Nirmala Deshpande (17 October 1929 – 1 May 2008) was a noted Indian social activist who had embraced

Gandhi Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (; ; 2 October 1869 – 30 January 1948), popularly known as Mahatma Gandhi, was an Indian lawyer, anti-colonial nationalist Quote: "... marks Gandhi as a hybrid cosmopolitan figure who transformed ... anti- ...

and philosophy. She devoted her adult life to the promotion of communal harmony and service to women, tribal people, and the dispossessed in India. She was awarded

Padma Vibhushan The Padma Vibhushan ("Lotus Decoration") is the second-highest civilian award of the Republic of India, after the Bharat Ratna. Instituted on 2 January 1954, the award is given for "exceptional and distinguished service". All persons without ...

, the second highest civilian award of India in 2006. and was awarded

Sitara-e-Imtiaz The Sitara-e-Imtiaz () also spelled as Sitara-i-Imtiaz, is the third-highest (in the order of "Imtiaz") honour and civilian award in the State of Pakistan. It recognizes individuals who have made an "especially meritorious contribution to the ...

posthumously by Pakistan in 2010

Early life and family

Deshpande was born to Vimala (विमला) and the Marathi writer Purushottam Yashwant Deshpande (पुरुषोत्तम यशवंत देशपांडे) in

Nagpur Nagpur (pronunciation: aːɡpuːɾ is the third largest city and the winter capital of the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is the 13th largest city in India by population and according to an Oxford's Economics report, Nagpur is projected to ...

on 19 October 1929. Her father was the recipient of a

Sahitya Akademi Award The Sahitya Akademi Award is a literary honour in India, which the Sahitya Akademi, India's National Academy of Letters, annually confers on writers of the most outstanding books of literary merit published in any of the 22 languages of the ...

in 1962 for his work in Marathi ''Anamikachi Chintanika'' (अनामिकाची चिंतनिका). She did MA in political science from Nagpur, India, She also studied

Fergusson College Fergusson College is an autonomous public-private college offering various courses in the streams of arts and science in the city of Pune, India. It was founded in 1885 by the Deccan Education Society. Professor Vaman Shivram Apte was its fir ...

, Pune. Thereafter, she served as lecturer in political science in Morris College, Nagpur.

Social activities

Deshpande joined

Vinoba Bhave Vinayak Narahari, also known as Vinoba Bhave (; 11 September 1895 – 15 November 1982), was an Indian advocate of nonviolence and human rights. Often called ''Acharya'' (Sanskrit teacher), he is best known for the Bhoodan Movement. He is con ...

Bhoodan movement The Bhoodan movement (Land Gift movement), also known as the Bloodless Revolution, was a voluntary land reform movement in India. It was initiated by Gandhian Vinoba Bhave in 1951 at Pochampally village, Pochampally The Bhoodan movement attempted ...

in 1952. She undertook a 40,000-km journey on foot --''

padayatra A padayatra ( sa, पादयात्रा, pādayātrā, journey by foot, translit-std=ISO) is a journey undertaken by politicians or prominent citizens to interact more closely with different parts of society, educate about issues concerning ...

''—across India to carry Gandhi's message of ''Grām Swarāj''. She recognized that it was difficult to practice Gandhian principles, yet believed that doing so was the only way towards a truly democratic society. Deshpande was known to be the spirit behind peace marches in

Punjab Punjab (; Punjabi Language, Punjabi: پنجاب ; ਪੰਜਾਬ ; ; also Romanization, romanised as ''Panjāb'' or ''Panj-Āb'') is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the northern part of the I ...

and

Kashmir Kashmir () is the northernmost geographical region of the Indian subcontinent. Until the mid-19th century, the term "Kashmir" denoted only the Kashmir Valley between the Great Himalayas and the Pir Panjal Range. Today, the term encompas ...

when violence was at its peak in those states. Her peace mission to Kashmir in 1994 and her initiative in organizing India-Pakistan meet in 1996 were her two major public service achievements. The

Tibet Tibet (; ''Böd''; ) is a region in East Asia, covering much of the Tibetan Plateau and spanning about . It is the traditional homeland of the Tibetan people. Also resident on the plateau are some other ethnic groups such as Monpa people, ...

an cause against

Chinese Chinese can refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation ** List of ethnic groups in China, people of ...

suppression was also close to her heart. She served as the president of a historical organization i.e.

