Indian Constitutional Discourse on Feminism

• The ‘founding mothers’ co-authored the Constitution, a role often overlooked.

• Women members carried the feminist movement through the Constituent Assembly.

• Christine Keating argues that the founding fathers subjugated women, establishing equality in the public sphere and sanctioning discriminatory personal laws.

• The founding mothers formed an alliance with B.R. Ambedkar for social revolution.

• Amrit Kaur argued that women were no longer willing to submit to male-conscience standards.

• The founding mothers conceived Fundamental Rights as injunctions against the state and a social charter.

• Hansa Mehta and Amrit Kaur demanded a Uniform Civil Code to arrest social patriarchal power.

• The Directive Principles, incorporated at the founding mothers’ behest, played a vital role in the ascendancy of Directive Principles in Indian constitutional jurisprudence.

• Despite the Constitution guaranteeing equality, the Indian Republic failed to achieve it.

• Post the passing of the ‘founding mothers’, Indian feminist constitutionalism has been affected, with a lack of feminist stateswoman or jurist.