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{{short description|Indian politician}}
{{cleanup-PR|1=article|date=April 2018}}
{{EngvarB|date=September 2014}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2022}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| name = Brinda Karat
| image = Brinda_Karat_by_Debjani_Basu.jpg
| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|df=yes|1947|10|17}}
| birth_place = [[Calcutta]], [[West Bengal]], [[Dominion of India|India]]
| residence =
| death_date =
| death_place =
| office = Member of the [[Politburo of the Communist Party of India (Marxist)]]
| term_start = 2005
| constituency1 = [[West Bengal]]
| office1 = [[Member of Parliament]] – [[Rajya Sabha]]
| term1 = 2005-2011
| predecessor =
| successor =
| party = [[Communist Party of India (Marxist)]]
| spouse = {{Marriage|[[Prakash Karat]]|7 November 1975}}
| relations = [[Radhika Roy]] (sister) [[Prannoy Roy]] (brother in law) [[Arundhati Roy]] (relative) [[Vijay Prashad]] (nephew)
| children =
| website =
| signature = Signature of Brinda Karat.svg
}}

'''Brinda Karat''' (born 17 October 1947)<ref>{{cite news |title=B'day Special: Brinda Karat " from 'air-hostess' to first female member of CPM Polit Bureau |url=https://www.indiatvnews.com/politics/national/brinda-karat-airhostess-to-first-female-member-cpm-polit-bureau-13063.html |access-date=9 March 2022 |work=India TV News |date=16 October 2013 |language=en}}</ref><ref name=livemint>{{cite news |last=Sharma |first=Ashish |date=11 August 2007 |url=http://www.livemint.com/2007/08/11003622/Brinda-Karat.html |title=Interview, livemint |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101220001823/http://www.livemint.com/2007/08/11003622/Brinda-Karat.html |archive-date=20 December 2010 |work=Mint |access-date=9 March 2022}}</ref> is an Indian politician, elected to the [[Rajya Sabha]] as a [[Communist Party of India (Marxist)]] member on 11 April 2005 for [[West Bengal]].

In 2005, she became the first woman member of the [[Politburo of the Communist Party of India (Marxist)|CPI(M) Politburo]].<ref name=Frontline/> She has also been the general secretary of the [[All India Democratic Women's Association]] (AIDWA) from 1993 to 2004,<ref name=threeessays>{{Cite web |url=http://www.threeessays.com/authors.php?id=17 |title=Author profile, threeessays |access-date=17 January 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080104013648/http://www.threeessays.com/authors.php?id=17 |archive-date=4 January 2008 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20060428044232/http://www.indiatogether.org/2004/dec/wom-aidwachf.htm New woman on top December 2004]</ref> and thereafter its vice-president.<ref>{{usurped|[https://archive.today/20130125064416/http://www.hinduonnet.com/thehindu/fline/fl2125/stories/20041217004602600.htm The 7th National Conference of AIDWA, Frontline, Dec. 04 – 17, 2004]}}</ref>

==Political career==
In 1967, after graduation from Miranda House, she left for [[London]], where she worked with [[Air India]] at Bond Street for four years.<ref name=Rediff1>[https://www.rediff.com/news/2005/may/04inter1.htm "The Rediff Interview/Marxist leader Brinda Karat"]. [[Rediff.com]]. 4 May 2005. Retrieved 22 February 2019.</ref> While working for Air India, she campaigned against the mandatory wearing of skirts in the airlines rather than the saree. The Air India headquarters finally agreed with her and ever since then women working for the airline in London can exercise a choice of whether to wear a saree or a skirt as their uniform.<ref name=Telegraph1>[https://www.telegraphindia.com/opinion/a-brand-named-brinda/cid/1022549 "A brand named Brinda"]. [[Calcutta]]: ''[[The Telegraph (Calcutta)|The Telegraph]]''. 16 April 2005. Retrieved 23 February 2019.</ref>

While working in London, she became associated with the [[anti-imperialist]], and anti-war movements during the [[Vietnam War]] and Marxist ideology and wanted to bring that contextual understanding to India.<ref name=Rediff1/>

In 1971, she decided to leave her job and return to [[Calcutta]]. She started her political work as a student activist since under the guidance of the Party she enrolled as a student in [[Calcutta University]]. Initially she worked with students in the college campus and later during the [[Bangladesh Liberation War|Bangladesh war]] at refugee camps in the State.<ref name=Rediff1/> She was also writing for the Party weekly and later became a full-time worker there.{{citation needed|date=February 2019}} In 1975, she shifted to [[Delhi]] "In 1975 I shifted to Delhi because I wanted to work in the trade unions. At that time our party general secretary was Comrade [[P. Sundaraiah]]. He was ahead of his time. He had a clear perspective of the area of work to assign workers. He had a sensitive cadre policy. I was privileged to join the party in Delhi when he was the leader. I was accepted and got my membership."<ref name=Rediff1/>

