Hansa Jivraj Mehta

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Hansa Jivraj Mehta
Baroda state
Died4 April 1995(1995-04-04) (aged 97)
NationalityIndian
SpouseJivraj Narayan Mehta
Parent
(father)

Hansa Jivraj Mehta (Jain)(3 July 1897 – 4 April 1995)[1] was a reformist, social activist, educator, independence activist, feminist and writer from India.[2][3] She was one of only two women delegates working alongside Eleanor Roosevelt in the UN Human Rights Commission 1946-48 ensuring the wording "all human beings" instead of "all men" in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.[4]

Early life

Hansa Mehta was born in a Jain family on 3 July 1897. She was a daughter of Manubhai Mehta, Dewan of Baroda State, and the granddaughter of Nandshankar Mehta, the author of the first Gujarati novel Karan Ghelo.[1][5]

She graduated with Philosophy in 1918. She studied journalism and sociology in England. In 1918, she met Sarojini Naidu and later Mahatma Gandhi in 1922.[5][6]

She was married to

Chief Minister of Gujarat
.

She was expelled from the Nagar Brahmin caste for her marriage to Jivraj Mehta.[7]

Career

Politics, education and activism

Hansa Mehta organized the picketing of shops selling foreign clothes and liquor, and participated in other freedom movement activities in line with the advice of Mahatma Gandhi. Later She established Desh Sevika Dal in 1930. She was even arrested and sent to jail by the British along with her husband in 1932. she was elected to Bombay Legislative Council.[2]

After independence, she was among the 15 women who were part of the

Indian Constitution.[8] She was a member of the Advisory Committee and Sub Committee on Fundamental Rights.[9] She advocated for equality and justice for women in India.[10][5][11]

Hansa was elected to Bombay Schools Committee in 1926 and became president of All India Women's Conference in 1945–46. In her presidential address at the All India Women's Conference convention held in Hyderabad, she proposed a Charter of Women's Rights. She held different posts in India from 1945 to 1960 - the vice-chancellor of SNDT Women's University, member of All India Secondary Board of Education, president of Inter University Board of India and vice-chancellor of Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda,[6] among others.

Hansa represented India on the Nuclear Sub-Committee on the status of women in 1946. As the Indian delegate on the

Human Rights Commission of the United Nations in 1950. She was also a member of the executive board of UNESCO.[3][14]

Literary career

She wrote several children's books in

Shakespeare. Her essays were collected and published as Ketlak Lekho (1978).[2][6]

Bibliography

In Gujarati, Hindi and Tamil

In English

Translation

into English

Awards

Hansa Mehta was awarded the Padma Bhushan in 1959.[15]

See also

References

  1. ^
    OCLC 248968453
    .
  2. ^
    ISBN 9780199923922
    .
  3. ^
    ISBN 9788180693366
    .
  4. ISBN 9780429437939
    .
  5. ^ a b c "Hansa Jivraj Mehta: Freedom fighter, reformer; India has a lot to thank her for". The Indian Express. 22 January 2018. Retrieved 23 August 2018.
  6. ^
    OCLC 70200087
    .
  7. ^ Adami, Rebecca (2018). Women and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Taylor & Francis.
  8. ^ Ravichandran, Priyadarshini (13 March 2016). "The women who helped draft our constitution". Mint. Retrieved 6 November 2017.
  9. ^ "CADIndia". cadindia.clpr.org.in. Archived from the original on 31 March 2019. Retrieved 16 January 2018.
  10. ^ "CADIndia". cadindia.clpr.org.in. Archived from the original on 25 April 2019. Retrieved 16 January 2018.
  11. ^ RAJU, M. P. (27 April 2016). "Denial of rights". Frontline. Retrieved 14 December 2019.
  12. ^ Jain, Devaki (2005). Women, Development and the UN. Bloomington: Indiana University Press. p. 20.
  13. ^ www.un.int https://web.archive.org/web/20140112084212/http://www.un.int/india/india%20%26%20un/humanrights.pdf. Archived from the original (PDF) on 12 January 2014. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  14. ISBN 9788185229041
    .
  15. ^ "Hansa Jivraj Mehta". Praful Thakkar's Thematic Gallery of Indian Autographs. Retrieved 19 June 2016.
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