Brinda Karat
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| Brinda Karat | |
 Brinda Karat |
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Member of Parliament (Rajya Sabha)
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| In office 2005-2011 |
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| Constituency | West Bengal |
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| Born | 17 October 1947 Calcutta, West Bengal |
| Political party | Communist Party of India (Marxist) |
| Spouse | Prakash Karat |
| Residence | New Delhi |
| As of January 25, 2007 Source: [1] |
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Brinda Karat (b. 1947)[1] is a communist politician from India, elected to the Rajya Sabha as a Communist Party of India (Marxist) CPI(M) member, on April 11, 2005 for West Bengal.
In 2005, she became the first woman member of the CPI(M) Politburo [2]. She has also been the general secretary of the All India Democratic Women's Association (AIDWA) from 1993 to 2004 [3] [4], and thereafter its Vice President [5].
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[edit] Biography
[edit] Childhood and Education
Brinda Karat was born on October 17, 1947 in Calcutta, where she spent her early childhood in a family of four siblings, including one brother and three sisters. Her father, Sooraj Lal Das who was from Lahore, later became the head of the British engineering firm, Stuarts and Lloyds based in Calcutta. She lost her mother Oshrukona Mitra, at the age of five.
Brinda was educated at the elite Welham Girls School in Dehradun and at 16, went on to do her Bachelors at Miranda House, a college affiliated to the University of Delhi. In 1971, she enrolled for her Masters degree in History at the University of Calcutta.
[edit] Political career
In 1967, she left for London, where she worked with Air India at Bond Street for four years. While working for Air India, she campaigned against the mandatory wearing of skirts in the airlines, after which she became an activist.
In an interview, Karat says she returned to India motivated to work for the people [6]. While working in London, she became associated with the anti-imperialist, and anti-war movements during the Vietnam War and Marxist ideology [7]. She also attributes many of her political ideals to the economist Devaki Jain, her professor at Miranda House.[6]
In 1971, she decided to leave her job and return to Calcutta, where she joined the Communist Party of India (Marxist) CPI (M) in 1971, under the guidance of B.T. Ranadive. On the suggestion of the party to understand practical politics, she joined the Calcutta University [6]. Initially she worked with students in the college campus and later during the Bangladesh war at refugee camps in the city.
In 1975, she shifted to Delhi and started working as a trade union organiser with textile mill workers in North Delhi. She grew to be active with worker's movements and the Indian women's movements [8]. She gained prominence in the campaign for reform of rape laws in the 1980s. Karat resigned from the central committee of the CPI(M)protesting the lack of representation of women. Even today, Brinda stands out as a prominent campaigner for gender issues [9].
On April 11, 2005, she was elected to the Indian Parliament, Rajya Sabha as a CPI(M) member, for West Bengal.
In 2005, only after the inclusion of 5 women members to the Central Committee did Brinda Karat agree to be nominated to the exclusive 17 member Politburo. [2]. The Politburo is the highest decision-making body of the party and Brinda Karat is its first woman member [10].
[edit] Recent Controversies
[edit] Remarks on Baba Ramdev
Her controversial remarks accusing famous Hindu seer Baba Ramdev of violating labor laws, and publicising accusations about his workers mixing human body parts in potions [11], have drawn strong condemnation from some in North India, including reprimands from politicians like Sharad Pawar, Mulayam Singh Yadav, Ambika Soni, and Narayan Dutt Tiwari. Pawar noted that Baba Ramdev's 'scientific approach' to yoga was useful [12] while Laloo Prasad Yadav denounced Karat's allegations [13]. Subsequent she received legal notice on the behalf of a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader in Faridabad [14].
[edit] Election Controversy
While her party, CPI (M) had earlier protested, Prime minister, Manmohan Singh's election to Rajya Sabha from Assam, a state he has never been domiciled in, subsequently in 2005, Brinda Karat's own non-domiciled election to Rajya Sabha from West Bengal, a state that she has not lived in the since she left after postgraduate work, created a controversy. However, she was born and spent her early childhood in Calcutta and later started her political activism definitely in Bengal[citation needed].
[edit] Family
Brinda married Prakash Karat, then a party colleague, in 1975, Prakash Karat is now the General secretary of CPI(M). Her sister Radhika Roy is married to Prannoy Roy, founder and CEO of NDTV. In 2005, she acted in Amu [15], a film made by her niece, Shonali Bose, on the Anti-Sikh riots in 1984.
[edit] Literary Works
Brinda is the author of Survival and Emancipation:Notes from Indian Women's Struggles. This is a comprehensive book on the wide ranging concerns of the women’s movements in India from a left perspective [2][3].
[edit] Bibliography
- Survival and Emancipation: Notes from Indian Women's Struggles. Three Essays Collective, New Delhi, 2005. ISBN 8188789372.
[edit] References
- ^ Interview, livemint
- ^ a b Book Review, Frontline, Jul 02 - 15, 2005
- ^ a b Author profile, threeessays
- ^ New woman on top December 2004
- ^ The 7th National Conference of AIDWA, Frontline, Dec. 04 - 17, 2004
- ^ a b c The Rediff Interview/Marxist leader Brinda Karat
- ^ Interview, The Tribune,February 8, 2004
- ^ The Faceless Female Worker, The Times of India, 22 Jun 2005
- ^ `It is a question of political will', Interview, Frontline, July 2005
- ^ Interview, Rediff part 2
- ^ In the name of Ayurveda, The Frontline, Feb. 10, 2006
- ^ Pawar appreciates work of Ramdev The Hindu - January 9, 2006
- ^ Asia Times, Jan 28, 2006
- ^ Legal Notice over Ramdev Issue
- ^ Brinda Karat at the Internet Movie Database
