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{{short description|Indian politician}}
{{Use Indian English|date=October 2013}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2020}}

'''Annie Mascarene''' (6 June 1902 – 19 July 1963) was an Indian independence activist, politician and lawyer from [[Thiruvananthapuram]], [[Kerala]] who served as a [[Member of Parliament (India)|Member of the Parliament of India]] and was the first woman to do so.
{{Infobox officeholder
| name = Annie Mascarene
| honorific_suffix =
| image = [[File:Anniemascarene.jpg|Annie Mascarene]]
| birth_date = 6 June 1902
| birth_place = Travancore State old kerala
| death_date = 19 July 1963 (aged 61)
| nationality = Indian
| education = [[Maharaja's College, Ernakulam|Maharajas College]], Ernakulam
| title = Member, Travancore State Assembly (1948)
| party = [[Indian National Congress]]
}}

== Family and education ==
Mascarene was born in Trivandrum in June 1902 into a [[Latin Catholic]] family. Her father, Gabriel Mascarene, was a government official of the [[Travancore State]]. She attended the Maharaja's College Travancore earning double [[Master of Arts|M.A.]] in history and economics in 1925. She went on to earn a [[Law degree|degree in law]] at the [[Maharaja's College, Thiruvananthapuram|Maharaja's Colleges for Arts and Law, Trivandrum]], following her return from a teaching stint in [[Ceylon]].<ref name="ref164">{{cite web|title=First Lok Sabha - Members Bioprofile|url=http://164.100.47.132/lssnew/biodata_1_12/837.htm|accessdate=2013-02-01|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140527223847/http://164.100.47.132/lssnew/biodata_1_12/837.htm|archive-date=27 May 2014|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name="streeshakti">{{cite web|title=ANNIE MASCARENE (1902–1963)|url=http://www.streeshakti.com/bookA.aspx?author=23|accessdate=2013-02-01}}</ref>

== Freedom fighter and early politics ==
Along with [[Akkamma Cherian]] and [[Pattom Thanu Pillai]], Mascarene was one of the leaders of the movements for independence and integration of the [[Princely State]]s within the Indian nation.<ref>{{cite book|title=Social Science History 8|publisher=Social Science History Association|pages=99|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=x_-Iry_6ZpcC&q=Annie+Mascarene&pg=PA99|isbn=9788183320979|year=1968}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Thanthai|first=Kumari|title=Liberation of the Oppressed a Continuous Struggle|year=2009|publisher=Kanyakumari Institute of Development Studies|location=Nagercoil|pages=207|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=p_nHft2p3moC&q=Annie+Mascarene&pg=PA80}}</ref> In February 1938, when the political party Travancore State Congress was formed, she became one of the first women to join. The party goal was to establish a responsible government for Travancore and it was led by Pattom Thanu Pillai as president under whom served K. T. Thomas and [[P. S. Nataraja Pillai]], secretaries, and [[M. R. Madhava Warrier]], treasurer. Macsarene was appointed to the working committee and also served on the party's publicity committee. One of the first acts of the working committee was to send a memorandum to the [[Maharaja]] [[Chithira Thirunal Balarama Varma|Sree Chithira Thirunal]] to demand the termination of the appointment of Sir [[C. P. Ramaswami Iyer]] and establish an enquiry into his administration, appointments, and financial affairs in his role as [[dewan]]. Iyer and his supporters retaliated for the attack on his administration.<ref name="Karunakaran 2008">{{cite journal |last1=Karunakaran |first1=M. |title=The Role of Annie Mascarene, The Freedom Fighter in the Travancore Princely State |journal=[[Proceedings of the Indian History Congress]] |date=2008 |volume=69 |pages=1268–1269 |publisher=Indian History Congress |location=New Delhi, India |oclc=1063275330|jstor=44147300 }}</ref>