Harijan Sevak Sangh Harijan Sevak Sangh is a non-profit organisation founded by Mahatma Gandhi in 1932 to eradicate untouchability in India, working for Harijan or Dalit people and upliftment of Depressed Class of India. It is headquartered at Kingsway Camp in D ...

from June 1983 to till her death. She was involved or associated with many other social organizations and bodies. And also, she founded

Akhil Bharat Rachnatmak Samaj Akhil (in Devanagari: अखिल {{IAST, akhilā) is a Hindu/Sanskrit Indian given name, which means "everything" or "complete". The equivalent feminine name is Akhilā. See also *Akhil (disambiguation) Akhil is a masculine given name of India ...

that won the National Communal Harmony Award in 2004. In 2006, Deshpande championed clemency for Afzal Guru, who had been convicted of a terrorist attack on Indian Parliament in 2001. (The attack had resulted in the death of 13 people.) Deshpande visited many cities in the

United States of America The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territo ...

on a tour organized by a prominent

Indian American Indian Americans or Indo-Americans are citizens of the United States with ancestry from India. The United States Census Bureau uses the term Asian Indian to avoid confusion with Native Americans, who have also historically been referred to ...

from

Lansing, Michigan Lansing () is the capital of the U.S. state of Michigan. It is mostly in Ingham County, although portions of the city extend west into Eaton County and north into Clinton County. The 2020 census placed the city's population at 112,644, making ...

in the last few years of her life. She was member of a

Rajya Sabha The Rajya Sabha, constitutionally the Council of States, is the upper house of the bicameral Parliament of India. , it has a maximum membership of 245, of which 233 are elected by the legislatures of the states and union territories using si ...

, when she died in her sleep in the early hours of 1 May 2008, in

New Delhi New Delhi (, , ''Naī Dillī'') is the capital of India and a part of the National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT). New Delhi is the seat of all three branches of the government of India, hosting the Rashtrapati Bhavan, Parliament House ...

at the age of 79. She continually worked for harmony between India and Pakistan. Even her mortal remains were immersed in

Indus river The Indus ( ) is a transboundary river of Asia and a trans-Himalayan river of South and Central Asia. The river rises in mountain springs northeast of Mount Kailash in Western Tibet, flows northwest through the disputed region of Kashmir, ...

Sindh Sindh (; ; ur, , ; historically romanized as Sind) is one of the four provinces of Pakistan. Located in the southeastern region of the country, Sindh is the third-largest province of Pakistan by land area and the second-largest province ...

province in Pakistan.

Authorship

Deshpande authored several novels in

Hindi Hindi (Devanāgarī: or , ), or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi (Devanagari: ), is an Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in the Hindi Belt region encompassing parts of northern, central, eastern, and western India. Hindi has been de ...

, "Seemant", on the theme of women's liberation, and "Chimlig", based on Chinese cultural ethos, (one of which got a national award), some plays, and travelogues. She also wrote a commentary on ''Isha Upanishad'' and a biography of

. She also founded the magazine Nityanutan and started its publishing in 1985. This magazine was dedicated to world peace and nonviolence and was one of the most effective magazines carrying thoughts of nonviolence and peace. After her death, the magazine is being published every month through crowdfunding by one of her close associates Ram Mohan Rai, a social activist from Panipat (Haryana).

