In this extract from an interview recorded in 1975, Kamaladevi Chattopadhyay remembers being attracted to political activism after hearing about Gandhi’s ideas. She explains that his goal was not limited to ending British rule in India: he also wanted to create a better society and to fight against social and economic inequality.

Who was Kamaladevi Chattopadhyay?

Kamaladevi Chattopadhyay was an Indian social reformer, freedom fighter and activist, well known for her dedication to the Indian independence movement and advocacy for Indian women. She was a member of the Indian National Congress, and was actively involved in Gandhi’s salt satyagraha in 1930, despite women being officially excluded from the movement. She was also president of the All India Women’s Conference, the founding leader of the Indian Co-operative Union and a published author. Chattopadhyay was also an advocate of Indian art and culture. She established the Indian National Theatre in 1944 and promoted a revival of traditional Indian handicrafts.

About the British in India Oral Archive

These interviews were carried out between 1975 and 1976 to supplement the BBC's popular Plain Tales of the Raj radio series. The project was jointly conducted by the National Sound Archive (NSA), the India Office Library & Records (IOLR) and the School of Oriental and African Studies. The NSA and the IOLR became part of the British Library in the early 1980s and are now known as the British Library Sound Archive and the India Office Records respectively. The collection includes interviews conducted in the UK, India and Pakistan with a wide range of people, including Lord Mountbatten, B K Nehru and British civil servants. The interviews cover the role of the Viceroy, the royal family, missionary work, the police force, the Indian Civil Service in Burma, trade and shipping in Calcutta (now Kolkata), the Japanese invasion during the Second World War and the Nehru family. The interviews were conducted almost exclusively with those who had roles in the administration of the British government in India, and this is reflected in their content. The full recordings from the British in India Oral Archive are archived at the British Library Sound Archive, with collection reference C5.

KAMALADEVI CHATTOPADHYAY:

From the time Gandhiji’s leadership arose, I became much more attracted towards the political question. Before that I was reading so much about the other leaders and about the political question. I used to very diligently read newspapers. But there was a difference in the message that he brought to me. Until then, the whole idea of self-government for India meant replacing the British by the Indian, we would have our own regime. But he brought a new factor into this whole question. And that was his interpretation of freedom was in terms of changing the life of the people. Socially I was much more stimulated and perhaps I may use the work agitated, why there should be social and economic differences, why there should be caste distinctions, why there should be poor and the rich, why some should have some things and others not have them.  It bothered me really in a way much more than the whole political question, and it was the first time he directed his attention to this question. And I felt that here was the answer, that political change must mean social and economic changes.