Sangharsh

by Achla Gandhi

Creative Statement

Sangharsh is a pencil-and-paper drawing illustrating the silenced experiences of Indian women during the British Raj.

Background

The British occupation of India began in 1757 through the East India Company. In 1858, the British crown took over direct rule of the subcontinent, marking the start of the British Raj, a period that lasted from 1858 to 1947. The legacy left behind by Britain after nearly two centuries of occupation is contentious. Britain claims to have helped unite, modernize, and educate the country however, the overwhelming impact of British rule was one of poverty, famine, and abuse.

Yet, the weight of colonial abuse did not fall equally on all groups. Due to Britain’s politicization of the female body, Indian women bore the brunt of the injustice. Simultaneously, their unique positioning also made Indian women critical players in India’s freedom struggle. Despite this, the stories of their sangharsh (struggles) remain largely unheard. This piece is my humble attempt to change that.

Britain’s politicization of Indian women began before colonizing India. The British leveraged existing gender divisions in India and socially fabricated myths of sati and child marriage to portray Indian women as oppressed people. This allowed them to justify their presence in India by positioning themselves as saviors (Liddle and Joshi). Upon arrival, Britain struck a balance between ostensibly ‘saving’ Indian women and keeping them in their place. After all, despite being the ‘champions’ of Indian women, Britain itself was still riddled with gender inequality and misogynistic ideologies. A clear example of their hypocrisy is displayed in Britain’s institution of laws during the British Raj. While Britain instituted laws to improve widow rights, the age of consent, and child rights in India, they also introduced the restitution of conjugal rights, which “allowed a person to sue his spouse for refusing to fulfill the sexual obligations of marriage” (Liddle and Joshi, 73). For Britain, women’s rights were nothing more than a tool to maintain power as evidenced by their lack of consistent support of the issue. In turn, by politicizing the Indian women and using them as a tool Britain went back on their claims to further women’s rights and instead, perpetuated their objectification.

The extent to which the Indian women were politicized is evidenced in Britain’s treatment of women in the government. One example of the dismal women faced in government can be seen in 1929 when there was a roundtable conference to discuss Indian demands for complete independence. The All India Women’s Conference proposed a three-woman delegation, but the British government rejected it. “It was obvious that…the full committee tried to avoid representation of three national women’s bodies speaking for half the people of India” (Liddle and Joshi, 75). By keeping women oppressed, Britain was able to argue that India was not yet fit for independence.

This oppression was not limited to political discourse. During the British Raj, Britain systematically forced thousands of Indian women into sex slavery under the guise of "prostitution" for their soldiers. Twelve to fifteen native women would be assigned to a regiment of about a thousand soldiers (Andrew and Bushnell). The “women” (who were often younger than 16) lived in brothels called Chaklas. Britain framed the Chaklas as a means of providing “economic independence to the poor Indian women.” However, in reality, many of the prostitutes had been lured in with promises of good work or taken in by force (Andrew and Bushnell). The 1868 Contagious Disease Act blamed these prostitutes for the spread of venereal disease and authorized regular, invasive genital exams, which were later described as surgical rape.

Amidst these gross injustices, however, Indian women did not remain passive victims. They became active participants in the fight for India’s freedom. “The Indian women’s movement attacked both male supremacy and foreign domination…both act upon the gender division, and are linked in perpetuating women’s oppression” (Liddle and Joshi, 72). Altogether, 1600 women were imprisoned in Delhi while fighting for freedom, many of whom were beaten by police during protests (Liddle and Joshi). The large presence of women in these campaigns “disposed of British stereotypes of Indian women as passive and subjugated, and exposed British contradictions in their approach to and treatment of women” (Liddle and Joshi). Indian women, who were once used as tools to build British colonization, had become the hands that tore it down.

Image Analysis

The keyword “Sangharsh,” Hindi for “struggle,” is an experience. Sangharsh is the life of a girl orphaned at six and then taken as a mistress by an Englishman at eleven, only to be disposed of to a Chakla three years later and forced to live the rest of her life as a prostitute (Andrew and Bushnell). Sangharsh is the feeling of being denied representation again and again by a government that claims to be on your side. Sangharsh is knowing that you will be raped like a woman in every Chakla but beaten like a man in any protest. Sangharsh is the thread woven into all the gaps left by the stories untold, silenced, and erased. It is hard to grasp in words, for it is a living breathing thing. In my drawing, I attempt to shed light on this keyword by illustrating the emotions and experiences that Sangharsh carries.

