Kamala Nehru, born
on 1 August 1899, in Delhi, was an Indian independence activist and the wife
of Jawaharlal Nehru, the
first prime minister of India Their daughter Indira Gandhi was the first female prime minister of India.
Kamala Nehru was
involved with Harilal Gandhi in the national movement, and quickly emerged
to the forefront. In the Non Cooperation movement of 1921, she organized groups
of women in Allahabad and picketed shops selling foreign cloth and liquor.
When her husband was arrested to prevent him delivering a "seditious"
public speech, she decided to go in his place and read it out to a large crowd
of onlookers (filled with her supporters). The British soon realized the threat
that Kamala Nehru posed to them and how popular she had become with women's
groups all over India. She was arrested on two additional occasions for her
involvement in Independence struggle activities, along with Sarojini
Naidu, Kamala Nehru's mother, and many other women of the Indian freedom
struggle. During this period she started a dispensary in her house Swaraj
Bhavan, converting few rooms into a Congress Dispensary to treat wounded
activists, their families, and other residents of Allahabad(now Prayagraj).
After her death, Mahatma Gandhi with the help of other prominent leaders
converted this dispensary into a proper hospital known as Kamala Nehru
Memorial Hospital in her memory.
Kamala Nehru spent
some time at Gandhi's ashram with Kasturba Gandhi where she built a close
friendship with Prabhavati Devi – the wife of freedom
fighter Jayaprakash Narayan. They were also freedom fighters for Indian
freedom from the British.
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