Purnima Banerjee

Purnima Banerjee (née Ganguly, 1911-1951[1]) was an Indian anti-colonial nationalist and a member of the Constituent Assembly of India from 1946 to 1950.[2][3]

Purnima Banerjee
Born
Purnima Ganguly

1911
Kalka, Punjab
Died1951
Nainital, India
NationalityIndian
Other namesThe member of Constituent Assembly
Occupation(s)Indian independence activist, member of the Constituent Assembly of India
Political partyIndian National Congress
RelativesAruna Asaf Ali (sister)
Dhirendranath Ganguly (uncle)
Trailokyanath Sanyal (grand-father)

Early life and career

She was the younger sister of famous freedom fighter, educator and activist Aruna Asaf Ali.[4] Their father Upendranath Ganguly was a restaurant owner who hailed from Barisal district of Eastern Bengal (now Bangladesh) but settled in United Provinces.[5] Her mother Ambalika Devi was the daughter of renowned Brahmo scholar Trailokyanath Sanyal who wrote many Brahmo hymns.[6] Upendranath Ganguly's younger brother Dhirendranath Ganguly (DG) was one of the earliest film directors.[7] Another brother, Nagendranath, was a university professor who married Nobel Prize winner Rabindranath Tagore's only surviving daughter Mira Devi.[8] As secretary of the Indian National Congress committee in Allahabad, she was responsible for engaging and organizing trade unions, kisan meetings and work towards greater rural engagement. She took part in the Salt March and the Quit India Movement and was subsequently imprisoned.[9] Later, she became a member of the Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly and of the Constituent Assembly of India.[10]

Death

Suffering from ill-health, she died prematurely in Nainital in 1951, a few years after the independence.[11]

References
  1. Jayaprakash Narayan (2003). Bimal Prasad (ed.). Selected Works. Vol. 4. Manohar. p. 135. ISBN 9788173043536.
  2. Kumar, Rajesh (January 2022), "Equality for Women: The Constituent Assembly Debates and the Making of Equality Jurisprudence by and for Women", Social Change, SAGE: 1–19, doi:10.1177/00490857211040255,  The CA had 299 members: 15 women and 284 men. The names of the women members who were part of the CA were: Ammu Swaminathan, Begum Aizaz Rasul, Dakshayani Velayudhan, Durgabai Deshmukh, Hansa Jivraj Mehta, Kamla Chaudhry, Leela Roy, Malati Choudhury, Purnima Banerjee, Rajkumari Amrit Kaur, Renuka Ray, Sarojini Naidu, Sucheta Kriplani, Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit and Annie Mascarene. Nearly all of these women members were associated with the national movement, and their commitment to the cause of women since pre-Independence days was remarkable.
  3. "Purnima Banerji (1911 – 1951)". Women Architects of the Indian Republic. 1 April 2016. Retrieved 26 April 2018.
  4. Sonia Gandhi, ed. (2005). Two Alone, Two Together. Penguin. p. xxvi.
  5. G. N. S. Raghavan (1999). Aruna Asaf Ali: A Compassionate Radical. National Book Trust. ISBN 9788123727622.
  6. G. N. S. Raghavan (1999). Aruna Asaf Ali: A Compassionate Radical. National Book Trust. ISBN 9788123727622.
  7. G. N. S. Raghavan (1999). Aruna Asaf Ali: A Compassionate Radical. National Book Trust. ISBN 9788123727622.
  8. Krishna Dutta and Andrew Robinson, ed. (1997). Selected Letters of Rabindranath Tagore. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0521-59018-3.
  9. R. S. Tripathi, R. P. Tiwari (1999). Perspectives on Indian Women. APH Publishing. p. 142. ISBN 81-7648-025-8.
  10. Bhula, Pooja (24 January 2014). "15 women involved in shaping the Indian Constitution". Daily News and Analysis. Retrieved 22 August 2015.
  11. Jawaharlal Nehru (1994). "Letter to Vijaylakshmi Pandit dated 2 June 1951". In Sarvepalli Gopal (ed.). Selected Works. Navrang. ISBN 9780195634785.


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