Kamla Pant

Kamla Pant, born (18 December 1956), Chamoli (Uttarakhand), is a feminist, politician and women's rights activist.[1] She is also known for her work in the Uttarakhand movement, which resulted in Uttarkhand becoming a separate Indian state in 2000.

Kamla Pant
Pant in 2015
NationalityIndian

Early life

Born to a working-class family, Pant started taking part in various student movements while she was in school. Her social activism started when she came in contact with activists involved in the Chipko movement.[2] She has a postgraduate in Arts and also holds a law degree from Kumaon University. In the 80s she practiced as lawyer in Kumaon, being only one of few female lawyers in the region.

, Shamsher Singh Bisht and others she were core leaders of Uttarakhand Shangarsh Vahini which was involved with the Chipko movement.[3] The background to Pant’s social activism and agitation politics took new heights during 1984 when as a leader of Uttarakhand Shangarsh Vahini she led the famous Nasha Nahi Rojgar Do movement in Kumaon, during which she agitated and fasted for 11 days only to break it when erstwhile UP government ordered a complete ban of liquor in rural area of Kumaon. She worked for tenant farmers' rights in Tarai region of Kumaon. She also worked for women rights, such as focusing attention on female trafficking.

In 1990 Pant, Uma Bhatt, Sheela Rajwar and Basanti Pathak co founded the region’s first magazine focusing on women and social issues, Uttara, which means "of the north."[4] Uttara, which celebrated 25 years of publication in 2015, has helped to give a voice to many women living in Uttarakhand, presenting women as "an equal gender that needs respect over support."[4] After that in 1992, the Pragatisheel Mahila Manch was formed with other women in Dehradun region. The manch was instrumental in converting the anti-reservation into a separate statehood movement.

In 1994, after the infamous Muzzafarnagar Kand, Pant led from the front and united women from all the regions of the area to come together to form even a larger organization demanding separate statehood called Uttarakhand Mahila Manch (UMM). The organization was not only front runner and flag-bearer for agitation towards separate statehood but also one of the few all women agitation force anywhere in the world. UMM, under her leadership demanded that Gairsain (a small hill township in centre of two major regions of the state namely Kumaon and Garhwal) be designated as the state's capital, which was a long oppressed demand of state's citizens.[5][6]

Even today after achieving full statehood, UMM fights for female rights, basic human rights of poor residents of the state, liquor prohibition, anti-female trafficking, educational reforms in government run school, empowerment of gram sabhas and issues of jal, jungle and jameen. Currently along with leading UMM, she is actively leading from the front as the convener of Swaraj Abhiyan in Uttarakhand along with many of her female and male comrades. Pant has spoken out for older women in her state, noting that in 2014, chief minister, Harish Rawat, has finally decided to pursue a food security program to help the elderly.[1] "A sizable number of women above 60 years have been badly neglected on the welfare front by previous governments," she said.[1]

Pant, along with others, protested the gang-rape of a young New Delhi woman in 2012.[7]

In 2015, she was against the appointment of a transgender person as vice-chairperson of the Uttarakhand State Women's Commission because she did not feel that a transgender woman could "understand and empathise with the problems of women."[8]

She has also recently been calling for fair education fees for schools, especially private schools which have been charging school fee hikes.[9] She has helped organize protests and "initiated the movement" to raise awareness of the issue surround private schools in Uttarakhand.[10]

References
  1. Rawat, Harish (11 September 2014). "U'khand to Launch Food Security Scheme for Elderly Women". The Times of India. Retrieved 20 August 2015.
  2. Agrawal, Rakesh (August 2015). "Hill State's Dam Dilemma". Civil Society Online. Archived from the original on 22 November 2015. Retrieved 20 August 2015.
  3. Guha, Ramachandra (30 April 1993). "Personality Clashes Lead to Internal Schisms". Down To Earth. Retrieved 20 August 2015.
  4. Tripathi, Shikha (13 March 2014). "An Equal Gender". The Hindu. Retrieved 20 August 2015.
  5. "Mahila Manch Blames Government for Poor Condition of Schools". The Tribune. 3 March 2015. Retrieved 20 August 2015.
  6. Saxena, Shivani (8 April 2015). "Protesters Unite Against Pvt School 'Loot'". The Times of India. Retrieved 20 August 2015.
  7. "Doonites Want Death for Rape Accused". The Tribune. 30 December 2012. Retrieved 20 August 2015.
  8. Azad, Shivani (29 April 2015). "Appointment of Transgender to U'khand Women's Commission Kicks Up a Storm". The Times of India. Retrieved 20 August 2015.
  9. Saxena, Shivani (10 April 2015). "Complaint Cell Against School Fee Hike Opens". The Times of India. Retrieved 20 August 2015.
  10. Saxena, Shivani (19 April 2015). "Now, 10 More Citizen Groups Join Campaign Against Pvt Schools". The Times of India. Retrieved 20 August 2015.
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