Anjalai Ammal (Aged 71) was born on June 1, 1890, in Kadalur, Tamil Nadu, India. She was a social worker and reformer who started her political activism in 1921 with the Non-Cooperation Movement. Later, she took part in the Neil Statue Satyagraha, Salt Satyagraha, and Quit India Movement.
Anjalai Ammal’s courage was well known, and Mahatma Gandhi referred to her as South India’s Jhansi Rani. When Gandhi came to Kadalur to meet her, the British government prohibited their meeting. However, Anjalai Ammal managed to meet him by disguising herself in a burqa. She also encouraged her nine-year-old daughter, Leelavathy, to participate in the protests, and Gandhi himself named her.
Anjalai Ammal spent more than four and a half years in jail and gave birth to her last son while incarcerated. Her biography is included in the Class 8 second-semester Tamil textbook. Her husband, Murugappa, her daughter, Leelavathy, and Leelavathy’s husband, Jamadhagni, were also freedom fighters.
In 1931, Anjalai Ammal presided over the All India Women Congress Meet. The following year, she participated in another struggle and was sent to Vellore prison while pregnant. After giving birth, she was released on bail but sent back to Vellore prison within two weeks.
Despite the British government’s attempts to prevent Gandhi from visiting her, Anjalai Ammal visited him by horse cart while wearing a burqa. After India’s independence in 1947, she was elected thrice as a member of the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly. She passed away on February 20, 1961, in Kadalur, Tamil Nadu, India.
Anjalai Ammal
(1890 – 1961) – (Tamilnadu)
Anjalai Ammal (Aged 71) was born on June 1, 1890, in Kadalur, Tamil Nadu, India. She was a social worker and reformer who started her political activism in 1921 with the Non-Cooperation Movement. Later, she took part in the Neil Statue Satyagraha, Salt Satyagraha, and Quit India Movement.
Anjalai Ammal’s courage was well known, and Mahatma Gandhi referred to her as South India’s Jhansi Rani. When Gandhi came to Kadalur to meet her, the British government prohibited their meeting. However, Anjalai Ammal managed to meet him by disguising herself in a burqa. She also encouraged her nine-year-old daughter, Leelavathy, to participate in the protests, and Gandhi himself named her.
Anjalai Ammal spent more than four and a half years in jail and gave birth to her last son while incarcerated. Her biography is included in the Class 8 second-semester Tamil textbook. Her husband, Murugappa, her daughter, Leelavathy, and Leelavathy’s husband, Jamadhagni, were also freedom fighters.
In 1931, Anjalai Ammal presided over the All India Women Congress Meet. The following year, she participated in another struggle and was sent to Vellore prison while pregnant. After giving birth, she was released on bail but sent back to Vellore prison within two weeks.
Despite the British government’s attempts to prevent Gandhi from visiting her, Anjalai Ammal visited him by horse cart while wearing a burqa. After India’s independence in 1947, she was elected thrice as a member of the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly. She passed away on February 20, 1961, in Kadalur, Tamil Nadu, India.
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