Janaki Ammal K P
One of the first women in South India to be arrested by the British, Janaki Ammal, born in 1917, was already an accomplished performer at age 12. Her early life was spent in penury.
One of the first women in South India to be arrested by the British, Janaki Ammal, born in 1917, was already an accomplished performer at age 12. Her early life was spent in penury. She lost her mother when she was eight and was brought up by her grandmother. An eighth-grade school drop out, she joined Palaniappa Pillai Boys Company as a singer for a salary of Rs.25 per month. Later, she went on to become the lead actress and earned over Rs. 300 per performance. She married Gurusamy Naidu, a harmonium player in the troupe. As she got more and more involved in politics, she spent her theatre earnings on the people. She joined the Congress in 1936, moved to the Congress Socialist Party, and eventually to the Communist Party in 1940. In 1967, Janaki was elected to the State Legislative Assembly from the Madurai East constituency. She led many agitations for regularization of wages for mill workers, farmers and the labour class. Along with Paapa Umanath, she founded the Tamil Nadu Democratic Women’s Association in 1974 and became its first president. During the Emergency, Janaki sold all her jewels and silk saris to feed party cadres. Janaki declined the freedom fighters’ pension and ‘ thamarai pattayam’ . Repeated jail terms and hard work deteriorated her health and she died of asthma on March 1, 1992.
Born in 1914 to S. Swaminadhan, lawyer and A.V Ammukutty, social worker and freedom fighter, Lakshmi was involved in the freedom struggle from an early age. she campaigned for temple entry for…
The cowardly, brutal killing of Gauri Lankesh has led to waves of spontaneous protests in different corners of India. Gauri was a voice of honesty and courage, she challenged the status quo in…
Women’s anger erupted on July 31 at the gates of the Supreme Court of India against its recent judgement that would lead to the dilution of Section 498A. Several representatives of women's…
Women’s emancipation is impossible to obtain without achieving equal status for all sections of women. AIDWA has been in the forefront of the struggle to mainstream the multiple dimensions of…
A 13 year old daughter of a rag picker was abducted by six men in a moving car when she was returning home with her brother after doing domestic work on May 2, 2005 in Lucknow. She was beaten with a…
