What about the brave Indian women that stood behind
Mohandas Karameh and Gandhi and other Indian male freedom fighters to confront
the British malpractices and slavery. Many of them died during the struggles.
They are being remembered for that singular act of freedom fighting. The unsung
Indian women are remembered for the type of hard work they did. Below are names
and the role they played including the slogan their people used to modify most
of them and their respective work;
1. Ram Lakshmibai: The lady with lion heart.
2. Sarojini Naidu: The great planner
3. Begum Hazrat Mahal: The Epitome of courage
4. Kittur Rani Chennamma: The vove of the Un- Heard
5. Madam Bhikaji Kama: The dreamer of Indian independence
6. Sucheta Kriplani: Crucial face of quite India moments
7. Aruna Asaf Ali: Woman of dedication
8. Lakshmi Sahgal: Tigress of Indian national Army
9. Annie Besant: The political back bone of Indian
freedom movement
10. Matangini Hazra: Source of inspirations for a lot of
Indian women etc.
11. The South
African women played significant roles also in South Africa Struggle, while
below is the list of women that fought for their nation in different dimensions;
12. Marocirent Mircadi:
she was a political activist who became the first president of the African
National Congress women’s league in KwaZulu – Natal. She led a powerful protest
march in 1959 and championed the passage of law in the provinces. She was named
in treason trial but was not prosecuted. She went into exile in Swaziland in
1960.
13. Victoria Mxenge: intervened in cases in which the
youth were ill-treated while imprisoned and was part of the defense team in the
year 1984 treason trial against leaders of the limited Democratic and natal
Indian Congress (NIC) in the Pietermaritzburg supreme court. She became a
member of the release of Nelson Mandela Committee (RMC), this national
organization of women (NOW) and treasurer of the UDF. In 1985, she was murdered
at her home in Dubai.
14. Dorothy Nyembe: she became a volunteer in the defense
campaign in Durban. She helped to set up the ANC women’s league in Cato Manor.
She led the Natal Continent of women to the union building in Pretoria to protest
against the introduction of passes for women. She was part of Natal women’s
Revolt in 1960s, while in1980s she became a member of NOW, including the wife
of Nelson Mandela, Mrs. Winnie Mandela, the mother of female freedom fighting
in Africa.
15. Finally, in the case of Biafran women is exception,
freedom fighting changed shape, some acknowledged people called Biafran women
as great freedom fighters but I call them freedom pendulum that swing in the favour
of her people. Biafran women were the first women to had confronted the
colonial mismatch and imperialism in Africa, and fought against, impunity,
tyranny, dictatorship and illegal taxation, that was levied on both men and the
women of that generation. The secular Biafran women took the bull by the horn
in the 1929 known as the popular Aba women riot; those were selected women from
all over Biafra land. This protest, whose encompassed women from different
ethnic groups and locations from Biafraland are namely (Ibibio, Andoni, Ogoni,
Opobo and Igbo). It was perfectly planned and organized, and led by the rural
women of Owerri and Calabar provinces. During the events, many warrant chiefs
were forced to resign and 16 native courts were attacked, most of them were
destroyed. Thousands of unarmed Biafran women confronted British armed
soldiers, where many died and uncountable injured as the result of live bullet,
tear gas, bully and stamped victims. Biafran women fought the British army in
Aba without their men. Now the fearless Biafran mothers have passed the baton
of freedom to IPOB women who are doing exceptionally and marvellously well. The
current IPOB women tapped their formidability, resoluteness, doggedness and
consistency policy from Biafran old heroines that stamped the undeletable foot
print of freedom where majority of African women learned from, for today
amazement of freedom fighting, likewise the IPOB’s Women as mentioned earlier,
drew their strong mental inspiration and anti-slavery character from Biafran
Women of 1929s.
For those influential female politicians, elites,
intellectuals, captain of industries, clerics, traditional rulers, business
women and market women, non-educated and educated irrespective of financial and
academic background should come out to do the needful because “Yesterday is called
past, and that is history, today is called present and that is a gift, tomorrow
is called future, hope and still very much a mystery”. Biafran restoration must
be Mystery to anti Biafrans and also to people sitting at fence, always
remember that your positive action towards Biafran restoration echo in tomorrow
history because Biafran freedom is Sacrosanct.
Bravo! Biafran women of 1929, you people have done it
before and the current IPOB women can still do it again. Freedom remains their
bedrock.
In Biafran, we stand.
Written by:
Onumajuru Onyekachi MacSantos
For: Abia State Media
Edited by:
Solomon Elughaiwe
For: Abia State Media
Published by:
Chibuike John Nebeokike
For: Abia State Media
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