Dr. K.Janaki

Women played a significant role in India's Freedom Movement. Paying a tribute to the outstanding role played by women in the country's freedom struggle, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, the first Prime Minister of free India said, "we record our homage and deep admiration for the womanhood of India, who in the hour of peril for the motherland forsook the shelter of their homes and with unfailing courage and endurance stood shoulder-to-shoulder with them the sacrifices and triumphs of the struggle."

Andhra Pradesh, like any other part of the country, played a significant role in the freedom struggle. Men, women and children did their best to fight for the common cause. Great leaders like Gadicherla Harisarvotham Rao, Pattabhi Sitaramayya, Tangututri Prakasam Pantulu, Duvvuru Subbamma, Durgabhai Deshmukh, Sangam Lakshmi Bai and others are well known. Stalwarts like Yellapragada Sitkumari, Ammanna Raja and Arutla Kamala Devi have entered into the pages of history. But there are many more who did everything to give us what we have today.

In the freedom Struggle as carried out in Andhra, women participated in large numbers in the Non-cooperation Movement, Civil Disobedience Movement, and Quit India Movement. In the constructive programme, especially in the manufacture of Khadar, Women in Andhra did more work than men. They became victims of repression as much as men and several cases their lot and suffering were worse. But they braved all this with that kind of patience and heroism for which the women did even more work than men.

Even though history has brought to light the lives of a number of such persons, still underneath the water lie a number of great women, whose lives are a testimony to the great achievement of the nation.

Role of women in freedom struggle in Andhra Pradesh seeks to analyze the part played by women of Andhra in the Country's liberation movement and takes in its sweep the mist important issues raised by it - issues centering political activism and its implications for the participation of women.

A word from Dr. Alladi Vaidehi [Former Professor of History, Osmania University]

A Book
"ROLE OF WOMEN IN FREEDOM STRUGGLE IN ANDHRA PRADESH"

by Dr. K. Janaki