The Poetry of Sarojini Naidu Sarojini Naidu

Early oratory

Beginning in 1904, Naidu became an increasingly popular orator, promoting Indian independence and women's rights, especially women's education.[2] Her oratory often framed arguments following the five-part rhetorical structures of Nyaya reasoning.[7] She addressed the Indian National Congress and the Indian Social Conference in Calcutta in 1906.[2] Her social work for flood relief earned her the Kaisar-i-Hind Medal in 1911[2], which she later returned in protest over the April 1919 Jallianwala Bagh massacre. She met Muthulakshmi Reddy in 1909, and in 1914 she met Mahatma Gandhi, whom she credited with inspiring a new commitment to political action.[8] She was the second woman President of the Indian National Congress and first Indian woman to preside over the INC conference .

With Reddy, she helped established the Women's Indian Association in 1917.[2][9] Later that year, Naidu accompanied her colleague Annie Besant, who was the president of Home Rule League and Women's Indian Association, to advocate universal suffrage in front of the Joint Select Committee in London, United Kingdom.She also supported the Lucknow Pact, a joint Hindu–Muslim demand for British political reform, at the Madras Special Provincial Council.[2] As a public speaker, Naidu's oratory was known for its personality and its incorporation of her poetry.

Women's movement

Naidu utilized her poetry and oratory skills to promote women’s rights alongside the nationalist movement. In 1902, Naidu entered the world of politics after being urged by Gopal Krishna Gokhale, an important leader of the nationalist movement.[10] In 1906, Naidu spoke to the Social Council of Calcutta in order to advocate for the education of Indian women.[11] In her speech, Naidu stressed that the success of the whole movement relied upon the “woman question”.[12] Naidu claimed that the true “nation-builders” were women, not men, and that without women’s active cooperation, the nationalist movement would be in vain.[12] Naidu’s speech argued that Indian nationalism depended on women’s rights, and that the liberation of India could not be separated from the liberation of women.[13] The women’s movement developed parallel to the independence movement for this reason.[5]

In 1917, Naidu sponsored the establishment of the Women’s Indian Association, which finally provided a platform for women to discuss their complaints and demand their rights.[14] That same year, Naidu served as a spokesperson for a delegation of women that met with Edwin Montagu, the Secretary of State for India, and Lord Chelmsford, the Viceroy of India, in order to discuss reforms.[15] The delegation expressed women’s support for the introduction of self-government in India and demanded that the people of India should be given the right to vote, of which women must be included.[16] The delegation was followed up with public meetings and political conferences supporting the demands, making it a huge success.[17]

In 1918, Naidu moved a resolution on women’s franchise to the Eighteenth Session of the Bombay Provincial Conference and to the special session of Congress held in Bombay.[15] The purpose of the resolution was to have on record that the Conference was in support of the enfranchisement of women in order to demonstrate to Montagu that the men of India were not opposed to women’s rights.[18] In her speech at the Conference, Naidu emphasized “the influence of women in bringing about political and spiritual unity” in ancient India.[19] She argued that women had always played an important role in political life in India and that rather than going against tradition, women’s franchise would simply be giving back what was theirs all along.[20]  

In her speech at the Bombay Special Congress, Naidu claimed that the “right of franchise is a human right and not a monopoly of one sex only.”[21] She demanded the men of India to reflect on their humanity and restore the rights that belonged to women. Throughout the speech, Naidu attempted to alleviate worries by reassuring that women were only asking for the right to vote, not for any special privileges that would interfere with men.[5] In fact, Naidu proposed that women would lay the foundation of nationalism, making women’s franchise a necessity for the nation.[22] Despite the increasing support of women’s suffrage in India, which was backed by the Indian National Congress, the Muslim League, and others, the Southborough Franchise Committee, a British committee, decided against granting franchise to women.[15]

The Montagu-Chelmsford Reforms had a shocking revelation: although the women’s delegation appeared successful at the time, the reforms made no mention of women and had completely ignored their demands.[23] In 1919, Naidu, as representative of the WIA, went to plead for the franchise of women before a Joint-Select Committee of Parliament in London.[15] She presented a memorandum to the committee and provided evidence that the women of India were ready for the right to vote.[24] The resulting Government of India Act of 1919, however, did not enfranchise Indian women, instead leaving the decision to provincial councils.[15] Between 1921 and 1930, the provincial councils approved of women’s franchise but with limitations. The number of women actually eligible to vote was very small.[15]  

In the 1920s, Naidu began to focus more on the nationalist movement as a means of achieving both women’s rights and political independence.[25] Naidu became the first Indian female president of the Indian National Congress in 1925, demonstrating how influential she was as a political voice.[5] By this period, Indian women were starting to get more involved in the movement. Female leaders began to organize nationwide strikes and nonviolent resistance across the country.[25] In 1930, Naidu wrote a pamphlet that would be handed out to women with the goal of bringing them into the political struggle.[25] The pamphlet stated that until recently, women had remained spectators, but now they had to get involved and play an active role.[26] To Naidu, it was women’s duty to help in the fight against Britain.[26] In this way, Naidu asserted women’s role as an agent of political change and effectively linked women to the struggle for independence from British rule.[27]

Nonviolent resistance

Naidu formed close ties with Gandhi, Gopal Krishna Gokhale, Rabindranath Tagore and Sarala Devi Chaudhurani.[2] After 1917, she joined Gandhi's satyagraha movement of nonviolent resistance against British rule.[2] Naidu went to London in 1919 as a part of the All India Home Rule League as a part of her continued efforts to advocate for freedom from the British rule.[6] The next year, she participated in the non-cooperation movement in India.[2]

In 1924, Naidu represented the Indian National Congress at the East African Indian National Congress.[6] In 1925, Naidu was the first Indian female president of the Indian National Congress.[2] In 1927, Naidu was a founding member of the All India Women's Conference.[2] In 1928, she travelled in the United States to promote nonviolent resistance.[6] Naidu also presided over East African and Indian Congress' 1929 session in South Africa.

In 1930, Gandhi initially did not want to permit women to join the Salt March, because it would be physically demanding with a high risk of arrest.[2] Naidu and other female activists, including Kamaladevi Chattopadhyay and Khurshed Naoroji, persuaded him otherwise, and joined the march.[2] When Gandhi was arrested on 6 April 1930, he appointed Naidu as the new leader of the campaign.[7]

The Indian National Congress decided to stay away from the First Round Table Conference that took place in London owing to the arrests. In 1931, however, Naidu and other leaders of the Congress Party participated in the Second Round Table Conference headed by Viceroy Lord Irwin in the wake of the Gandhi-Irwin pact. Naidu was jailed by the British in 1932.[2]

The British jailed Naidu again in 1942 for her participation in the Quit India Movement.[2] She was imprisoned for 21 months.[6]

Governor of United Provinces

Following India's independence from the British rule in 1947, Naidu was appointed the governor of the United Provinces (present-day Uttar Pradesh), making her India's first woman governor. She remained in office until her death in March 1949 (aged 70).[2]