Athena’s Ragas: In Search of the Founding Mothers of the Indian Republic

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What were the distinct contributions of women to the constitution, constitutional morality/moral imaginary and shaping of the Indian republic?

Celebrating 75 years of the Indian Constitution, in the efforts to foreground the voices of women leaders who help craft and strengthen democracy, this lecture and workshop highlighted the pivotal contributions of women members of the constituent assembly in shaping the modern Indian democratic republic.

Led by Prof. Achyut Chetan, author of Founding Mothers of the Indian Republic, using extensive archives and rare recordings to amplify and understand their role in shaping the discourse on substantive democracy, equality, justice and fraternity that informs India’s constitutional moorings.

Reclaiming the Founding Mothers of the Indian Constitution

The lecture featured thought-provoking insights from Mr. N.N. Vohra (former Governor of Jammu and Kashmir), Justice Gita Mittal (former Chief Justice of the Jammu and Kashmir High Court), and Dr. Meenakshi Gopinath. It illuminated the kaleidoscopic landscape of the Constituent Assembly, offering a powerful lens that placed women not on the margins, but as central architects in the making of the Constitution. The discussion also explored contemporary issues such as the Uniform Civil Code and climate justice, emphasizing the need to carry forward the legacy of the founding mothers in addressing the evolving challenges of our democracy.

Athena’s Ragas: In Search of the Founding Mothers of the Indian Constitution

A series of workshops were organized with profound insights by experts including Amb. Shyam Saran, and Prof. Neera Chandhoke, The discussions focused on the relevance of constitutional values in the present context, particularly the idea of fraternity and its role in enabling coexistence. Reflections explored the Constitution as a living document and considered how its rights framework can respond to current social and political shifts. Discussions focused on the continuing relevance of constitutional values, especially the idea of fraternity as a foundation for coexistence. Participants reflected on the Constitution as a living document and explored how its rights framework can respond to today’s social and political challenges.

Speakers highlighted the pioneering contributions of women in shaping the Indian Constitution. The bold ‘leap of faith’ in adopting universal adult franchise and their role in drafting the Universal Declaration of Human Rights were seen as foundational to India’s democratic vision. The framers’ commitment to constitutional morality—despite the deep anxieties of Partition—was praised for its foresight and courage. Their belief in solidarity across differences was powerfully conveyed through contemporary examples that deeply resonated with the audience. 

#ReclaimConstitution curated by Vinay Kumar, engaged with these themes through visual and narrative elements, bridging art, memory, and public discourse.

Rajiv Mehrotra has been a student of His Holiness for forty years. He travelled with His Holiness for the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony and helped establish the Foundation with the prize money. He serves as its Secretary & Trustee.

He was educated at St Stephen’s College and the Universities of Oxford and Columbia. He has authored nine books that have been published in more than 50 editions and languages. These include Mind of The Guru, Thakur-a Biography of Sri Ramakrishna and The Essential Dalai Lama. As an independent documentary filmmaker, commissioning editor and producer, Rajiv Mehrotra has won 32 National Awards in 34 years from the President of India. He serves as the Managing Trustee of The Public Service Broadcasting Trust, winning more than 300 awards worldwide from over 1,700 film festival selections.

For decades, he was a familiar face as an anchor on public television in India. He was nominated a Global Leader for Tomorrow by The World Economic Forum at Davos where he twice addressed plenary sessions. He is frequently invited to talk about His Holiness, on Buddhism, inter-faith harmony and issues related to the media. Rajiv Mehrotra has served on numerous Committees and Boards. He was a Judge for the Templeton Prize for Religion.

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Dr. Meenakshi Gopinath is currently Founder and Director of WISCOMP (Women in Security, Conflict Management and Peace), an initiative that seeks to promote the leadership of South Asian women in the areas of peace, security and regional cooperation. She is also Chair, Board of Governors, Centre for Policy Research (CPR), Life Trustee- India International Centre (IIC), and Principal Emerita of Lady Shri Ram College, New Delhi, where she served as Principal for 26 years from 1988-2014. She has been a member of the University Grants Commission (UGC), India.

