Correct Answer Mahatma Gandhi Explanation & Key Takeaways: • All those who fought in the Indian Independence movement had an impact on women's involvement. • However, a key figure in engaging women to participate more broadly was Mahatma Gandhi. • His non-violent protests and boycotts particularly in the early 20th century greatly increased the mass appeal of the movement and brought people from all social positions, including women, to the cause. • Gandhi saw women not merely as mothers or wives, but as equal partners in the struggle for independence. • He believed that women had a natural capacity for non-violence, and he appealed to this capacity in seeking their support for nationalist struggles like the Non-Cooperation Movement (1920–22), Civil Disobedience Movement (1930–34), and the Quit India Movement (1942). Women came to the fore during these movements, participating and leading protests, picketing shops selling foreign goods, and enduring imprisonment. • Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi was born on October 2, 1869 in Porbandar. • He was a lawyer, anti-colonial nationalist, and political ethicist. • He led the non-violent movement for the independence of the nation from the British Raj. Major movements for India’s Independence – • Recruited Indians for the war efforts during world war I • Champaran agitation – 1917 in Bihar • Kheda agitation – 1918 • Khilafat movement – 1919 • Non-cooperation movement – 1920 • Dandi March (Salt Satyagraha) – 1930 • Round Table Conferences – 1931-32 • Quit India Movement – 1942 • Independence and Partition – 1947 Related Concepts: • Monuments dedicated – Raj Ghat, Gandhi Smriti • Citizenship – British Raj (1869 – 1947), Indian (1947 – 1948) • Death – January 30, 1948 (assassination by Nathu Ram Godse) • Autobiography – The Story of My Experiments with Truth Common Pitfalls: • Mahatma was titled Gandhiji in 1914 in South Africa. (Stamps released to honor Bapu) Sarojini Naidu: • She was the first Indian woman president of the Indian National Congress. • She became the president of the Indian National Congress in the Kanpur session in 1925. • She was given the title of "Nightingale of India" for her contributions in the field of poetry writing. • She was called 'Bharat Kokila'. • She is the first woman to hold the office of governor in the dominion of India. • She became the governor of the United Provinces in 1947 • Notable works of Sarojini Naidu are: • The golden threshold • The bird of time: Songs of life, death & spring • Muhammad Jinnah: An ambassador of unity • Palanquin bearers • The village song