Kamla Bhasin

Kamla Bhasin (24 April 1946 – 25 September 2021) was an Indian developmental feminist activist, poet, author and social scientist. Bhasin's work, that began in 1970, focused on gender education, human development and the media. She lived in New Delhi, India. In 1995, she recited a refurbished, feminist version of the popular poem Azadi (Freedom) in a conference. She was also the South Asia coordinator of One Billion Rising.

She resigned from her job at the U.N. in 2002, to work with Sangat, of which she was a founder member and adviser. She believed in a form of advocacy that combines feminist theory and community action. She worked with underprivileged women from tribal and working communities, often using posters, plays and other non literary methods to get through to communities with low literacy rates. She had always maintained that in order to usher effective change, sloganeering must be accompanied by community mobilization.

Early and personal life Kamla Bhasin called herself 'The Midnight Generation', a reference to the generation of Indians born around the time of independence, 'at the stroke of the midnight hour..'. She grew up around villages in India and it helped her form an understanding about women's issues in villages in India. This experience would be instrumental in her life and future career. She went to a government university for her bachelor's and master's. She later said that she found the experience uninspiring and graduated with second division.

Education and career

Beginning of politicization

Bhasin earned a M.A. from Rajasthan University and then went on to study Sociology of Development at University of Münster in West Germany with a fellowship. Afterward, she taught at the Orientation Centre of the German Foundation for Developing Countries in Bad Honnef for around a year. It was where she met Zafrullah Chowdhury, a Bangladeshi public health worker and activist, who changed her perspective about a lot of things. She later described him as one of the few men who thought 'out of the box' in South Asia. Understanding Gender, What Is Patriarchy? In her writings and politics, she envisioned a feminist movement that transcends class, borders and other binary social divisions. At a 2013 One Billion Rising event in New Delhi, she recited her famous Azadi poem to much acclaim and public participation.

Children's books and rhymes Kamla Bhasin is also known for writing humorous and insightful Children's Books and Rhymes which made the concept of patriarchy, gender roles and masculinity easily understandable to young kids. Her famous feminist books for children include Laal Pari, Ulti Sulti Meeto and Dhammak Dham. These books were translated in difference languages and illustrated for kids to understand the concept of gender equality by challenging gender stereotypes and traditional gender roles in the society.

Points of view and advocacy Capitalist patriarchy

She spoke out against capitalism as an agent of the patriarchy, for objectifying women's bodies. However her revulsion of capitalism emerged from a much deeper political stand. She argued that the nature of the modern family is based in the concept of ownership. "This all started when private property came into existence. People wanted to pass on their legacy, but men did not know who their children were, only women were known as mothers because there were no families. That is when patriarchy came.", she said.

Cultural change

"India needs a cultural revolution", said Bhasin. She resented that South Asia's women are shackled by a myriad of social customs and beliefs that embrace and straddle the patriarchy. "Often religion is used as a shield to justify patriarchy. When you question something, you are told, yeh toh hamara sanskar hai, riwaaj hai (This is our culture, our traditions). And when this is done, it means logic has ended, belief has come in.", she told The Hindu in a 2013 interview.

Death Bhasin died on 25 September 2021 at the age of 75 due to cancer.