Mithuben Hormusji Petit (11 April 1892 – 16 July 1973) was one of the pioneer Indian independence female activists who participated in Mahatma Gandhi's Dandi March.

Biography

Born on 11 April 1892 into an affluent Parsi Zoroastrian family in Bombay (now Mumbai), Mithuben Petit's father was Sir Dinshaw Maneckji Petit, a well-known industrialist, philanthropist, and Baronet. Her activism was met with challenges by the Petit family, who urged her to renounce her activism or risk disinheritance, to which she refused and responded: "It is your business to sit with the government and mine to remain with the nation.".

Indian independence movement

The young Petit Baroness was influenced by her aunt, Jaiji Jehangir Petit, who was a follower of Mahatma Gandhi and was the Secretary of the Rashtriya Stree Sabha, a women's movement founded on Gandhian ideals. Petit, along with Kasturba Gandhi and Sarojini Naidu, played a major part in the Salt March, with Kasturba Gandhi beginning the march at Sabarmati, Sarojini Naidu lifting the salt for the first time at Dandi on 6 April 1930 and Petit standing behind Mahatma Gandhi when he repeated the violation at Bhimrad on 9 April 1930. The march was one of the most important event in the Indian independence movement. In a time when women were forced to take a back seat (due to the patriarchal culture at that time in India) Petit was one of the three women who played a pivotal role in the march and the

civil disobedience Civil disobedience is the active, professed refusal of a citizen to obey certain laws, demands, orders or commands of a government (or any other authority). By some definitions, civil disobedience has to be nonviolent to be called "civil". Hen ...

against tax on salt. Petit participated in the Bardoli Satyagraha of 1928 which was a no-tax campaign against the British Raj where she worked under the guidance of Sardar Patel. Petit was instrumental in the anti-liquor movement in India and spent time with Mahatma Gandhi and explained the liquor issue with the schedule tribes in Gujarat.

Social work

Petit set up an

ashram An ashram ( sa, आश्रम, ) is a spiritual hermitage or a monastery A monastery is a building or complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters and workplaces of monastics, monks or nuns, whether living in communities or a ...

Maroli Maroli is a town in the state of Gujarat, India. The town is also one of the satellite towns of Surat Metropolitan Region. It is located 25 kilometers from Surat on Surat-Navsari Highway. Demographics India census, Maroli had a population of 3 ...

called ''Kasturba Vanat Shala'' or

Kasturba Sevashram Kasturbai Mohandas Gandhi (, born Kasturbai Gokuldas Kapadia; 11 April 1869 – 22 February 1944) was an Indian political activist. She married Mohandas Gandhi, more commonly known as Mahatma Gandhi, in 1883. With her husband and her eldest so ...

in 1930, which taught underprivileged children from families of Adivasis, Harijans and fisher folk spinning, carding, weaving, dairy farming, leather-work and a Diploma Course in Sewing, to make the women self-sufficient. Petit, known as "Maiji" (mother) also opened a hospital of the same name for the scientific treatment of mentally ill patients in 1942. She died on 16 July 1973.

Recognition

Petit received the Padma Shri in 1961 for her social work.

References

External links

Kasturba Sevashram
{{DEFAULTSORT:Petit, Mithuben Women Indian independence activists 1892 births 1973 deaths Recipients of the Padma Shri in social work Parsi people from Mumbai Gandhians Social workers from Maharashtra Women educators from Maharashtra Educators from Maharashtra Indian independence activists from Maharashtra 20th-century Indian educational theorists Social workers Women in Maharashtra politics 20th-century Indian women politicians 20th-century Indian politicians Daughters of baronets 20th-century women educators