Dr. Gopinath was the first woman to be nominated to the National Security Advisory Board (NSAB) of India. She is a member of multi-track peace initiatives and people-to-people dialogues in South Asia. She has authored among others Pakistan in Transition, and co-authored Conflict Resolution – Trends and Prospects, Transcending Conflict: A Resource book on Conflict Transformation and Dialogic Engagement and has contributed chapters and articles in several books and journals on Gandhi, the politics of Pakistan, Conflict Resolution, Gender and Peace Building et al. Her interests include issues of human rights and gender, conflict transformation and Buddhist and Gandhian philosophy and the performing Arts. She also headed the Task Force of the SAKSHAM Report of the University Grants Commission that initiated several policy reforms on Gender Equity on Higher Education Institutes in India

In recognition of her contribution to the field of women’s education and empowerment, she has received several awards including the Padma Shri Award, Indira Priyadarshini Gandhi Award, the Rajiv Gandhi Award for Excellence in Education and the Mahila Shiromani Award and the Delhi Citizen Forum Award and Qimpro Platinum Standard Award for Education and Celebrating Womanhood South Asian Recognition Award for Social Harmony and International Lifetime Achievement Award – 2009 for outstanding work in the field of justice, Equity, Peace and Progress and the L.M. Singhvi fellowship Award at the David Davies Memorial Institute of International Studies (DDMI), University of Wales, Aberystwyth, Award of the Honorary Doctorate Degree of Letters (Honoris Causa) for significant contribution to the education of women and the commitment to fostering global peace through Conflict Resolution, La Trobe University, Australia, Distinguished Alumna Award, by Lady Shri Ram College for Women, University of Delhi for meritorious contribution in the field of Education and Nirbhaya Puraskar 2017, by OYSS Women for exemplary courage and accomplishment in the field of Education. She was Distinguished Visiting Scholar, School of Social Sciences, Monash University (2015)

Dr. Gopinath serves on the Governing Boards of research institutes, NGOs, educational institutions and corporate bodies. Life Trustee- India International Centre (IIC), New Delhi. She is also a Board of Trustees of the Asian University for Women, Bangladesh, on the Council of UPEACE– a UN Mandated University, Shri Ram Foundation, Track Two initiatives in the South Asian region, Editor in Chief, Peace Prints- A South Asian Journal of Peacebuilding, New Delhi, and others. She has been a Fulbright scholar and has received several fellowships including the Australian International Education Foundation Fellowship (1996-97) and the University Grants Commission Indo-Israel Exchange Fellowship (1994-1996) among others.

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Seema Kakran is Deputy Director at WISCOMP with over two decades of experience of designing gender trainings and conducting research on issues of inclusion and diversity. A specialist in public policy analysis, political theory and evaluation methodologies, she holds a Graduate Certificate in Public Policy Analysis from University of Nebraska – Lincoln. She has also attended courses in Evaluation Methodology at INCORE, University of Ulster, Northern Ireland, and Gender Evaluation Methodology and Participatory Evaluation Training of Community of Evaluators (A South Asia Network). Seema has previously taught Political Science at the University of Delhi and the University of Nebraska–Lincoln, USA. She has completed pre-doctoral work at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and holds M.Phil and Masters’ degrees from Jawaharlal Nehru University and University of Delhi. Her research focuses on gender equality and socio-political conflicts in India.

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Manjri Sewak is Assistant Director of WISCOMP, currently on sabbatical pursuing a PhD in Education for Peace at the Nelson Mandela Center for Peace and Conflict Resolution, Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi. She has been associated with WISCOMP since its inception in 1999. A writer and trainer in the field of peacebuilding, Manjri holds expertise in conflict transformation and curriculum development. In 2004–5, she was part of a team that designed a Diploma Program in Conflict Transformation and Peacebuilding at Lady Shri Ram College, New Delhi, where she later served as a Visiting Faculty. Manjri has conducted peacebuilding workshops for university and school students across the country. She is the author of Multi-Track Diplomacy between India and Pakistan: A Conceptual Framework for Sustainable Security (2005), Bridging the Divide: Peacebuilding for a New Generation (2014), and co-author of Transcending Conflict: A Resource Book on Conflict Transformation (2003).

Manjri is a recipient of the RCSS-NTI Research Award and the Fulbright Conflict Resolution Scholarship. She holds a Masters’ degree in Conflict Transformation from the Center for Justice and Peacebuilding, Eastern Mennonite University, USA, and a Bachelors’ degree in Journalism from Lady Shri Ram College for Women.

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Sumona DasGupta is a Political Scientist, independent Researcher and a Senior Visiting Fellow with Participatory Research in Asia (PRIA). She is a Member of Calcutta Research Group, Kolkata, and the Chair of International Advisory Group at International Conflict Research Institute, University of Ulster in Northern Ireland. She has written extensively on conflict transformation, critical security studies, governance and politics in South Asia, particularly on Jammu and Kashmir and gender issues as a cross-cutting theme.