The central image of my piece is an angel carrying a woman she has stabbed. The knife is bloody and protruding from the woman as the angel holds her and stares at the wound. From afar, it would seem as though the angel is here to save the helpless woman in her arms, but upon closer inspection, it becomes clear that the angel is, in fact, the one killing her.

My goal was to illustrate the tragic hypocrisy in Great Britain’s white savior narrative. The angel, wearing a crown, represents Great Britain, and the dead woman represents the innocent women harmed by British rule. The woman lies with her head back and her mouth and eyes closed to represent how the women most affected by Britain's injustices were those whose lives were unseen and unheard of by the affluent and influential. Their stories were burned away with their scarred and violated bodies. Moreover, the woman’s bare feet and the ragged end of her sari emphasize how the injustices targeted the impoverished. The juxtaposition of the angel’s expression and her actions reflects the irony of the English taking pity on Indian women oppressed by systems created and perpetuated by the British.

To the right of the main image is a drawing of hands bound by string. This image is a homage to the children forced into prostitution. The bound hands represent how these children were made into slaves by the British, tied to a system they could not be freed from.

To the left is a woman on a mountain waving an Indian flag. This image was drawn to represent the influence of Indian women in the independence movement. The woman's stance and her gaze, looking straight at the viewer, both display the power and resolution with which Indian women fought to regain their nation’s independence and, by extension, their own freedom from the British.

Conclusion

The keyword "Sangharsh" encapsulates the profound struggle of Indian women under British colonial rule, a struggle that was both personal and collective. It speaks to the brutal realities of exploitation, oppression, and silencing that these women endured, while also reflecting the resilience they displayed in the face of such adversity. Through my drawing, I hoped to communicate the nuance of the word. Sangharsh is not just a struggle for freedom, but a call for the recognition of the voices that have long been silenced, and the stories that demand to be heard.

Works Cited

Andrew, Elizabeth (Wheeler), and Katharine C. Bushnell. The Queen’s Daughters in India: By Elizabeth W. Andrew and Katharine C. Bushnell. Morgan and Scott, 12, Paternoster Buildings, E.C. To Be Obtained from the British Committee of the Federation for the Abolition of State Regulation of Vice, 17, Tothill Street, Westminster, S.W, 1898.

Bhattar, Nalini. “Women in Colonised and Partitioned India: Resistance in Everyday Life.” Feminism in India, 7 Mar. 2022, feminisminindia.com/2022/03/08/women-in-colonised-and-partitioned-india-resistance-in-everyday-life/#google_vignette.

Chaturvedi, N. (2023). Once upon a time, there was a freedom fighter called Amma: Mothers and grandmothers of Rajputana and the Indian freedom movement. Women’s Studies International Forum, 95, Article 102613. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.wsif.2023.102613

Liddle, Joanna, and Rama Joshi. “Gender and Imperialism in British India.” Economic and Political Weekly, vol. 20, no. 43, 1985, pp. WS72–78. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/4374973. Accessed 8 Nov. 2024.

Osuri, Goldie. “Imperialism, colonialism and sovereignty in the (post)Colony: India and Kashmir.” Third World Quarterly, vol. 38, no. 11, 31 July 2017, pp. 2428–2443, https://doi.org/10.1080/01436597.2017.1354695.

Sen, Amartya. “Amartya Sen: What British Rule Really Did for India.” The Guardian, Guardian News and Media, 29 June 2021, www.theguardian.com/world/2021/jun/29/british-empire-india-amartya-sen.

Shome, Parthasarathi. “Racism, Colonialism and Slavery as International Practices.” The Creation of Poverty and Inequality in India: Exclusion, Isolation, Domination and Extraction. Bristol University Press, 2023. 99–137. Print.

Sullivan, Dylan, and Jason Hickel. “How British Colonialism Killed 100 Million Indians in 40 Years.” Al Jazeera, Al Jazeera, 2 Dec. 2022, www.aljazeera.com/opinions/2022/12/2/how-british-colonial-policy-killed-100-million-indians.