Shareefa Hamid Ali (c. 1883 – 1971), also known as Begum Hamid Ali, was an Indian feminist, nationalist, advocate, and political figure. She was the President of the

All India Women's Conference The All India Women's Conference (AIWC) is a non-governmental organisation (NGO) based in Delhi. It was founded in 1927 by Margaret Cousins in order to improve educational efforts for women and children and has expanded its scope to also tackle ...

in 1935, and one of the founding members of the

United Nations Commission on the Status of Women The Commission on the Status of Women (CSW or UNCSW) is a functional commission of the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), one of the main UN organs within the United Nations. CSW has been described as the UN organ promoting gend ...

in 1947.

Personal life

Begum Shareefa Hamid Ali was born on December 12, 1883, to a progressive

Muslim Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...

family in

Baroda Vadodara (), also known as Baroda, is the second largest city in the Indian state of Gujarat. It serves as the administrative headquarters of the Vadodara district and is situated on the banks of the Vishwamitri River, from the state capital ...

(now known as

Vadodara Vadodara (), also known as Baroda, is the second largest city in the Indian state of Gujarat. It serves as the administrative headquarters of the Vadodara district and is situated on the banks of the Vishwamitri River, from the state capital ...

Gujarat Gujarat (, ) is a state along the western coast of India. Its coastline of about is the longest in the country, most of which lies on the Kathiawar peninsula. Gujarat is the fifth-largest Indian state by area, covering some ; and the ninth ...

, the administrative center of colonial

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance on the Indian subcontinent. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one ...

. She was the daughter of Ameena Tyabji and Abbas J. Tyabji, the nephew of the Indian activist and politician

Badruddin Tyabji Badruddin Tyabji (10 October 1844 – 19 August 1906) was an Indian lawyer, activist and politician during British Raj. Tyabji was the first Indian to practice as a barrister of the High Court of Bombay who served as the third President of ...

. Her father, Abbas J. Tyabji, was the Chief Justice of

Baroda State Baroda State was a state in present-day Gujarat, ruled by the Gaekwad dynasty of the Maratha Confederacy from its formation in 1721 until its accession to the newly formed Dominion of India in 1949. With the city of Baroda (Vadodara) as its c ...

and a follower of

Mahatma 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- ...

. Her mother Ameena was one of the first prominent Muslim women to disavow ''

purdah Pardah or purdah (from Hindi-Urdu , , meaning "curtain") is a religious and social practice of female seclusion prevalent among some Muslim and Hindu communities. It takes two forms: physical segregation of the sexes and the requirement that wom ...

.'' Ali followed her mother's example and supported the movement against this restrictive law, as she saw it as a symbol of social division and gendered oppression. In fact, her parents had supported her and her sisters’ education by sending them to school despite ''purdah'' restrictions. Begum Hamid Ali learned to speak six languages,

Urdu Urdu (;"Urdu"
''

Gujarati Gujarati may refer to: * something of, from, or related to Gujarat, a state of India * Gujarati people, the major ethnic group of Gujarat * Gujarati language, the Indo-Aryan language spoken by them * Gujarati languages, the Western Indo-Aryan sub ...

Persian Persian may refer to: * People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language ** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples ** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...

Marathi Marathi may refer to: *Marathi people, an Indo-Aryan ethnolinguistic group of Maharashtra, India *Marathi language, the Indo-Aryan language spoken by the Marathi people *Palaiosouda, also known as Marathi, a small island in Greece See also * * ...

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

and French. She also devoted her time to painting, drawing and music. At the age of twenty-five she married Hamid Ali, her cousin and an Indian Civil Service Officer. After their marriage, they moved to the province of the

Bombay Presidency The Bombay Presidency or Bombay Province, also called Bombay and Sind (1843–1936), was an administrative subdivision (province) of British India, with its capital in the city that came up over the seven islands of Bombay. The first mainl ...

in India. She remained involved in social work and continued to cultivate her interests.

Political career

In 1907, Ali attended a session of the

Indian National Congress The Indian National Congress (INC), colloquially the Congress Party but often simply the Congress, is a political party in India with widespread roots. Founded in 1885, it was the first modern nationalist movement to emerge in the British Em ...

, which developed her interest towards the

Swadeshi Movement The Swadeshi movement was a self-sufficiency movement that was part of the Indian independence movement and contributed to the development of Indian nationalism. Before the BML Government's decision for the partition of Bengal was made public in ...

and the support and uplifting in society of the ''

Harijan Dalit (from sa, दलित, dalita meaning "broken/scattered"), also previously known as untouchable, is the lowest stratum of the castes in India. Dalits were excluded from the four-fold varna system of Hinduism and were seen as forming ...

s''. She also worked in villages to start nursing centres and classes for women, while providing her help and guidance. One of her most renowned achievements was organizing a campaign to encourage the

Sarda Act The Child Marriage Restraint Act, 1929, passed on 28 September 1929, in the Imperial Legislative Council of India, fixed the age of marriage for girls at 14 years and boys at 18 years. In 1949, after India's independence, it was amended to 15 for ...