Honors

Deshpande was a nominated member of Indian

two times during August 1997- August 1997 and during 24 June 2004 to 2010. Her name was considered for the

Indian President The president of India (IAST: ) is the head of state of the Republic of India. The president is the nominal head of the executive, the first citizen of the country, as well as the commander-in-chief of the Indian Armed Forces. Droupadi Murmu i ...

ial position in 2007. Deshpande received the Rajiv Gandhi National Sadbhavana Award (2005) and the

title in 2006. She was a nominee for the

Nobel peace prize The Nobel Peace Prize is one of the five Nobel Prizes established by the will of Swedish industrialist, inventor and armaments (military weapons and equipment) manufacturer Alfred Nobel, along with the prizes in Nobel Prize in Chemistry, Chemi ...

in 2005. Nirmala Deshpande ji also received first

Banarsi Das Gupta Banarsi Das Gupta (5 November 1917 – 29 August 2007) was an Indian politician who served as the 4th Chief Minister of Haryana state in India. Life Gupta was born in Bhiwani and he studied at Pilani in Rajasthan. Gupta was a renowned ...

"Rashtra Gaurav Puraskar" on 5 November 2007 in a function, present to her by Vice President of India Sh.

Mohammad Hamid Ansari Mohammad Hamid Ansari (; born 1 April 1937) is an Indian politician and retired Indian Foreign Service (IFS) officer who was the 12th vice president of India from 2007 to 2017. Ansari joined the IFS in 1961. In a diplomatic career spanning 3 ...

. in the presence of Smt. Sonia Gandhi (President UPA), Sh.

Pawan Bansal Pawan Kumar Bansal (born 16 July 1948) is an Indian National Congress politician, appointed interim treasurer in November 2020 and a former minister in the Manmohan Singh government. He represented Chandigarh constituency in the 15th Lok Sab ...

(Cabinet Minister), Sh. Shriprakash Jaiswal (Minister of State), Sh. Bhupinder Singh Hooda (Chief Minister of Haryana), Sh.

Santosh Bagrodia Shri Santosh Bagrodia a politician from Indian National Congress was a Member of the Parliament of India. He represented Rajasthan in the Rajya Sabha, the upper house of the Indian Parliament till 2010. On 6 April 2008, he became the Coal Mini ...

(Minister of State), Sh. Deepender Singh Hooda (Member of Parliament), Sh.

Naveen Jindal Naveen Jindal (born 9 March 1970) is an Indian billionaire industrialist, and a former Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha from Kurukshetra, Haryana in the 14th and 15th Lok Sabha. He currently serves as the Chairman of Jindal Steel and Powe ...

(Member of Parliament), Sh. Ajay Gupta and many other VIPs at Balyogi Hall,

Parliament of India The Parliament of India (International Alphabet of Sanskrit Transliteration, IAST: ) is the supreme legislative body of the Republic of India. It is a bicameralism, bicameral legislature composed of the president of India and two houses: the R ...

, New Delhi. She was conferred the

Sitara-i-Imtiaz The Sitara-e-Imtiaz () also spelled as Sitara-i-Imtiaz, is the third-highest (in the order of "Imtiaz") honour and civilian award in the State of Pakistan. It recognizes individuals who have made an "especially meritorious contribution to the ...

, one of Pakistan's third highest civilian honors, on 13 August 2009; the eve of Pakistan's Independence Day. On her name, a small museum was established in Panipat (Haryana) with efforts of Ram Mohan Rai. This museum is like an honor and tribute and includes her belongings.

References

External links

www.snsmt.org

www.bdgf.in
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Deshpande, Nirmala Activists from Maharashtra 1929 births 2008 deaths Writers from Nagpur Marathi people Recipients of Sitara-i-Imtiaz Nominated members of the Rajya Sabha Recipients of the Padma Vibhushan in social work Gandhians Savitribai Phule Pune University alumni Women writers from Maharashtra Social workers 20th-century Indian educators 20th-century Indian women Women educators from Maharashtra Educators from Maharashtra Social workers from Maharashtra Scholars from Nagpur 20th-century women educators Women members of the Rajya Sabha