Leela Roy: When A Woman Entered The World Of Politics

Did you know that Mahatma Gandhi shared his birthday with not only Lal Bahadur Shastri but also another incredible personality? This person was not only patriotic but also a rule-breaker who broke the stringent societal norms set for women and went on a road that is often not taken. Meet Leela Roy, a woman who challenged the idea that females were confined to spinning and weaving khadi clothes and picketing foreign shops. Coming out of her shell, she went ahead to become a member of the Constituent Assembly.

Leela Roy: The tigress of Bengal; Image Source: YouTube- Scroll

On the 2nd of October, 1900, India met an awe-inspiring woman from the lap of Assam. Leela Roy was born into an upper-middle-class Kayastha family with all the privileges, sitting right next to her. Being a Kayastha, she was meant to write on the desk and serve the people in power.

However, her destiny had something else in store for her. Growing up in the Sylhet region of Bengal, which is now a part of Bangladesh, she learned a lot from this state. Often monikered as one of the most important centers of the political and nationalist movement, Bengal gave Leela Roy all the ups and downs of her life. Getting past these highs and lows of life, Roy managed to carve out an identity for herself that would later allow her to participate in the contemporary freedom struggle.

Her family was far from the traditions that the Kayastha families usually followed during those times. Leela's father, Girischandra Nag, was a tutor to Subhash Chandra Bose. Due to this, Leela, too, had a close association with Subhash. She knew of the impositions that were usually put on women by society. But she wasn't the one to be restricted by such petty rules and regulations. She claimed her right to education and obtained her BA in English from Bethune College in Calcutta. Not only did she receive the degree, but she was also awarded the Padmabati Gold Medal for her excellent academic performance. Little did she know that life was going to get tougher. When she went ahead to obtain her MA degree from the University of Dhaka, three other women were denied admission because of their gender.

But Leela wasn't the one to sit back and listen. As they say, "Well-behaved women seldom make history." Roy chose to become the disobedient one and fight for her rights as well as others. Though the college was co-ed, they had to undergo a long fight for the seats that they deserved to be handed over without any arguments in the first place because of their excellent grades. After obtaining her degree, she had some plans that did not involve cooking and cleaning the house or becoming a professor of English at some university. Don't be surprised! After all, we are talking about Leela, a flaming woman who dared to defy the norms. After realizing how much struggle women had to endure to get an education, Roy became an advocate for women's education.

She was someone who believed that women should have equal access to economic freedom as men. She took the first step of establishing an all-women association named Dipali Sangha in December 1923. This association was run by women who spread social and political awareness to others, encouraged them to claim the right to education and imparted leadership skills that would make other females confident enough to go to the battlefield dominated by men. Later, Roy also founded Dipali School, twelve other primary schools and the members of Dipali Sangha. She did not discriminate between Hindu and Muslim. Alongside building educational institutes for Hindu women, she also set up a school for Muslim women called Qamrunnessa Girls' School in Dhaka.

Leela organized a Dipali Exhibition program that would impart women vocational training. Her motive behind organizing this program was to banish the societal barriers between genders. While women were expected to take up feminine roles, men were expected to take up masculine roles. This was far from acceptable for Leela. She wanted to create a generation of women who would not sit back and listen to whatever society teaches them or expects from them. Instead, they would come out of their shells, participate in the politics of the community and make decisions. They won't help society by becoming subservient activists, but they will fight for their rights fiercely. The Dipali Sangha was brought into action solely for this purpose.

With time, Leela's motives became more robust and firmer. She became a member of a revolutionary group called Shree Sangha, founded by Anil Roy. Little did Roy know that later on, she and Anil would marry. Though she was the first woman ever to join this all-male revolutionary group.

When women realized they would get their ticket to freedom, they didn't hesitate to join the group. Women were no more confined to household chores like cooking and cleaning. They were taught to make bombs, fight weapons, and circulate revolutionary pamphlets. There were other groups like Anushilan Samiti and Jugantar that men mainly dominated. But Leela was a part of all these groups and encouraged other women to become a part. These ladies went on to play essential roles in Bengal's national liberation fight.

Women were also involved in other activities like running schools, colleges, and training centers. Society did not like women running everything like authentic leaders out of their confines. Thus, to take revenge, they often attacked them. But Leela devised a way through which women could protect themselves while doing what their hearts wished for. She set up Mahila Atmaraksa Fund, wherein women were given martial arts training so that they could defend themselves from attacks. Leela's association with Subhash through her father later became an advantage.

Seeing her dedication, Subhash favored her, and she was also one of his favorite members of the Forward Bloc Party. She was given more responsibilities in the party compared to other members due to her dedication to improving society. It is said that Roy was one of the first people to strongly believe that Bose never died in the air crash of 1945.

Not only did Leela leave a mark in the political and social world, but she also contributed equally to the field of literature. In 1931, she launched a women-centric magazine called Jayashree Patrika. An all-women group handled the management of this magazine, and Rabindranath Tagore was the one who named it. This magazine was launched after the Chittagong armory raid to make the women of Bengal aware of the independence movements that were found all around the country. However, Jayashree Patrika was never smooth down the line because its founder, Leela, was mainly behind bars. However, the magazine was relaunched when Roy was released from prison. Women began writing articles for the magazine to express their views on various social issues and, of course, independence.

Though striving hard to make societal changes, she did not stop at a few organizations and institutions. She launched two other organizations called the Unity Board and National Service Brigade. Due to her participation in the Quit India Movement, she was again imprisoned. But after coming out, the most phenomenal moment came when she was elected to the Constituent Assembly of India. Not only did she care about power, but also people. After the partition, she built relief homes for refugees and women who were tortured by the violence of the partition. Her life continued to be defined by what she did for society and women. Not only did she push the women to come out of their shells and break the norms, but she also challenged the gender division created by society. Leela died in 1970, leaving behind a much-loved legacy of women's fight and freedom.