Tens of thousands have sacrificed their lives to build up this great nation, India. The names of those prominent leaders and their roles are well known to everyone. However, there are thousand others who have a played a vital role and yet were pushed into the oblivion.
Through a series of articles, we attempt to bring forth those forgotten names. Names of those who labored zealously to attain independence, stood up against the colonial rule, raised their voice for the downtrodden and those who did not stop at independence but worked all the more to build the INDIA that we so proudly titled in the Preamble as a “Sovereign, Democratic and Republic” country.
Our first in this series is Rajkumari Amrit Kaur, a name that does not come up often enough. She was a champion of women's rights, one of the 15-woman Constituent Assembly Members in the Constituent Assembly and the first woman Cabinet Minister of free India.
A Princess turned freedom fighter
Rajkumari Amrit Kaur, from Lucknow, was born to the princely family of Kapurthala. Her father, Raja Harnam Singh, had converted to Christianity (Protestant) after meeting a Bengali missionary named Golakhnath Chatterjee in Jalandhar. Singh went on to marry his daughter, Priscilla. Kaur, the youngest among their children and the only girl child, was born on February 2, 1889.
Amrit Kaur along with her parents and brothers. (Family collection of Amrit Kaur, Image Courtesy:Indian Express)
Kaur, was brought up as a Protestant Christian. After spending her early years in India, she was sent off to England for further education. She completed her schooling from the Sherborne School for Girls, in Dorset (England), and then went on to study at Oxford University. Thereupon, she returned to India in 1908 at the age of 20 and embarked on a life of nationalism and social reform.
Raja Harnam Singh, her father, was a very pious and pure hearted person. He was frequently visited by prominent leaders of the Indian National Congress party like Gopal Krishna Gokhale. Amritkaur started developing interest in the freedom struggle and also became more aware about the activities that are undertaken by the freedom fighters.
The ruthless killings that took place in the Jallianwala Bagh Massacre of 1919, lured a young Kaur to join the freedom struggle.
Kaur, the Gandhian
Image Courtesy : Bridemanimages
Mahatma Gandhi had a huge influence on her. Despite her parents’ protests, she wrote to him in 1918 expressing her interest to serve the nation.
Gandhiji insisted that her actions must not be in contravention to her parents’ wishes. It was only in 1930 after the death of her father, Kaur began serving as Gandhi’s Secretary; a post she fulfilled for 16 years.
In a piece titled ‘Gandhi and Women’, she argued ‘Gandhiji was uncompromising in the matter of woman's rights’.
By 1930, as she joined the Gandhian movement, she was imprisoned for her participation in the Dandi march. She gave up all her princely comforts to join Gandhi at his ashram in Sabarmati.
Member of first Nehru Ministry
In her battle for a free India, she became one of the few women members of the Constituent assembly. Elected to the Constituent Assembly from Central Provinces & Berar, Kaur was a member of two crucial committees: Sub-Committee on Fundamental Rights and Sub-Committee on Minority Rights.
First Nehru Ministry (Image courtesy:Wikipedia)
In the Sub-Committee stages, she advocated for Uniform Civil Code and marriage equality of women. She noted that Uniform Civil Code would protect women against the inequalities in personal law. Kaur along with Hansa Jivraj Mehta wrote to Sardar Patel (head of the Advisory Committee) arguing in favour of making Uniform Civil Code a justifiable right and placing it under the fundamental rights.
Kaur became independent India’s first woman cabinet minister and was the Union Health Minister. The creation of a major central institute for post-graduate medical education and research had been recommended by the Health survey of the government of India, a decade ago in 1946. Though the idea was highly appreciated, money was a concern. Kaur worked determinedly for 10 years to collect adequate funds and lay the foundation of India’s number one medical institute and hospital, The All-India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS).
Foundation of AIIMS
On February 8, 1956, Rajkumari Amrit Kaur, introduced a new bill in the Lok Sabha. She spoke from her heart. “It has been one of my cherished dreams that for post graduate study and for the maintenance of high standards of medical education in our country, we should have an institute of this nature which would enable our young men and women to have their post graduate education in their own country,”.
Kaur’s speech in the Lok Sabha sparked a vigorous debate in the house over the nature of the institute. But the bill moved fast, gaining the approval of members of both the houses, and by May that year, the motion was adopted.
The All-India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) was thus born on February 1956. “I want this to be something wonderful, of which India can be proud, and I want India to be proud of it,” said Kaur, as the bill was passed in the Rajya Sabha.
As an institute of healthcare and medical research, AIIMS had to have some unique features. To begin with, it was the first of its kind in Asia to prohibit doctors from private practice of any kind. Secondly, the doctors at AIIMS were to devote their time not only to treating patients and teaching, but also to carry out research. As health minister, Kaur was the pivotal force in ensuring the unique status enjoyed by AIIMS.
It was Kaur’s efforts, that led to entrance examinations being conducted for admission at AIIMS from 1956 inorder to provide equal opportunities to students from any part of the country.
Queen Elizabeth planting a tree at the AIIMS campus in 1961 (Family collection of Amrit Kaur, Image Courtesy:Indian Express)
By 1961 itself, AIIMS had attained global repute as it was placed alongside the best of institutes from America, Canada and Europe.
Kaur, the social reformer
Kaur was a co-founder of All India Women’s Conference in 1927 and Indian Council of Child Welfare in 1952. She worked towards eradication of the purdah system, child marriage, child illiteracy, and the devadasi system.
Noting her achievements and contributions, Kaur was listed by TIME magazine as the woman of the year 1947.
Apart from passionately laying the foundation of AIIMS, she also founded the Indian Council of Child Welfare and became its first president. She was president of the Indian Leprosy Association, the Tuberculosis Association, vice-president of the International Red Cross Society and the chairperson of St. John's Ambulance Corps. She led the Indian delegation to the World Health Organisation (WHO) for four years and was president of the WHO assembly in 1950.
This great soul departed for heaven on the 2nd of October in the year 1964. Until she passed away at the age of 75, she was a practicing Protestant Christian. The Roman Catholic Archbishop of New Delhi officiated the funeral service that took place at her home.
Rajkumari Amrit Kaur left the legacy of a Princess and gave everything she had towards making the lives of those around her, better. She didn't just fight for the nation's freedom but did her part in uplifting women and saving children from life-threatening diseases.