DR. Lakshmi Sehgal - Captain Lakshmi to generations of Indians - has been part of the great historical transition India has seen from colonial subjugation to freedom. A freedom fighter, a dedicated medical doctor, an outstanding leader of the women's movement in India, and a presidential candidate at the age of 87 in 2002, Captain Lakshmi represents the progressive and secular traditions of the freedom movement and the struggle for democracy, women's emancipation and socialism in free India.
Born Lakshmi Swaminadhan on September 24, 1914, to S. Swaminadhan, a lawyer from Chennai, and A.V. Ammukutty, a social worker and campaigner for women's rights, Lakshmi threw herself into the freedom movement at a young age, participating enthusiastically in the nationalist programmes of burning foreign goods and picketing liquor outlets. She chose to study medicine and received her MBBS degree from the Madras Medical College in 1938.
When Lakshmi left for Singapore in 1940 where she established herself as a successful and compassionate doctor, little did she know that the most momentous period of her life was near. In 1942 came the surrender of Singapore by the British to the Japanese. She joined the Indian National Army and was subsequently chosen by Subhas Chandra Bose to raise and lead a women's regiment, the Rani of Jhansi Regiment. Heading a well-trained fighting force of women recruits, she saw active duty on the Burma front. She was captured and brought to India in March 1946, where she was given a heroine's welcome.
Captain Lakshmi became active in left politics in the 1970's, first in the trade union movement and then in the women's movement. When the All India Democratic Women's Association (AIDWA) was established in 1981, she became its vicepresident and has since then been active in the campaigns and struggles - including the campaign for the introduction of the women's reservation Bill - of the largest women's organisation in India.
In 2002, Captain Lakshmi agreed to contest as a candidate of the Left parties in the presidential elections against the candidate supported by the National Democratic Alliance, A.P.J Abdul Kalam, the first woman candidate to contest for the country's highest constitutional post. She used the campaign and the all-India platform it created for her to campaign for issues that were dear to her heart - the issue of social and economic justice, women's empowerment, the secular traditions of the country and self-reliance.
At the age of 94, Captain Lakshmi still attends to patients at her clinic in Kanpur every day. Her inspiring crusade has not ceased.
Parvathi MenonCOMMents
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