federation of WTU (Malaya Women Teachers Union) in March 1960. She actively demanded and fought for equal pay among female teachers. Years of struggle had resulted in her victory as the government had approved her demands in 1964.

She is presently the head of law and human rights commission of the National Council of Women’s Organization’s (NCWO) alongside being a trustee of YWCA Vocational Training Opportunity Centre.

3.Perin Captain

She was an Indian freedom activist, social worker. Perin Ben returned to India in 1911 and met Mahatma Gandhi and decided to work with him and in 1920, she took to the Swadeshi movement and started wearing Khadi. In 1921, she served in setting up a women’s movement based on Gandhian ideals, the Rashtriya Street Sabha. She worked hard in provoking many women to rise against British rule. She did not stop working for India’s freedom and became the first woman president of the Bombay Provincial Congress Committee. She contributed her part in the Civil disobedience movement initiated by Mahatma Gandhi. She died in the year 1958.

4.Kamaladevi Chattopadhyay

She was born in Mangalore. As a child she was surrounded by political luminaries who triggered political consciousness in her. When she first heard about the Non-cooperation movement, she enrolled in the INC. Her dedication soon made her the first woman to run a political office in India. She pressed for a Uniform Civil Code to promote gender justice and increase the quality of women’s education. Her efforts gave rise to the Lady Irwin College in New Delhi. She fought beside Gandhi during the Salt Satyagraha and drew in hundreds of women volunteers. After independence she founded Indian Cooperative union to help rehabilitate refugees. She also revived indigenous art and craft tradition and set up National Institutions to protect them. She is a recipient of Padma Bhushan and Padma Vibushan for her service.

5.Accamma Cherian

Jhansi Rani of Travancore. She had no sword nor crown, but was still a Rani to the core. She was a legend who made the British listen. Born in God’s Own Country, she had a tremendous vision. As a student she chased her ambition. Studied really hard to become  a teacher.. Later she quit her job and joined congress as she thought that her people were powerless. She wanted democracy. They banned Congress and arrested all the leaders without any warrant. Accamma Cherian initiated a huge rally from Thampanoor to the Kowdiar Palace of the Maharaja Chithira Thirunal Balarama Varma to cancel the ban on the State Congress. The British police commanded his men to fire on the rally of over 20,000 people . Accamma Cherian cried, “I am the leader; shoot me first before you kill others”. Her bravery forced the police authorities to withdraw their orders. Accamma Cherian died on 5 May 1982

6.Ruby Daniel

She became the first Malayali woman in the Indian Navy and the first Cochin Jewish woman to publish a book. Ruby Daniel translated into English over 120 Judeo-Malayalam women’s songs between the years of 1982–1999. Her translation efforts led the way for an ongoing international project to translate and analyze the songs within the Cochin Jewish community. Ruby Daniel commissioned in the military and served in the Armed Forces of India. She was remarked not only as being one of the few women in the Indian army at the time but also as the first Jewish Indian woman and the first keralite to do so in modern Indian history.

7.Kalpana Datta

A name to be remarked in the freedom struggle is of Kalpana Datta. She was born in 1913. In 1929 she joined Bethan College. Soon she joined Chatri Sangha, a women’s students association where Bina Das and Pritilata Waddedar were also active members. She was a member of the armed independence movement led by Surya Sen, which carried out the Chittagong army raid in 1930. In September, 1931 Surya Sen entrusted her along with Pritilata Waddedar to attack the European Club in Chittagong. But she was arrested one week prior to that. When she was in jail, she heard the news of Pritlala wadedars’s death. She was soon released. In May, she got arrested again, and in the Chittagong Army raid, she was sentenced to life. However she was released in 1939. In 1940, she joined the Communist Party of India and kept fighting the British. She got married to fellow Communist leader Joshi. After independence she migrated to India and retired from politics. She passed away in 1995.

