History, brick by brick at the AIWC wall

The Hindu

30-05-2025

Encapsulating significant events associated with the All India Women's Conference (AIWC), established in 1927 to address issues such as women's education, health and gender equality, a newly opened Wall of History at AIWC in the capital is a trip down memory lane.
With a beautifully curated corridor featuring 29 panels, the Wall arrests the viewer not just through its luminosity but the profundity of the brief write-up accompanying each photograph. Curated by AIWC general secretary Manju Kak, it was inaugurated by former ambassador TCA Raghavan this past week.
The conference was started well before the call for purna swaraj was made in December, 1929 and much before Gandhiji's Dandi March, which shook the foundations of British rule with a fistful of salt. Who were these brave women of AIWC who saw tomorrow yesterday? There was Sarojini Naidu, Kamaladevi Chattopadhyay. Then there was Margaret Cousin, not to forget Maharani Chimnabai Gaekwad, the first president and Rajkumari Amrit Kaur who went on to join Jawaharlal Nehru's Cabinet, the first of independent India.
It actually started in Pune's Fergusson college in 1925 when nearly 2,000 women gathered raising their voice for equality. A couple of years later AIWC came up, now just two short of a well-deserved hundred. The AIWC History Wall commemorates the remarkable innings.
Says Manju Kak, 'Beginning with our emblem and the landmark first conference in 1927, this powerful visual exhibit takes you on a journey through time, highlighting AIWC's pioneering efforts in women's education, healthcare, child marriage, legal rights, and socio-economic empowerment.'AIWC general secretary,
Kak recalls the efforts made to fix the minimum age for marriage of girls through the Sarda Act in 1929. 'From the Sarda Act to launching Mobile Health Vans, establishing libraries and textile units, and initiating computer training and skill development programs, each panel reflects AIWC's dedication to the upliftment of women and children across India,' Kak points out.
Some of the exhibits are truly enlightening. For instance, the one which talks of the foundation of Irwin College, not too far from the AIWC precincts. The college was designed as a haven for girls to hone their skills in arts and aesthetics and home science. Or the exhibit dedicated to Sarojini Naidu, the Nightingale of India, who was its fourth president or the one about Begum Shareefah Hamid Ali, the AIWC president in 1940 who attended a Congress session in 1907. Shareefah developed the Swadeshi movement and later went on to champion the cause of the implementation of the Sarda Act.
As you walk through this corridor, Kak sums up, 'You'll witness more than just the history of an organization, you will experience the story of a movement, led by visionary women, shaping a more just and equitable society.'