The Women's suffrage movement in India fought for Indian women's enfranchisement in Colonial India under British rule. Beyond suffrage, the movement was fighting for women's right to stand for and hold office during the colonial era. In 1918, when Britain granted limited suffrage to women property holders, the law did not apply to British citizens in other parts of the Empire. Despite petitions presented by women and men to the British commissions sent to evaluate Indian voting regulations, women's demands were ignored in the Montagu–Chelmsford Reforms. In 1919, impassioned pleas and reports indicating support for women to have the vote were presented by suffragists to the India Office and before the Joint Select Committee of the House of Lords and Commons, who were meeting to finalize the electoral regulation reforms of the Southborough Franchise Committee. Though they were not granted voting rights, nor the right to stand in elections, the Government of India Act 1919 allowed Provincial Councils to determine if women could vote, provided they met stringent property, income, or educational levels.
Between 1919 and 1929, all of the British Provinces, as well as most of the Princely states granted women the right to vote and in some cases, allowed them to stand in local elections. The first win was in the City of Madras in 1919, followed by the Kingdom of Travancore and the Jhalawar State in 1920, and in the British Provinces, the Madras Presidency and Bombay Presidency in 1921. The Rajkot State granted full universal suffrage in 1923 and in that year elected the first two women to serve on a Legislative Council in India. In 1924, the Muddiman Committee conducted a further study and recommended that the British Parliament allow women to stand in elections, which generated a reform on voting rights in 1926. In 1927, the Simon Commission was appointed to develop a new India Act. Because the commission contained no Indians, nationalists recommended boycotting their sessions. This created fractures among women's groups, who aligned on one side in favour of universal suffrage and on the other in favour of maintaining limited suffrage based on educational and economic criteria.
The Commission recommended holding Round Table Conferences to discuss extending the franchise. With limited input from women, the report from the three Round Tables was sent to the Joint Committee of the British Parliament recommending lowering the voting age to 21, but retaining property and literacy restrictions, as well as basing women's eligibility on their marital status. It also provided special quotas for women and ethnic groups in provincial legislatures. These provisions were incorporated into the Government of India Act 1935. Though it extended electoral eligibility, the Act still allowed only 2.5% of the women in India to vote. All further action to expand suffrage was tied to the nationalist movement, which considered independence a higher priority than women's issues. In 1946, when the Constituent Assembly of India was elected, 15 seats went to women. They helped draft the new constitution and in April 1947 the Assembly agreed to the principle of universal suffrage. Provisions for elections were adopted in July, India gained its independence from Britain in August, and voting rolls began being prepared in early 1948. The final provisions for franchise and elections were incorporated into the draft constitution in June 1949 and became effective on 26 January 1950, the enforcement date of the Constitution of India.
Background
In the 1890s nationalism arose in India with the founding of the Indian National Congress. The advent of World War I and the use in propaganda rhetoric of terms like 'self-determination' gave rise for hope among middle-class Indians that change was imminent. For English-educated elites, who had predominantly become urbanised and depended on professional income, British rule was beneficial, but they also recognised that restrictions on their wives impacted their own careers. The practice of secluding women meant that they were unable to educate children or serve as hostesses or helpmeets to further their husbands' advancement.
Indian women, who had begun participating in reform activities since the 19th century, also saw the potential for change. They escalated their efforts into demands for political rights and specifically for suffrage. Entwined with Indian nationalists, Indian feminists sought support from British suffragists as well as their own autonomy, which prevented the development of a unified identity or set of demands from women. Austen Chamberlain, the Secretary of State for India was against loosening the power of Britain in India and accused those who backed even moderate proposals for consultation of Indian princes as "meddlers" in the affairs of the British Raj. When he was ousted in 1917, his replacement, Edwin Montagu, gained approval to organise with Lord Chelmsford, Viceroy of India, a consultation for a limited political devolution of British power.
Beginning of the movement (1917–1919)
In 1917, Margaret Cousins founded the Women's Indian Association in Adyar, Madras, to create a vehicle for women to influence government policy. The organisation focused on equal rights, educational opportunity, social reform, and women's suffrage. Founding members included S. Ambujammal, Annie Besant, Kamaladevi Chattopadhyay, Mary Poonen Lukose, Begam Hasrat Mohani, Saralabai Naik, Dhanvanthi Rama Rau, Muthulakshmi Reddy, Mangalammal Sadasivier, and Herabai Tata. Besant was named president and Tata, general secretary. Wanting to secure an audience with Montagu, Cousins sent an application requesting discussion of educational and social reforms for women. When it was rejected on the grounds that the commission's research was limited to political topics, she revised her application, focusing on the presentation of political demands of women.