, also known as the Child Marriage Restraint Act, which was passed on 28 September 1929. She addressed Muslim women in

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 ...

and used the example of her own experience to gain their support. As the mother of seven daughters, Ali claimed that two of them had been ‘’victim to this custom.’’ Because of this, she had decided to postpone their marriages until they were educated and mature as she believed that legal age for marriage should be eighteen. In 1934 she represented the

at the Istanbul Congress of the

International Alliance of Women The International Alliance of Women (IAW; french: Alliance Internationale des Femmes, AIF) is an international non-governmental organization that works to promote women's rights and gender equality. It was historically the main international org ...

, and in 1937 at Lohacovice,

Czechoslovakia , rue, Чеськословеньско, , yi, טשעכאסלאוואקיי, , common_name = Czechoslovakia , life_span = 1918–19391945–1992 , p1 = Austria-Hungary , image_p1 ...

, she took part in the Congress of the

Women's International League for Peace and Freedom The Women's International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF) is a non-profit non-governmental organization working "to bring together women of different political views and philosophical and religious backgrounds determined to study and make kno ...

. Ali was appointed to a women's sub-committee of the National Planning Committee in 1939. The role of the sub-committee was to review the social, economic and legal status of women, as well as to recommend measures to make equality of opportunity and status possible. Initially appointed with two other Muslim women, they later resigned as they felt they were not being listened to. As such, Ali was the only Muslim woman participating in the committee and encouraged consultation with authorities on

Muslim Law Sharia (; ar, شريعة, sharīʿa ) is a body of religious law that forms a part of the Islamic tradition. It is derived from the religious precepts of Islam and is based on the sacred scriptures of Islam, particularly the Quran and the ...

in order to obtain a different perspective. To her disappointment, she found that other members did not understand or pay attention to her arguments. As she mentions, she found that the draft report: Following

Jawaharlal Nehru Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru (; ; ; 14 November 1889 – 27 May 1964) was an Indian anti-colonial nationalist, secular humanist, social democrat— * * * * and author who was a central figure in India during the middle of the 20t ...

’s intervention and grant of an extension to the sub-committee, she signed the final report. The

Indian Government The Government of India (ISO 15919, ISO: ; often abbreviated as GoI), known as the Union Government or Central Government but often simply as the Centre, is the Government, national government of the Republic of India, a federal democracy lo ...

appointed her as the Indian representative to the

. She also became a member of the National Planning Commission of the

and the Hindustan Textbook Committee.

The Child Marriage Restraint Act (Sarda Act)

Ali lobbied for

Har Bilas Sarda Har Bilas Sarda (1867–1955) was an Indian academic, judge and politician. He is best known for having introduced the Child Marriage Restraint Act (1929). Early life Har Bilas Sarda was born on 3 June 1867 in Ajmer, in a Maheshwari family. ...

Child Marriage Restraint Act The Child Marriage Restraint Act, 1929, passed on 28 September 1929, in the Imperial Legislative Council of India, fixed the age of marriage for girls at 14 years and boys at 18 years. In 1949, after India's independence, it was amended to 15 for ...

, also known as the Sarda Act (or Sharda Act), which aimed to reduce the number of women getting married under the age of fifteen. Ali organized a campaign in

where she gathered Muslim women together to back the bill by pressuring lawmakers. She argued that women should delay marriage until they were more mature and educated, and suggested the age of eighteen. As a mother of seven daughters, two of whom had risked getting married before they were adults, she had a personal connection to the campaign. The Sarda campaign had support from women unified by

liberal feminism Liberal feminism, also called mainstream feminism, is a main branch of feminism defined by its focus on achieving gender equality through political and legal reform within the framework of liberal democracy. It is often considered culturally ...

, including

Hindus Hindus (; ) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism.Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pages 35–37 Historically, the term has also been used as a geographical, cultural, and later religious identifier for ...

Muslims Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abraha ...

Sikhs Sikhs ( or ; pa, ਸਿੱਖ, ' ) are people who adhere to Sikhism (Sikhi), a monotheistic religion that originated in the late 15th century in the Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent, based on the revelation of Guru Nanak. The term ...

, and the lower

castes Caste is a form of social stratification characterised by endogamy, hereditary transmission of a style of life which often includes an occupation, ritual status in a hierarchy, and customary social interaction and exclusion based on cultura ...

. These women banded together to eliminate doubt about what women wanted, and embarrassed the colonial state. The movement resulted in the passing of the Sarda Act in 1929, making it the first legislation for minimum age of marriage in India. It was set at 14 years old for girls and 18 for boys.

All India Women's Conference

Ali was a prominent leader in the

(AIWC). She was, in order, the Honorary Treasurer, chairwoman, vice-president, and President of AIWC, and started several of its branches across India. Ali was also named Chairwoman of the Governing Body of the All India Women's Education Association. She became a part of the AIWC as the previous president,

Sarojini Naidu Sarojini Naidu (''née'' Chattopadhyay; 13 February 1879 – 2 March 1949) was an Indian political activist, feminist and poet. A proponent of civil rights, women's emancipation, and anti-imperialistic ideas, she was an important person in Indi ...

