Safia Abdul Wajid
Safia Abdul Wajid | |
|---|---|
| Member of the Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly | |
| In office 1952–1957 | |
| Constituency | Bareilly East |
Safia Abdul Wajid, also known as Begum Abdul Wajid, was an Indian educator, political activist and an elected representative in the State Assembly of Uttar Pradesh (UP).[1][2][3] She became an active participant in the Indian independence movement after quitting her position as a Mathematics lecturer at a government institution during the 1942 Quit India Movement to protest British rule.[4][5][3]
She was elected to the Moradabad (North-East) constituency of the United Provinces Legislative Assembly, having contested as a 'Nationalist Muslim' candidate in the 1946 Indian provincial elections.[6][7]
Post-independence, she remained active in politics and served as a Member of Legislative Assembly (MLA) from the Bareilly East constituency of Uttar Pradesh, having won the election to the seat in 1952 (1st Uttar Pradesh Assembly).[1][2] She was one of the first female members (MLA) of a State Legislative Assembly in independent India and, thus far, one of the few Muslim women to be elected to the UP State Assembly.[2]
She was married to Maulvi Abdul Wajid, an advocate and freedom fighter himself, who was elected to the Rohilkhand and Kumaun Divisions constituency in 1938 and was subsequently imprisoned by the British in 1941 for his role in the Indian independence movement.[3][8]
See also
[edit]Women's political participation in India
References
[edit]- ^ a b "1952 UP Election Results" Election Commission of India website
- ^ a b c Shukla, Shashi; Shukla, Sashi (1996). "Political Participation of Muslim Women". The Indian Journal of Political Science. 57 (1/4): 1–13. JSTOR 41855734.
- ^ a b c Samiuddin, Abida; Khanam, Rashida (2002). Muslim Feminism and Feminist Movement: South Asia. India: Global Vision Publishing House. p. 77. ISBN 978-81-87746-00-3.
- ^ "Eminent Personalities of Indian History (2016)".
- ^ "Freedom Fighters of India & Significant Personalities".
- ^ Deutsch, Karin Anne (1998). Muslim women in colonial North India circa 1920-1947 : politics, law and community identity (PhD thesis). UK: University of Cambridge. pp. 255, 268.
- ^ Reeves, Peter; Graham, Bruce Desmond; Goodman, JM (1975). A Handbook to Elections in Uttar Pradesh, 1920-1951 (PDF). p. 359.
- ^ Reeves, Peter; Graham, Bruce Desmond; Goodman, JM (1975). A Handbook to Elections in Uttar Pradesh, 1920-1951 (PDF). pp. 49, 51.