Annie Mascarene was the only women member from south India
in the Constituent assembly, founder member of Travancore state congress.
Mascarene was born into a Latin Catholic family. Her father Gabriel Mascarene
was a government official of the Travancore State. She did a double MA in
history and economics in 1925 and then went on to earn a degree in law
following her return from a teaching stint in Ceylon at the Maharaja's Colleges
for Arts and Law, Trivandrum.
Mascarene was one of the first women to
join the Travancore State Congress and became the first woman to be part of the
Travancore State Congress Working Committee.Along with others like Akkamma
Cherian and Pattom Thanu Pillai, she was one of the front line leaders in the
Travancore State of the people's movements for independence and integration
with the Indian nation. For her political activism she was imprisoned for
various periods from 1939—47.
Mascarene was elected to the First Lok
Sabha as an independent candidate from the Thiruvananthapuram Lok Sabha
constituency in the Indian general election, 1951. She was the first woman
MP from Kerala and one of only 10 elected to Parliament in those
elections Prior to her election to Parliament, Mascarene had been member
of the Travancore-Cochin Legislative Assembly from 1948—52and had served
briefly as Minister in Charge of Health and Power in the Parur T K Narayana
Pillai Ministry during 1949-1950.[8] She was also one of the members of the
Constituent Assembly of India and served on its select committee that looked
into the Hindu Code Bill.[9][10] In the second General Elections of 1957, she
was defeated in Thiruvananthapuram by S Easwaran, coming fourth in a contest
that also featured her erstwhile colleague in the Travancore Congress, Pattom
Thanu Pillai
A bronze statue of Annie Mascarene was
built at the Annie Mascarene Square at Vazhuthacaud in Thiruvananthapuram and
it was unveiled by Vice President Hamid Ansari in September 2013.Inaugurating the memorial meeting, Mr.
Onakkoor said Mascrene's life exemplified her noble ideals. Presiding over the
function, the former Public Service Commission member George Varghese said it
was unfortunate that the State had failed to recognise the sacrifices made by
Mascrene. Aikya Vedi president A. James Fernandez and the former MLA Alphonsa
John spoke
Speaking at a memorial meeting organised by the Annie Mascrene
Smaraka Samithi , Pankajakshan described the first woman Minister and
member of the Constituent Assembly as one of the bravest women in India. The
entire country was proud of Mascrene. She never represented a particular caste
or community.Thiruvananthapuram Athirupatha chancellor Rev. C. Joseph presided
over the function.M. James Fernandez, George Oonakkoor, K. E. Mammen, Pozhiyoor
Kanakarajan, Kumbalam Joy, Melvin Vinod and G. Placid Annie Mascrene Junior
were among those who spoke on the occasion.
Prof. John Kurakar
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