ABSTRACT

The nationalist leaders of India, particularly those in Gandhi’s non-violent programme, provided the opportunity for women to make contributions to the nationalist movement from the public sphere.1 Not only did this participation deny the West’s claims that Indian women and gender relations were backward, it also allowed the nationalist movement to create a form of resistance which was demonstrably superior (to Western movements and violent struggles) in terms of its respect for human life and its reliance on persuasion rather than force.