INVC,,
Delhi,,
The President of India Smt Pratibha Devisingh Patil released a commemorative postage stamp on freedom fighter Smt Subhadra Joshi here this evening. Shri Kapil Sibal, Union Minister of Communications and Information Technology was also present on the occasion.
Smt Subhadra Joshi was born on 23rd March 1919 in a well known family in Sialkot (now in Pakistan). She was one of the veterans of freedom struggle who dedicated her life to preserving and promoting national integration, communal harmony, social justice for the minorities, weaker sections and the handicapped.
Attracted by the ideals of Gandhiji, she visited his Ashram at Wardha when she was studying in Lahore. As a Student she took part in the Quit India Movement in 1942. She went underground and edited a journal ‘Hamara Sangram’. For the education of dalit children she opened evening schools in Delhi. She was arrested and sent to Lahore Central Jail.
During the dark days of Partition she set up a peace volunteer organization ‘Shanti Dal’ which went from door to door spreading the Gandhiji’s message of peace and amity. She also organized rehabilitation of evacuees from Pakistan.
As a parliamentarian for four terms, she made an outstanding contribution to the passage of Special Marriage Act, the Nationalization of Banks, Abolition of Privy Purses, Aligarh University Amendment Act and others. Above all, she pioneered the move to amend the code for Criminal Procedure whereby organized propaganda leading to fear or ill will among communities was made a cognizable offence.