In a statewide propaganda tour undertaken with party president Pillai,<ref name="Kochuthressia 1994">{{cite thesis |last1=Kochuthressia |first1=M. M. |title=Women and Political Change in Kerala since Independence |type=PhD |publisher=[[Cochin University of Science and Technology]] |location=Kochi, Kerala |pages=142–143 |date=May 1994|hdl=10603/54234 }}</ref> Mascarene was outspoken in her criticism of the level of participation allowed in the legislature, of the dewan, and the government. Her statements led to assault by a police officer as well as her home being broken into and her property being stolen. She published an account of the incident, angering the police.<ref name="Karunakaran 2008" /><ref name="Ravichandran 2018" >{{cite news |last1=Ravichandran |first1=Priya |title=Annie Mascarene: Freedom Fighter, Nation Builder, Guardian of Democracy and Kerala's First MP |url=https://indianexpress.com/article/gender/annie-mascarene-freedom-fighter-nation-builder-guardian-of-democracy-and-keralas-first-mp-5066085/ |accessdate=27 November 2019 |date=16 February 2018 |newspaper=[[The Indian Express]] |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20190724031301/https://indianexpress.com/article/gender/annie-mascarene-freedom-fighter-nation-builder-guardian-of-democracy-and-keralas-first-mp-5066085/ |archivedate=24 July 2019 |location=Mumbai, India}}</ref> Iyer spoke to the Maharaja against her, alleging that Mascarene was making speeches defaming the government and encouraging non-payment of taxes. The police commissioner also reported that she was dangerous and fomenting discontent.<ref name="Karunakaran 2008" /> Her activism led to numerous arrests and imprisonments for various periods from 1939-1947.<ref name="ref164" />

In 1938 and 1939, Mascarene served on the Economic Development Board of the Travancore government.<ref>{{cite book |title=The Travancore Directory for 1938 |date=1937 |publisher=Government Press |location=Trivandrum |page=[https://archive.org/details/pli.kerala.rare.36266/page/n247 230] |url=https://archive.org/details/pli.kerala.rare.36266}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=The Travancore Directory for 1939 |date=1938 |publisher=Government Press |location=Trivandrum |page=[https://archive.org/details/pli.kerala.rare.74840/page/n166 152] |url=https://archive.org/details/pli.kerala.rare.74840}}</ref> During her time in the state legislature, she became a powerful speaker and enjoyed policymaking.<ref name="Ravichandran 2018" /> In 1942, Mascarene joined the [[Quit India Movement]] and two years later was elected as secretary of the Travancore State Congress.<ref name="Kochuthressia 1994" /> On 21 February 1946 [[Mahatma Gandhi]] wrote to Mascarene regarding a speech she had delivered in Bombay, "Even otherwise, I know that you have no control over your tongue and when you stand up to speak, you blab anything that comes to your mind. This speech also is quite a specimen, if the newspaper report is correct. I have sent the report to Bhai Thanu Pillai. You can read it. Such indiscreet talk can do good neither to you nor to the poor people of Travancore. Besides, by your act you put the whole fair sex to shame". Gandhi also wrote to a colleague in the state congress, Pillai hoping to relieve Mascarene of her ministerial role in the government.<ref name="Ravichandran 2018" />

== Parliamentary career ==
In 1946, Mascarene became one of the 15 women who were elected to the 299-member [[Constituent Assembly of India]], tasked with drafting the [[Constitution of India]].<ref name="Ravichandran 2018" /> She served on the Assembly's select committee that looked into the [[Hindu Code Bill]].<ref>{{cite web|title=The Constitution-framers India forgot|url=http://www.rediff.com/india60/2007/nov/06rishi.htm|work=Rediff.com|accessdate=2013-02-01}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=CONSTITUENT ASSEMBLY OF INDIA - VOLUME X|url=http://parliamentofindia.nic.in/ls/debates/vol10p8a.htm|publisher=Parliament of India|accessdate=2013-02-01|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110907141539/http://parliamentofindia.nic.in/ls/debates/vol10p8a.htm|archive-date=7 September 2011|url-status=dead}}</ref> When the [[Indian Independence Act 1947]] was passed by the British Parliament, the Constitutional Assembly became, on 15 August, the parliament of the [[Dominion of India]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Thiruvengadam |first=Arun K. |title=The Constitution of India: A Contextual Analysis |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-NQ_DwAAQBAJ&pg=PT40 |date=2017 |publisher=[[Bloomsbury Publishing]] |location=New Delhi, India |isbn=978-1-84946-869-5 |page=40}}</ref> In 1948 she was reelected to the [[Travancore-Cochin Legislative Assembly]] and served until 1952.<ref name="ref164" /><ref name="Kochuthressia 1994" /> In 1949, she became the first woman post-independence to serve as a Minister in the state, when she was appointed as Minister in Charge of Health and Power in the [[Parur T K Narayana Pillai]] Ministry.<ref name="Kochuthressia 1994" /><ref>{{cite web|title=COUNCIL OF MINISTERS, TRAVANCORE-COCHIN|url=http://www.keralainfo.net/government/ministers%20since1949.htm|accessdate=2013-02-01}}</ref>