When it was approved, on 15 December 1917, Sarojini Naidu led a deputation of 14 leading women from throughout India to present the demand to include women's suffrage in the new Franchise Bill under development by the Government of India. Besides Naidu and Cousins, members of the delegation included Besant, Parvati Ammal, Mrs. Guruswamy Chetty, Nalinibai Dalvi, Dorothy Jinarajadasa, Dr. Nagutai Joshi (later known as Rani Lakshmibai Rajwade, Srimati Kamalabai Kibe, Mrs. Z. Lazarus, Mohani, Srimati S. Naik, Srimati Srirangamma, and Tata. In addition to the women physically present, telegrams of support were sent to Montagu by Francesca Arundale, Abala Bose, Sarala Devi Chaudhurani, Mrs. Mazur-al-Haque, Uma Nehru, Mrs. R. V. Nilakanta, Miss H. Petit, Ramabai Ranade, and Shrimati Padmabai Sanjiva Rao.
The British Parliament passed the Representation of the People Act 1918, enfranchising women over the age of 30, who were entitled to be, or who were married to someone entitled to be, a local government elector. The law did not apply to British citizens in other parts of the British Empire. When the Montagu–Chelmsford Reforms were introduced in 1918 no recommendation was made for Indian women's enfranchisement. Suffragists were active in drawing up petitions and published updates about the struggle in Stri Dharma, urging support for women's political empowerment as a part of the anti-colonial movement against Britain. Stri Dharma was edited by Reddy and Srimati Malati Patwardhan and aimed to develop both local and international support for women's equality. Widely attended protest meetings were held throughout the country, organised by the Women's Indian Association. In 1918, the provincial legislatures in Bombay and Madras passed resolutions supporting the elimination the sex disqualification for voting, and women gained the endorsement for suffrage from the Indian Home Rule League and the All-India Muslim League. When the Indian National Congress convened in December, Chaudhurani presented a resolution to the Congress to grant suffrage, which was taken under advisement pending the outcome of consultations with the remaining provincial legislatures. Though a resolution did not pass in 1918 in Bombay, support for suffrage was approved in Calcutta.
The Southborough Franchise Committee was tasked with developing the electoral regulations under the Montagu–Chelmsford Reforms. Though they accepted petitions from throughout India, they spoke only with women in Bengal and Punjab. The Southborough Report published in April 1919 acknowledged that educated women might be qualified, but concluded that overall women were not ready for the vote, nor would conservative sectors of society support their enfranchisement. In July women in Bombay organised a protest meeting and when Lord Southborough sent his report to the Joint Select Committee of the House of Lords and Commons the Bombay Committee on Women's Suffrage sent Tata and her daughter Mithan to give evidence along with Sir Sankaran Nair.
In August 1919, Besant and Naidu presented pleas for enfranchisement to the Joint Select Committee. Besant even used the argument that if Indian women were not given the vote, they might support the anti-colonial movement. The following month, Tata presented the memorandum Why Should Women Have Votes to the India Office. While in England, the Tatas and other suffragists spoke at various public meetings and events of British suffragists, travelling to "Birkenhead, Bolton, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Harrowgate, Liverpool, Manchester and Newcastle" to gain the support of other women. They were very successful in their pleas, causing the India Office to be inundated with resolutions of support for women's suffrage in India. Tata and her daughter participated in a second presentation before the Joint Select Committee on 13 October and were present for the final reading of the Government of India Act in December 1919.
The Act did not grant women suffrage, but included a clause that Indian provinces could enfranchise women if they chose to do so. It limited suffrage, barring most of India's middle class, as it restricted the vote to those who had an annual income of more than ₹10,000–20,000; land revenues in excess of ₹250–500 per annum; or those recognised for their high level of public work or scholarship. Furthermore, it did not allow women to stand in elections. The law empowered the Imperial Legislative Assembly and the Council of State to grant the right to vote in those provinces in which legislative franchise had been approved, but the British Parliament retained the right to determine who could stand as candidates for the Legislative Councils.
Provincial progress (1919–1929) Suffragists recognised that their political aims were tied to those of the Nationalist Movement. By combining their goals, both nationalists and feminists benefited by articulating their common issues, resulting in more supporters to help with resolving their challenges. By linking gender equality with the removal of colonial restrictions, women were able to defuse opposition, but not eliminate it entirely. For example, Mahatma Gandhi encouraged women's participation in socio-economic and political struggles, but he published an article in Young India stating he did not support the campaign for women's suffrage. Members of the 45 branches of the Women's Indian Association began to agitate locally for voting rights, submitting demands to their various councils and the focus shifted from India-wide agitation to the provincial level.