Hansa Mehta: The Five Words That Changed Human Rights

The first line of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights could have read “All men are born free and equal”. One Indian woman in the room said no.

Hansa Mehta argued the words should say “all human beings”. Eleanor Roosevelt thought “men” already meant everyone. Mehta held her ground, and the text changed.

1Who was Hansa Mehta?

Hansa Mehta was born on 3 July 1897 in Surat. Her father, Manubhai Mehta, taught philosophy at Baroda College. He later became Dewan of Baroda State. Her grandfather wrote the first Gujarati novel, Karan Ghelo.

She studied philosophy and graduated in 1918. She then went to England to study journalism and sociology. There she met Sarojini Naidu, who became her mentor. Naidu took her to a women’s suffrage conference in Geneva in 1920.

She met Gandhi in 1922 and joined the freedom movement in earnest after 1930. She picketed shops selling foreign cloth and liquor. She went to jail three times. She also married Jivraj Mehta, a physician who later became the first Chief Minister of Gujarat.

• Born 3 July 1897, in Surat.
• Mentor: Sarojini Naidu, met in 1918.
• Jailed three times in the freedom struggle.
• Husband Jivraj Mehta: first CM of Gujarat.
• Read about Sarojini Naidu.

2What did the Women’s Charter say?

Mehta was president of the All India Women’s Conference in 1945 and 1946. In December 1945 she led the drafting of the Indian Women’s Charter of Rights and Duties. Several women worked on it, including Kamaladevi Chattopadhyay and Renuka Ray.

The charter said women should have equal rights to education, the vote, pay and property. It rejected special quotas. It asked for a level playing field between women and men.

It also linked two struggles. India’s fight for freedom and women’s fight for equality were the same cause. She presented the charter to several bodies, including the Cabinet Mission.

• President of the All India Women’s Conference, 1945 to 1946.
• Women’s Charter of Rights and Duties, December 1945.
• Demands: equal education, vote, pay and property.
• Read about Renuka Ray and Kamaladevi Chattopadhyay.

3What did she do in the Constituent Assembly?

Mehta was one of only 15 women in the Constituent Assembly. She served on its Advisory Committee and its Fundamental Rights Sub-Committee. Rajkumari Amrit Kaur sat with her there.

The two women wrote notes of dissent. They objected to compulsory military service. They also questioned some limits on freedom of religion. They wanted the Directive Principles to guide all governance.

Mehta also spoke in the debates on the Hindu Code Bill. She reminded the Assembly that India was a secular state. In her view, adoption rules rooted in religion did not belong in secular law.

Accounts say that at midnight on 15 August 1947 she presented the national flag to the Assembly, on behalf of the women of India.

• One of 15 women in the Assembly.
• Member of the Fundamental Rights Sub-Committee.
• Wrote notes of dissent with Rajkumari Amrit Kaur.
• Flag presented on 15 August 1947, per accounts.
• Read about Ammu Swaminathan and Begum Aizaz Rasul.

4How did she change the UDHR?

In 1947 and 1948 Mehta served as India’s delegate on the UN Human Rights Commission. She was one of only two women delegates there. The other was Eleanor Roosevelt.

The early draft of Article 1 began “All men are born free and equal”. Roosevelt said “men” was generally accepted to include everyone. Mehta disagreed. She feared that some countries could read “men” narrowly and use it to deny women equal rights.

Her view won. Article 1 now reads “All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights”. It is a tiny edit. Yet it shaped rights language across the world.

In 1950 she became vice chair of the UN Human Rights Commission. She also later joined the UNESCO executive board.

• Delegate on the UN Human Rights Commission, 1947 to 1948.
• Changed all men to all human beings in Article 1.
• Opposed by Eleanor Roosevelt on this point.
• Vice chair of the Commission in 1950.

5What did she do for education?

Mehta was Vice-Chancellor of SNDT Women’s University from 1946 to 1948. Then she led Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda from 1949 to 1958. She is called the first woman to hold that post at an Indian co-educational university.

At Baroda she hired young teachers from across the country. The sociologist M. N. Srinivas wrote that under her the university became an innovative centre of learning. She was ready to take risks on promising young scholars.

She also served on the All India Secondary Board of Education and as president of the Inter-University Board. She believed in equal chances for girls and boys in schools.

• SNDT Women’s University: 1946 to 1948.
• Baroda university: 1949 to 1958.
• First woman to head an Indian co-educational university.
• Her UN work and her university work overlapped.

6What are the exam traps?

Credit for the UDHR wording is a common slip.

• Do not credit Eleanor Roosevelt alone; Mehta pushed all human beings.
• Two roles: the Fundamental Rights Sub-Committee and the UN Human Rights Commission.
• The Women’s Charter is 1945, before independence.
• Her husband was Jivraj Mehta, first CM of Gujarat.
• Many women sat in the Assembly: do not mix up Mehta with Amrit Kaur.