Kamala Nehru College

Smt. Kamala Nehru was a flame that flickered briefly during the raging storm of the freedom movement in India but left the imprints for generations to follow. Her contribution as an individual is not known to everyone. During the freedom struggle, she braved lathi-charges, organised processions, addressed meetings and led picketing of liquor and foreign cloth shops. She had to languish in the prison for days for the cause of India’s independence. Her personality had a major influence on her husband Jawaharlal Nehru and she stood by him in his determination to plunge into the movement started by Mahatma Gandhi so that India could be free from the clutches of the British rule. While her husband was sent to the prison for days and months, Kamala Nehru put all her energies into social work. To begin with, she instituted a hospital in Swaraj Bhawan (Nehru’s family mansion) to treat freedom fighters and others wounded due to severe lathi charges. She persuaded women to come out of their homes and join the freedom struggle movement. Her determination for the empowerment of women pushed her to work for the education of women and encourage them to get rid of the old custom of purdah which was a prevalent practice in Rajasthan and other parts of North India at that time. She represented the modern woman with a free will at a time when women were not allowed in public places.