Rameshwari Nehru

Rameshwari Nehru
Rameshwari Nehru on a 1987 stamp
Born
Rameshwari Raina

(1886-12-10)10 December 1886
Died8 November 1966(1966-11-08) (aged 79)
CitizenshipBritish Indian (1886-1947)
Indian (1947-1966)
OccupationSocial worker
SpouseBrijlal Nehru
ChildrenBraj Kumar Nehru
RelativesNehru-Gandhi family
AwardsPadma Bhushan (1955)
Lenin Peace Prize (1961)

Rameshwari Nehru (née Rameshwari Raina; 10 December 1886 – 8 November 1966) was a social worker of India. She worked for the upliftment of the poorer classes and of women.

Career

She edited Stri Darpan, a Hindi monthly for women, from 1909 to 1924. She was one of the founders of All India Women's Conference (AIWC)[1] and was elected its president in 1942.[2] She led delegations to the World Women's Congress in Copenhagen and the first Afro-Asian Women's Conference in Cairo (1961).[3] The Schenectady Gazette reported here to be active in "communist affairs" in India and in 1954 to be chairman of the committee of Indians who opposed American military pact with Pakistan.[4]

She was one of the signatories of the agreement to convene a convention for drafting a world constitution.[5][6] As a result, for the first time in human history, a World Constituent Assembly convened to draft and adopt the Constitution for the Federation of Earth.[7]

Personal life

Rameshwari was born on 10 December 1886 in the wealthy family of Narendra Nath at Lahore. Narendra Nath (born 1864) was bestowed with "Deevan Bahadur" title in 1908 and was the first Indian to be appointed as the Commissioner of Lahore division in 1911. However, his position was taken back after Sir Reginald Craddock (the then Home Minister of India) restricted any Indians to hold the position of Commissioner. To please his ego, he was bestowed with the title of "Raja Narendra Nath". His father, Rameshwari's grandfather was Dewan Baij Nath, was also into administrative services; but died early on a pilgrimage in 1875. Her great grandfather was Dewan Ajodhia Prasad, who served as military commander under Maharaja Ranjit Singh. Later, he received jagir and monthly pension from British administration.[8] Rameshwari had three sisters and a brother Anand Kumar.[8]

In 1902, she married Brijlal Nehru, a nephew of Motilal Nehru and cousin of the first prime minister of independent India, Jawaharlal Nehru. Her son Braj Kumar Nehru was an Indian civil servant who served as governor of several states.

Awards and honours

Nehru was awarded the Padma Bhushan by the Government of India for her social work, in 1955,[9] and won the Lenin Peace Prize in 1961.[10]

References

  1. ^ Sonia Gandhi, ed. (2004). Two Alone, Two Together: Letters Between Indira Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru 1922–1964. Penguin Books India. p. xxii. ISBN 9780143032458.
  2. ^ "Past Presidents". AIWC: All India Women's Conference. Archived from the original on 19 March 2014. Retrieved 19 March 2014.
  3. ^ Sharma, d n (1969). Afro-asian Group In The U.n.
  4. ^ "Schenectady Gazette - Google News Archive Search". news.google.com. 1 May 1961.
  5. ^ "Letters from Thane Read asking Helen Keller to sign the World Constitution for world peace. 1961". Helen Keller Archive. American Foundation for the Blind. Retrieved 1 July 2023.
  6. ^ "Letter from World Constitution Coordinating Committee to Helen, enclosing current materials". Helen Keller Archive. American Foundation for the Blind. Retrieved 3 July 2023.
  7. ^ "Preparing earth constitution". The Encyclopedia of World Problems - Union of International Associations (UIA). Global Strategies & Solutions - The Encyclopedia of World Problems. Archived from the original on 19 July 2023. Retrieved 15 July 2023.
  8. ^ a b Kamlesh Mohan (2013). National Biography - Rameshwari Nehru (PDF). National Book Trust India. ISBN 978-81-237-6801-4. Retrieved 6 March 2026.
  9. ^ "Padma Awards Directory (1954–2013)" (PDF). Ministry of Home Affairs. Archived from the original (PDF) on 17 November 2017.
  10. ^ Vijay Prashad (2008) The Darker Nations: A People's History of the Third World. New Pres. p, 53. ISBN 9781595583420

Further reading


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