Kamla Bhasin who popularised the ‘Azadi’ slogan in India

GROUND REPORT | NEWS DESK | Kamla Bhasin well known as a feminist icon, poet, author and a pioneer of the women’s rights movement in South Asia, died in Delhi on Friday. She was 75 year old and had liver cancer.

Life of Kamla Bhasin

• She has worked on issues related to sustainable development, gender equality, human rights, peace and justice.
• She use to live in New Delhi, Himachal Pradesh and Rajasthan with her son Jeet Kamal.
• Bhasin was diagnosed with cancer at the end of June.
• Bhasin had two children with her late ex-husband—daughter Meeto, who died by suicide in 2006, and son Jeet, 41, who has cerebral palsy and is dependent on caregivers.

Hundreds of people gathered today to bid final farewell to the fiery feminist of the century & sub-continent. With flowers, fragrance & fire in their spirits (फ़ूल भी, चिंगारी भी), songs & slogans in the air, this shall remain an unforgettable evening of feminist friendships.✊🏽💛 pic.twitter.com/85rEXrzcnW

— Meera Sanghamitra (@meeracomposes) September 25, 2021

Works of Kamla Bhasin

• Born in 1946 in Pakistan’s Shahidanwali village, graduated from Maharani College, Jaipur.
• She did her post-graduation from Rajasthan University then She moved to Germany to study sociology. 
• She worked with the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization for 25 years.
• Bhasin was the founder of Sangat, a South Asian feminist network, and co-founder of Jagori, a women’s resource centre.

Her Literary works

• She wrote more than 30 books on women’s rights and eight children’s books, along with several songs and poems.
• Azaadi, the now common clarion call at protests, was first made famous by Bhasin in the 1990s at the Women Studies Conference in Kolkata’s Jadavpur University, as she chanted it to raise her voice against patriarchy, while playing a small drum.

Patriarchy is a social structure in which men are considered to be superior and have powerful hold over resources, decision making, and ideology. It is a must watch to understand how patriarchy not only oppresses women but men also. 

Kamla Bhasin

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