WOMEN STRUGGLES IN INDIAN HISTORY

WOMEN STRUGGLES IN INDIAN HISTORY 

An Unpublished Article of Anuradha Ghandy 

Aruna Asaf Ali became a leader of the Underground movement in 1942 and was forced to remain in hiding until 1946. In 1941, she courted arrest by offering individual satyagraha and was sent to prison but she was soon released. Within hours of the AICC Quit India resolution top ranking leaders were arrested. She decided she would not again tamely enter jail by offering satyagraha. During her 3 and a half years in hiding, Aruna was constantly in motion, urging people to 'liberate' the land from foreign rule. Aruna and her associates sabotaged the war effort. Aruna claimed she advocated planned dislocation of the war effort but not wanton destruction. Even when the working committee condemned the violence in 1945, Aruna wrote that she would not repent for their actions because they acted with noble intentions.