, a political activist who fought for Indian independence and a poet, was in prison. As a result, there were rotating presidents for each session, and Ali became one of two Indian women who took up this role. As part of the AIWC, she testified in front of the Joint Select Committee on Indian Constitutional Reform in London in 1933. In opposition of the establishment of a separate electorate that would bring about unbalanced power to religious-based parties, she argued that this would hinder the reform of inheritance laws. Begum Shah Nawaz, a politician and

Muslim League Muslim League may refer to: Political parties Subcontinent ; British India *All-India Muslim League, Mohammed Ali Jinah, led the demand for the partition of India resulting in the creation of Pakistan. **Punjab Muslim League, a branch of the organ ...

activist, questioned her attempt, arguing that Muslim women would not agree with Ali's proposal if Muslim men did not accept her electoral proposal. The AIWC advocated for a common civil code that was consistent with the organization's commitments and that also took both non-communal and communal approaches. Ali and other Muslim women within the AIWC feared domination by

, but there were diverging opinions even among the Muslim women. Ali, as a Congress Muslim, justified her position by alluding to the

Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq ...

i and Turkish secular models, as well as the

Indian penal code The Indian Penal Code (IPC) is the official criminal code of India. It is a comprehensive code intended to cover all substantive aspects of criminal law. The code was drafted on the recommendations of first law commission of India established in ...

. Her position was challenged by Begum Sultan Mir Amiruddin, who claimed that: In the end, the AIWC hoped for a secular civil code and did not explicitly call for a common civil code. The marriage and inheritance rights proposal of the AIWC did pertain more to Hindu concerns than those of Muslim women.

UN Commission on the Status of Women

In February 1947, Ali represented India as one of 15 women to attend the first

. She worked alongside delegates from

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

, the

USSR The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nationa ...

, the

People's Republic of China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

Costa Rica Costa Rica (, ; ; literally "Rich Coast"), officially the Republic of Costa Rica ( es, República de Costa Rica), is a country in the Central American region of North America, bordered by Nicaragua to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the no ...

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

Guatemala Guatemala ( ; ), officially the Republic of Guatemala ( es, República de Guatemala, links=no), is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the north and west by Mexico; to the northeast by Belize and the Caribbean; to the east by H ...

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

Syria Syria ( ar, سُورِيَا or سُورِيَة, translit=Sūriyā), officially the Syrian Arab Republic ( ar, الجمهورية العربية السورية, al-Jumhūrīyah al-ʻArabīyah as-Sūrīyah), is a Western Asian country loc ...

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...

, the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

, 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 ...

, and

Venezuela Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, link=no, República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many islands and islets in th ...

. At the commission, Ali and the other delegates established the guiding principles of the commission: Today, the commission is still guided by these principles, and has influenced the drafting of resolutions related to Ali's work in India in the 1950s and 1960s. This includes the

United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) is an international document adopted by the United Nations General Assembly that enshrines the Human rights, rights and freedoms of all human beings. Drafted by a UN Drafting of the Universal De ...

and the

Convention on Consent to Marriage, Minimum Age for Marriage and Registration of Marriages The Convention on Consent to Marriage, Minimum Age for Marriage, and Registration of Marriages is a treaty agreed upon in the United Nations on the standards of marriage. The treaty was drafted by the Commission on the Status of Women and opene ...

References

Bibliography

* Everett, Jana Matson. "'All the Women Were Hindu and All the Muslims Were Men': State, Identity Politics and Gender, 1917-1951." Economic and Political Weekly 36, no. 23 (2001): 2071–080. * Forbes, Geraldine. ''Women in Modern India''. Cambridge University Press. Vol. IV,2. State University of New York, 1996. * Hannan, Carolyn, Aina Iiyambo, and Christine Brautigam. “A SHORT HISTORY OF THE COMMISSION ON THE STATUS OF WOMEN.” ''United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN Women)'', 2019. * Jain, Devaki. ''Women, Development, and the UN: A Sixty-Year Quest for Equality and Justice.'' Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2005. https://muse.jhu.edu/ (accessed March 11, 2019). * * * Shamsie, Muneeza (11 July 2015). And the World Changed: Contemporary Stories by Pakistani Women. Feminist Press at The City University of New York. pp. 5–. . * * Srivastava, Gouri. ''The Legend Makers: Some Eminent Women of India''. New Delhi: Concept Pub. Co., 2003. * Wayne, Tiffany K. ''Feminist Writings from Ancient Times to the Modern World: A Global Sourcebook and History''. Greenwood, 2011. * Woodsmall, Ruth Frances. Women in the Changing Islamic System. BIMLA Publishing House, 1936. * Zabel, Darcy A . “Shareefah Hamid Ali.” In ''Feminist Writings from Ancient Times to the Modern World : A Global Sourcebook and History'', 514–16. ABC-CLIO, LLC, 2011. {{DEFAULTSORT:Ali, Shareefa Hamid 1883 births 1971 deaths People from Vadodara Indian feminists Proponents of Islamic feminism 20th-century Indian Muslims 19th-century Indian Muslims Tyabji family