Towards the end of the 19th century, Indian nationalists began raising the demand for greater Indian participation in legislative and other administrative bodies which impinged on every aspect of their lives. Partly in response to these demands, but also in order to expand the circle of collaborators who would ensure the continued stability of British rule in India, some gradual changes were effected in the system of representation to include more and more Indians. But such concessions were also part of a policy of divide and rule, setting one group off against another through systems of electoral ‘protection’.

Broadening the Circle of Collaborators

Beginning with the Indian Councils Act of 1892, there was a gradual expansion of the inclusion of Indians in local governance. The Indian Councils Act of 1909 following the Minto–Morley Reforms, the Government of India Act of 1919 following the Montagu–Chelmsford Proposals of 1918 and, finally, the Government of India Act of 1935, under which elections were held in the provinces in 1937, were part of a process of constitutional reform which yielded more political space to sections of Indian society. The struggle for legal remedies to the social problems affecting women that was waged throughout the 19th century was given a new meaning in the 20th century when the broader struggle for independence got under way. Complex demands for women's right to the vote on the same terms as men began to be made, as women fought for their right to represent themselves. But interesting and important disagreements emerged between women themselves, and between colonial authorities and nationalist leaders.

It is often pointed out that the mobilization of women in the Indian national movement was unique, with important legacies for their continued involvement in public/political life in South Asia today. It is also claimed that Indian women were granted equal rights to suffrage at the moment of independence without any sustained political struggle.