On 7 November 1975, she married [[Prakash Karat]].<ref>{{cite news | url=https://www.indiatoday.in/magazine/cover-story/story/20071224-the-less-sociable-socialist-734783-2007-12-14 | title=The less sociable socialist | work=India Today | date=14 December 2007 | access-date=19 September 2019 }}</ref> The same year she started working as a trade union organiser with textile mill workers in North Delhi.<ref name=Rediff2>[https://www.rediff.com/news/2005/may/06inter1.htm "The Rediff Interview/CPI-M Politburo member Brinda Karat"]. [[Rediff.com]]. 6 May 2005. Retrieved 22 February 2019.</ref> She grew to be active with worker's movements and the Indian women's movements. She gained prominence in the campaign for reform of rape laws in the 1980s.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://archives.peoplesdemocracy.in/2013/0203_pd/02032013_4.html|title=January 27, 2013|website=archives.peoplesdemocracy.in|access-date=25 May 2019}}</ref> Karat is a prominent campaigner for gender issues and has fought within the party for adequate representation for women in its leadership.<ref name=Hans1>[https://www.thehansindia.com/posts/index/Andhra-Pradesh/2016-01-08/Our-politics-is-still-regressive-vis-a-vis-women-representation-Brinda-Karat-/198958 "Our politics is still regressive vis a vis women representation: Brinda Karat"]. ''[[The Hans India]]''. 8 January 2016. Retrieved 23 February 2019.</ref>

On 11 April 2005, she was elected to the Indian Parliament, Rajya Sabha as a [[Communist Party of India (Marxist)|CPI(M)]] member for West Bengal.<ref>[https://www.thehindu.com/2005/08/23/stories/2005082306871200.htm "Yechury, Brinda Karat take oath"]{{dead link|date=April 2021|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}. ''[[The Hindu]]''. 23 August 2005. Retrieved 23 February 2019.</ref> In 2005, she was also elected to the [[Politburo of the Communist Party of India (Marxist)]], the highest decision-making body of the party and Brinda Karat is its first woman member.<ref name=Hans1/>

==Family==
She is married to [[Prakash Karat]] in 7 November 1975, a Keralite by origin and a prominent CPI(M) leader.<ref>{{cite news |title=Prakash Karat |url=https://www.jagranjosh.com/general-knowledge/prakash-karat-1398341009-1 |access-date=25 August 2020 |work=Jagranjosh.com |date=24 April 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Comrade Prakash Karat breaks his silence on Prakash Karat - Indian Express |url=http://archive.indianexpress.com/news/comrade-prakash-karat-breaks-his-silence-on-prakash-karat/270539/0 |access-date=25 August 2020 |work=archive.indianexpress.com |date=8 February 2008}}</ref> Her sister [[Radhika Roy]] is married to [[Prannoy Roy]], founder and CEO of [[NDTV]].<ref>[http://www.rediff.com/news/2005/may/04inter1.htm Exclusive Interview/Brinda Karat] rediff.com; "Since her equally talented sister Radhika Roy and brother-in-law Dr Prannoy Roy run NDTV (New Delhi Television), Brinda's Leftist orientation is intriguing for many"</ref> In 2005, she participated in ''[[Amu (film)|Amu]]'',<ref>{{IMDb name|1773318}}</ref> a film made by her niece, Shonali Bose, on the [[1984 Anti-Sikh Riots|Anti-Sikh riots]] in 1984. She is an aunt of the historian [[Vijay Prashad]].

==Literary works==

Brinda is the author of ''Survival and Emancipation: Notes from Indian Women's Struggles,'' a work addressing the challenges faced by women's movements in India from a left perspective.<ref name=Frontline>[http://flonnet.com/fl2214/stories/20050715000607400.htm Book Review, Frontline, Jul 02 – 15, 2005] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080515000747/http://flonnet.com/fl2214/stories/20050715000607400.htm |date=15 May 2008 }}</ref><ref name=threeessays/>

==Bibliography==

* ''Survival and Emancipation: Notes from Indian Women's Struggles''. Three Essays Collective, New Delhi, 2005. {{ISBN|81-88789-37-2}}.

==References==

{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{commons category|Brinda Karat}}
* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/hardtalk/4356994.stm BBC Hard Talk, Brinda Karat]
* [https://archive.today/20130204110731/http://thinkexist.com/quotes/brinda_karat/ Brinda Karat Quotes at thinkexist]

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Karat, Brinda}}
[[Category:1947 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Anti–Vietnam War activists]]
[[Category:Communist Party of India (Marxist) politicians from West Bengal]]
[[Category:Indian feminist writers]]
[[Category:Indian atheists]]
[[Category:Indian women activists]]
[[Category:Women in West Bengal politics]]
[[Category:Indian women's rights activists]]
[[Category:Indian Marxist writers]]
[[Category:Bengali people]]
[[Category:University of Calcutta alumni]]
[[Category:Rajya Sabha members from West Bengal]]
[[Category:Politicians from Kolkata]]
[[Category:Indian political writers]]
[[Category:Writers from Kolkata]]
[[Category:21st-century Indian women writers]]
[[Category:21st-century Indian writers]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian women writers]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian writers]]
[[Category:Indian women political writers]]
[[Category:Indian Communist writers]]
[[Category:Women writers from West Bengal]]
[[Category:Activists from West Bengal]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian women politicians]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian politicians]]
[[Category:21st-century Indian women politicians]]
[[Category:21st-century Indian politicians]]
[[Category:People from New Alipore]]
[[Category:Welham Girls' School alumni]]
[[Category:Women members of the Rajya Sabha]]

Brinda Karat - Revision history

UpdateBot at 11:37, 30 March 2022