3rd July – Birth Anniversary of HansaJivraj Mehta

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  • Born on July 3, 1897 to the Dewan of Baroda ManubhaiNandshankar Mehta, Hansa Mehta was a reformer, educator and a prolific writer.
  • In 1920, while in London, Mehta met Sarojini Naidu who would later introduce her to Mahatma Gandhi and the Indian women’s freedom movement.
  • Mehta’s political career was marked by her 1937 Bombay Legislative Council election win.
  • Having refused to contest from a reserved seat, she took on the elections as a general category candidate. Mehta remained on the council until 1949.
  • Mehta became closely involved with the All India Women’s Conference and became its president in 1946.
  • During her presidency, Hansa drafted the Indian Women’s Charter of Rights and Duties, which demanded gender equality and civil rights for women.
  • In 1946, Mehta served as a member of the United Nations sub-committee on the status of women.
  • She was the vice-chair with Eleanor Roosevelt of the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights Committee.
  • Mehta was one of the 15 women framers of the Indian Constitution. She was elected to the Constituent Assembly from Bombay under a Congress Party ticket.
  • In the Assembly, Mehta strongly argued in favour of women’s rights and intervened in debates on uniform civil code and reservation.
  • Mehta played a significant role in ensuring that Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (‘UDHR’) was made inclusive.
  • Hansa later went on to become the vice chairman of the Human Rights Commission of the United Nations in 1950. She was also a member of the Executive Board of UNESCO.
  • The Indian government awarded Hansa with the Padma Bhushan in 1959.