Commemorative politics and narrative intervention: Rewriting gendered history of women in the Indian independence struggle through Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav

Indian Independence Movement is a heroic tale of ordinary men, women and children who fought an extra-ordinary battle against a mighty colonial power. This paper attempts to highlight the need to shift the focus on the freedom fighters on the margins, particularly, the unsung women heroes in order to develop an Indian Feminist discourse on freedom struggle. It seeks to re-define political activism by incorporating the informal engagement of women with the independence movement as well. There are many elite women whose contribution has been archived very well. But there are numerous others whose role has hardly been documented. For instance, there is no dearth of scholarship on the sacrifice of life by Ram Prasad Bismil, but there is a very little focus on his mother, Moolmati, who not only supported her son’s revolutionary ideas but also gave up her son and her domestic bliss for the nation. This paper explores the concept of women's participation, especially of the forgotten ones like Rani Abbakka, Snehlata Verma and Tileswari Baruah, one of the India’s youngest martyrs who was shot at an age of twelve years old while she tried to unfurl the Tricolour in Quit India Movement and many more, to develop a comprehensive Indian feminist viewpoint of Independence Movement.