Dr. DasGupta was a Visiting Fellow at the Rajaratnam School of International Studies and Nanyang Technological University, Singapore in 2014 and Lead Researcher for PRIA on the European Union Research Project on Cultures of Governance and Conflict Resolution in Europe and India. Previously, she served as Assistant Director at WISCOMP.

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Dr. Mallika Joseph is a Senior Fellow at WISCOMP. She serves as Adjunct Professor at the National Institute of Advanced Sciences (NIAS), Bangalore and Visiting Fellow at the Centre for Policy Research (CPR), New Delhi. Until recently, she served as Policy Adviser and Regional Coordinator for the Asia Pacific at The Hague-based Global Partnership for the Prevention of Armed Conflict (GPPAC). Before that, she was a Professor and Head at the Department of National Security Studies, Central University of Jammu. Earlier, she was the Executive Director of the Regional Centre for Strategic Studies (RCSS), Sri Lanka, and the Director of the New Delhi-based Institute of Peace and Conflict Studies (IPCS).

She is part of many global and regional networks working on sustainable development goals, gender, security sector, human security, conflict prevention, regional architectures, and global governance. She has a Ph.D. in international relations and has worked on various issues relating to South Asian security. Some of her recent books/edited volumes include – Rise of China and India: Implications for the Asia Pacific; India’s Economic growth: Opportunities and Challenges for the Region; Demography in South Asia: Implications for the Regional and Global Political Narratives; and Reintroducing Human Security in South Asia. Her latest book is South Asian Perspectives on Sustainable Development and Gender Equality (2021). She is currently working on an edited volume on “Framing Democracy: Civil Society Perspectives from South Asia.”

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Nilova Roy Chaudhury is a senior journalist with over three decades of experience working as a Reporter, Writer, Analyst and Editor with some of the world’s leading print news publications, including The Washington Post, The International Herald Tribune, the Yomiuri Shimbun, the Hindustan Times, the Statesman and the Associated Press, among others. She founded The Indian Review of Global Affairs, an online foreign policy news magazine, and was its Chief Editor for five years. Part of that tenure was with the Symbiosis International University’s School of International Studies, to whom the web magazine was co-opted, as a special resource for its students. She helped set up the SSIS, and has taught and mentored students in some aspects of foreign policy. She is a Senior Visiting Fellow at WISCOMP and has actively engaged in initiatives on Journalism and Peace-Building.

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Shilpi Shabdita is Program Officer at WISCOMP where she handles programs on Conflict Transformation, Gender Justice and Education for Peace. She has a Masters’ degree in International Peace Studies from the University of Notre Dame, USA, and a Post-Graduate Diploma in Conflict Transformation and Peacebuilding from Lady Shri Ram College, India. Previously, she worked at Heartland Alliance, USA on migration issues, and consulted with Afghan’s for Progressive Thinking, Afghanistan on project design and grant writing for youth-led dialogue initiatives. Shilpi has also worked in Uganda at the Justice and Reconciliation Project, where she collated a ‘Community Memory Book’ documenting war memories and justice needs of former combatants and survivors of war; led campaigns for families of disappeared persons; and authored USAID reports on regional reconciliation.

Previously, Shilpi served as a Consultant at WISCOMP working on the ‘Education for Peace’ initiative with youth leaders and educators from New Delhi and Kashmir, which focused on inter-regional dialogue, conflict transformation skill building, and collaborative peace projects.

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Diksha Poddar has been working with WISCOMP on its programs on youth and peacebuilding, youth countering violence, and engendering higher education spaces. Currently, she is working towards the third edition of WISCOMP Saahas Awards on women building peace at the grassroots in South Asia. Diksha is also a Research Scholar at the Centre for South Asian Studies, School of International Studies at Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, where she is studying the contours of youth, arts and peacebuilding in conflict areas for her doctoral thesis. Her interest lies within the intersecting themes of gender, youth, creative arts and peacebuilding. Her recent publications include a review article titled 'Youth and Arts: Experiments, Synergies and Critiques' in Journal of Applied Youth Studies (2024); a chapter on 'Youth and Peacebuilding' in Encyclopedia of Violence, Peace and Conflict (3rd ed., 2022); and a co-authored book chapter titled 'Piecing up Peace in Kashmir: Feminist Perspectives on Education for Peace' in Feminist Solutions to Ending War (ed.), Pluto Publications: London (2021), among others. She has presented her research at several national and international conferences organized by German Association for Conflict and Peace Studies; Nordic Youth Research Symposium at Tampere University, Finland; International Feminist Journal of Politics; and others. Diksha holds an MPhil from the School of International Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University; a Masters in Development Studies from Ambedkar University, Delhi and has completed her graduation in Economics and Political Science from Lady Shri Ram College, New Delhi. In addition, she has completed post-graduate diplomas in Conflict Transformation and Peacebuilding from University of Delhi and International Law, Institutions and Diplomacy from Indian Society of International Law, New Delhi.

