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ANNIE BESANT
Annie Besant was born in England in 1847. She married at 20, but
her growing disillusionment with her marriage and the desire to do
something substantial led her to separate from her husband and take
up writing. This brought her into contact with the Free Thinker
movement in England. Besant's friendship with writer George
Bernard Shaw helped her join the Fabian Society in 1885.
In 1889, she joined the Theosophical Society led by Madame Helena
Petrovna Blavatsky. It was theosophy that brought her to India in
1893. The society had shifted its major activities to India in
1879. She embraced India's traditions and habits, and worked
towards bringing about a new self-respect, a pride in the past and
a firm belief in the future among its people.
Besant's stay in Madras brought her in contact with intellectuals
and political leaders. An ardent supporter of the freedom
struggle, she was attracted to the nascent Indian National
Congress.
Besant entered politics in 1913. To help her political work she
started a journal and, later, a weekly. In her writings, she
roused public opinion to support the self-rule movement. In 1915,
she brought differing groups on to a common platform - the All
India Home Rule League. Besant was placed under house arrest in
1917, which was met with loud protests. She was released in the
same year and elected president of the INC.
Developments from 1919 onwards led to a deterioration in her
relationship with the INC. Besant did not agree with Gandhi's
policy of using civil disobedience to force the British to concede
India's demands. She believed it would lead to violence and
bloodshed as the masses got out of control. The masses however,
chose Gandhi's path and Besant lost her stronghold rapidly.
When Besant's efforts to persuade the British government to accept
the demand for Dominion Status did not yield results, she was
bitterly disappointed and gradually faded away from politics.
Besant's health began to deteriorate and on September 20, 1933, she
passed away peacefully at her Adyar residence in Madras.
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