Mascarene was elected to the [[Lok Sabha|First Lok Sabha]] as an independent candidate from the [[Thiruvananthapuram (Lok Sabha constituency)|Thiruvananthapuram Lok Sabha constituency]] in the [[1951 Indian general election]].<ref>{{cite web|title=MEMBERS OF FIRST LOK SABHA|url=http://parliamentofindia.nic.in/ls/lok01/state/01lstc.htm|publisher=Parliament of India|accessdate=2013-02-01|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130408090728/http://parliamentofindia.nic.in/ls/lok01/state/01lstc.htm|archive-date=8 April 2013|url-status=dead}}</ref> She was the first woman MP from Kerala and one of only 10 elected to [[Parliament of India|Parliament]] in those elections.<ref>{{cite web|title=Representation of women in Lok Sabha from Kerala|url=http://pib.nic.in/newsite/erelease.aspx?relid=48615|publisher=Press Information Bureau|accessdate=2013-02-01}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=60 years ago, in Parliament|url=http://www.indianexpress.com/news/60-years-ago-in-parliament/948623/0|accessdate=2013-02-01|newspaper=The Indian Express|date=13 May 2012}}</ref> In the second [[1957 Indian general election|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.<ref>{{cite web|title=Second Lok Sabha - Members Bioprofile|url=http://164.100.47.132/LssNew/biodata_1_12/1168.htm|accessdate=2013-02-01|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304022508/http://164.100.47.132/LssNew/biodata_1_12/1168.htm|archive-date=4 March 2016|url-status=dead}}</ref>

== Death ==
Annie Mascarene died in 1963 and her grave lies at the Pattoor cemetery in Thiruvananthapuram.<ref>{{cite news|title=Gathering nuggets of history from city streets|url=http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/tp-kerala/gathering-nuggets-of-history-from-city-streets/article6118580.ece|accessdate=2014-08-12|work=The Hindu|date=16 June 2014}}</ref>

== Commemoration ==
A bronze statue of Annie Mascarene was built at the Annie Mascarene Square at [[Vazhuthacaud]] in Thiruvananthapuram and it was unveiled by [[Vice President of India|Vice President]] [[Hamid Ansari]] in September 2013.<ref>{{cite news|title=Ansari to unveil Annie Mascarene statue|url=http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/tp-kerala/ansari-to-unveil-annie-mascarene-statue/article5109010.ece|accessdate=2013-09-13|newspaper=The Hindu|date=9 September 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Vice-President unveils statue of Annie Mascarene|url=http://newindianexpress.com/states/kerala/Vice-President-unveils-statue-of-Annie-Mascarene/2013/09/12/article1780062.ece|accessdate=2013-09-13|newspaper=The New Indian Express|date=12 September 2013}}</ref>

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

== External links ==
* [http://rajyasabha.nic.in/rsnew/publication_electronic/Selected%20Women%20Speech_Final.pdf A selection of speeches of the women members of the Constituent Assembly of India]

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mascarene, Annie}}
[[Category:1902 births]]
[[Category:1963 deaths]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian women politicians]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian politicians]]
[[Category:1st Lok Sabha members]]
[[Category:Indian independence activists from Kerala]]
[[Category:Indian National Congress politicians from Kerala]]
[[Category:Lok Sabha members from Kerala]]
[[Category:Members of the Constituent Assembly of India]]
[[Category:People of the Kingdom of Travancore]]
[[Category:Politicians from Thiruvananthapuram]]
[[Category:Prisoners and detainees of British India]]
[[Category:University College Thiruvananthapuram alumni]]
[[Category:Women in Kerala politics]]
[[Category:Women Indian independence activists]]
[[Category:Women of the Kingdom of Travancore]]

Annie Mascarene - Revision history

UpdateBot at 08:22, 25 May 2022