8.Amrit Kaur

A lady who was named in ‘The Woman of the year’ 1947, by the Times magazine. She was born in Lucknow in 1889. She attached herself to Indian National Congress. She was inspired by Mahatma Gandhi’s teaching and she settled in his ashram. Kaur worked as secretary for Gandhiji and actively participated in the Indian Independence Movement. She set up the all-India women conference in 1927 and fought against child marriage and sati. Kaur joined the Quit India movement. The British Government arrested her several times but couldn’t break her. She represented India in UNESCO in 1946. Kaur was the only woman in the constitution committee. After independence she became the first woman cabinet minister of India. in 1950she was elected as the president of the World Health Assembly and became the first woman in the nation to hold the post. She was responsible for many health care benefits in India. From 1957 to 1964 she was the Rajya Sabha MP. She died on 6 February 1964.

9.Sucheta Kripalani

In 1963, Sucheta Kripalani became the Chief Minister of UP. She was born in 1908. She headed the State Congress Government till 1967. While other prominent leaders were jailed Kripalani was among several women to lead the Quit India movement. The Ambala-born leader gave Congress its women’s wing in 1940. She was one of the first 15 women in the constituent assembly. She sang ‘Vande Mataram’, ‘Sare Jahan Se Acha and the National anthem. Her husband was a political and freedom fighter. She died in 1974.

10.Bela Mitra

She was a Bengali revolutionary who was in the Jhansi Rani Regiment. She was the Women’s Regiment of the Indian National Army, and a social worker. Mitra joined in Indian National Army and worked in the Jhansi Rani Brigade.  From January to October in 1944 she provided shelters to the revolutionaries who came from outside India, operated the transmitter of Azad Hind Radio and sent information to Singapore from Kolkata. In 1947 she formed a social organization, Jhansi Rani Relief Team. In 1950 she initiated her work in Abhaynagar near Dankuni for the development of refugees from East Pakistan. Bela died in 1952.

11.Lakshmi Sahgal

Captain Lakshmi Sahgal commanded the women’s wing of the Indian National Army. Born as Lakshmi Swaminathan. She was instrumental in the formation of the all-Indian female battalion. She had approached Netaji for the same board, impressed by her bravery after she fought the British Army in the jungles of Burma. The INA marched to Burma with the Japanese army in December 1944. But by March 1945 the tide was turning against them. The INA leadership decided to beat a retreat before they could enter in power. Captain Lakshmi was arrested by the British Army in May 1945 and she had to remain as a war prisoner in Burma until March 1946 after she was first sent to India. In 1998 she was awarded the Padma Vibhushan by the Indian President.

12.Saraswathi Rajamani

Rajamani was born in 1927 to a rich Indian family settled in Burma. Rajamani grew up to be a deeply patriotic girl. Her spirit to fight against the British rule came to the attention of Subash Chandra Bose when she donated her jewelry to the INA and refused to take it back. Impressed with her Netaji named her Saraswathi. At 16, she became the youngest spy in INA’s intelligence wing and masqueraded as a boy for almost two years to gather intelligence on British Movement. After the INA disbanded in August 1945 Saraswathi moved to Chennai. She passed away on January 13, 2018. It is essential that we recognize, respect and honor the exceptional bravery of such women in this International women’s day.  

(When we picturize the freedom fighters we usually end up thinking of Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru, Netaji or Bhagath Singh. History course books are replete with stories of brave men who dedicated their lives to the Indian struggle for freedom against British Regime, but only a few women out of the countless, make the cut.

Here is the homage of some of those extraordinary women. As a part of this International Women’s Day, it is our duty to remember the sacrifice that these great souls have done for our equal rights. In this article we have sorted about some luminaries like Janaky Athi Nahappan, Rasammah Bhupalan, Perin Captain, Kamaladevi Chattopadhyay, Accamma Cherian, Ruby Daniel, Kalpana Datta, Amrit Kaur, Sucheta Kripalani, Bela Mitra, Lakshmi Sahgal, Saraswathi Rajamani)