An Unfulfilled or a Blurred Vision? Jawaharlal Nehru and Indian Women

Abstract

Despite the postscript, as a member of the generation which had  ‘idolised’ this great patriot, and one who has never joined the ranks of those who would see in him only the founder of a dynasty rather than a nation-builder, I must still disagree with Gopal.  My attempts in the last  quarter of a century to unravel the complex relationship between the processes of nation building and changes in women’s status has driven me to the conclusion that Jawaharlal, along with most other Indian nationalists - of the right, centre or left, men or women, - never understood the political significance of gender equality in  India’s nation building process.