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Kiran Koshy is Administrative officer at WISCOMP. He has over a decade of experience in Healthcare, Pharma and Digital Media. He has worked with Caritas India for an Ecosystem-based Disaster Risk Reduction Project at Rukem Peo, Himachal Pradesh and with the Association of Sisters of Destitute at Jivodaya Hospital, Delhi. Kiran has a Masters’ degree in Business Administration from Sikkim Manipal University and a Bachelors’ degree in Commerce from Mahatma Gandhi University.

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Sree Kumari is Executive Assistant at WISCOMP for the last 16 years. Previously, she worked as a Primary School Teacher and Head Librarian at the Kerala Education Society, Delhi. She is a poet and a short story writer in Malayalam. Sree holds a Bachelors’ degree in Chemistry and Library Sciences.

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Akashleena Chakrabarti is Senior Program Manager at WISCOMP, where she coordinates and supports programs on Youth and Dialogue, Mediation, Conflict Transformation and Peacebuilding. She has also curated a virtual Book Cafe series facilitating interactive spaces of dialogue for young scholars, academicians and grassroots practitioners. She holds a Bachelors’ degree in Political Science and a Diploma in Conflict Transformation and Peace Building from Lady Shri Ram College for Women, and a Masters’ degree in Political Science from the University of Delhi. Her research interests lie at the intersection of Conflict transformation, digital peacebuilding and performance studies.

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Aditi Kumar is Programme Associate at WISCOMP. She graduated with a bachelor's degree in Law from the University of Cambridge in 2023. Before that, she studied the Conflict Transformation and Peace Building Diploma at Lady Shri Ram College, University of Delhi. Aditi’s current research interests revolve around humanitarian aid, public international law, global north-south relations, gender and experience of justice by the most vulnerable communities.

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Shriya Raina works as Program Associate at WISCOMP. She holds a Master’s degree in Gender Studies from Ambedkar University Delhi and a Bachelor’s degree in English from the University of Delhi. Prior to joining WISCOMP, she worked with The Times of India in the editorial and publishing division. Her research interests include gender, migration, memory, and conflict, with a focus on inclusive knowledge creation.

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Amb. Shyam Saran is former Foreign Secretary of India and President of the India International Centre. Ambassador Saran has previously served as Prime Minister’s Special Envoy on Indo-US Civil Nuclear Issues and Special Envoy and Chief Negotiator on Climate Change. Prior to his appointment as the Foreign Secretary, he served as Indias ambassador to Myanmar, Indonesia and Nepal and as its High Commissioner to Mauritius. After leaving government service in 2010, he headed the Research and Information System for Developing Countries, a prestigious think tank focusing on economic issues (2011- 2017) and was Chairman of the National Security Advisory Board under the National Security Council (2013-15). Ambassador Saran serves on numerous boards including the Institute of Chinese Studies, Centre for Policy Research, World Wildlife Fund (India) and the Federation of Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI). His recent publications include, How China sees India and the World (2022) and How India Sees the World: Kautilya to the 21st Century (2020). He regularly comments and speaks on politics and foreign policy issues and contributes to multiple magazines and newspapers. In recognition of his contribution to civil services, Ambassador Saran was awarded the Padma Bhushan in 2011. In May 2019, he was conferred the Spring Order Gold and Silver Star by the Emperor of Japan for promoting India-Japan relations.

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Dr. Syeda Hameed is a distinguished Indian educationist, writer and public policy practitioner. She has served as a Member of the National Commission for Women (1997–2000) and subsequently as a Member of the Planning Commission of India (2004–2014), where she was responsible for portfolios including health, women and children, and minorities. A noted feminist and public intellectual, Dr. Hameed is the founder of the Muslim Women’s Forum and a founding trustee of the Women’s Initiative for Peace in South Asia and the Centre for Dialogue and Reconciliation. Her landmark reports, Voice of the Voiceless: Status of Muslim Women in India (2000) and My Voice Shall Be Heard (2003), documented the lived realities of Muslim women through extensive public hearings. She served as Chancellor of Maulana Azad National Urdu University, Hyderabad, until 2015. Her memoir, A Drop in the Ocean: The Story of My Life, was published in 2024. In recognition of her contributions to education, women’s rights, and social justice, Dr. Hameed was awarded the Padma Shri in 2007.

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