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{{short description|Indian freedom activist}}
{{Use Indian English|date=June 2016}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2016}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Hema Bharali
| image = A Sarvodaya Activist and the National Communal Harmony Award and Kabir Puraskar winner Smt. Hema Bharali addressing the media, in New Delhi on April 30, 2006.jpg
| imagesize =
| caption = Hema Bharali addressing a press conference in 2006
| birth_date = {{birth date|1919|2|19}}
| birth_place = [[Assam Province]], [[British Raj|British India]]
| death_date = {{Death date and age|2020|04|29|1919|2|19}}
| death_place = [[Assam]], [[India]]
| restingplace = [[Mumbai]]
| restingplacecoordinates =
| othername =
| occupation = Social worker Freedom fighter Gandhian [[Sarvodaya]] leader
| yearsactive = 1950{{ndash}}2020
| known for =
| spouse =
| domesticpartner =
| children =
| parents =
| website =
| awards = [[Padma Shri]] National Communal Harmony Award [[Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed]] Memorial Award
}}
'''Hema Bharali''' (19 February 1919 – 29 April 2020) was an Indian freedom activist, social worker, [[Sarvodaya]] leader and [[Gandhian]], known for her contributions for the empowerment of women and efforts towards the upliftment of the socially and financially challenged sections of the society.<ref name="PM's Speech on Presentation of Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed Memorial Award 2008 & 2009">{{cite web | url=http://pib.nic.in/newsite/PrintRelease.aspx?relid=69905 | title=PM's Speech on Presentation of Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed Memorial Award 2008 & 2009 | publisher=Government of India | date=18 February 2011 | access-date=30 November 2015}}</ref> She was reported to have been active during the relief operations in the wake of the earthquake in [[North Lakhimpur]] of [[Assam]] state in 1950 and in the development activities after the [[Sino-Indian War]] of 1962.<ref name="Hema Bharali to be felicitated at AICC session">{{cite web|url=http://www.assamtribune.com/scripts/mdetails.asp?id=dec1810/city07 |title=Hema Bharali to be felicitated at AICC session |publisher=Assam Tribune |date=18 December 2010 |access-date=29 November 2015 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151208153041/http://www.assamtribune.com/scripts/mdetails.asp?id=dec1810%2Fcity07 |archive-date=8 December 2015 |df=dmy-all }}</ref> The Government of India awarded her the fourth highest civilian honour of the [[Padma Shri]], in 2005, for her contributions to Indian society.<ref name="Padma Awards">{{cite web |url=http://mha.nic.in/sites/upload_files/mha/files/LST-PDAWD-2013.pdf |title=Padma Awards |publisher=Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India |date=2015 |access-date=21 July 2015 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://www.webcitation.org/6U68ulwpb?url=http://mha.nic.in/sites/upload_files/mha/files/LST-PDAWD-2013.pdf |archive-date=15 November 2014 |df=dmy-all }}</ref> A year later, she received the National Communal Harmony Award from the National Foundation for Communal Harmony, an autonomous organization under the [[Ministry of Home Affairs (India)|Ministry of Home Affairs]].<ref name="Award for Hema Bharali">{{cite web | url=http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/award-for-hema-bharali/article3126856.ece | title=Award for Hema Bharali | publisher=The Hindu | date=1 May 2006 | access-date=29 November 2015}}</ref>

== Biography ==
Hema Bharali was born on 19 February 1919 in a family of [[Chutia people|Chutia]] ethnicity in the Northeast Indian state of Assam and is known to have taken to social work from an early age.{{citation needed|date=February 2020}} She became active in the [[Indian freedom struggle]] and when the earthquake caused devastation in [[North Lakhimpur]] area in 1950, she took part in the relief operations.<ref name="Hema Bharali to be felicitated at AICC session" /><ref name="Kalam to present Communal Harmony awards">{{cite web | url=http://www.oneindia.com/2006/04/30/kalam-present-kabir-puraskar-communal-harmony.html | title=Kalam to present Communal Harmony awards | publisher=One India | date=30 April 2006 | access-date=30 November 2015}}</ref> A year later, she joined the [[Bhoodan movement]] launched by [[Vinoba Bhave]] in 1951 and became one of its leaders.<ref name="Hema Bharali - Assam News">{{cite web | url=http://rajivkonwar100.blogspot.ae/2011/06/hema-bharali.html | title=Hema Bharali - Assam News | publisher=Assam News | date=6 June 2011 | access-date=29 November 2015}}</ref> She was a part of the team, led by Vinoba Bhave, who were involved in the service of the victims of the war-torn area of [[Tezpur]] and stayed at Maitreyi Ashram of Bhave during the operations.<ref name="Threads Woven Ideals, Principles and Administration">{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9WuETtCFspEC&q=Hema+Bharali&pg=PA162 | title=Threads Woven Ideals, Principles and Administration | publisher=Allied Publishers | date=2010 | isbn=9788184244700 | access-date=29 November 2015}}</ref> She has also been involved with the ''Padayatra'' in connection with the [[Bhoodan movement]]{{citation needed|date=February 2020}} and was a founder member of the executive council of the Central Social Welfare Board (CSWB).<ref name="Our History">{{cite web | url=http://www.asksguwahati.org/history.html | title=Our History | publisher=Ask Guwahati | date=2015 | access-date=30 November 2015}}</ref>

The Government of India included Bharali in the 2005 Republic Day Honours list for the fourth highest civilian award of the [[Padma Shri]].<ref name="Padma Awards" /> In 2006, she was awarded the National Communal Harmony Award by the National Foundation for Communal Harmony of the [[Ministry of Home Affairs (India)|Ministry of Home Affairs]].<ref name="Award for Hema Bharali" /> Three years later, she received the Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed Memorial Award for National Integration from the [[Government of Assam]].<ref name="PM Confers Fakruddin Ali Ahmed Award to MJ Akbar, Hema Bharali">{{cite web | url=http://www.radianceweekly.com/246/6819/budget-2011-12tight-rope-balancing/2011-03-13/northeast-newsletter/story-detail/pm-confers-fakruddin-ali-ahmed-award-to-mj-akbar-hema-bharali.html | title=PM Confers Fakruddin Ali Ahmed Award to MJ Akbar, Hema Bharali | publisher=Radiance Weekly | date=2015 | access-date=29 November 2015}}</ref> Bharali, a spinster by choice,<ref name="Other nonagenarian Gandhians">{{cite web | url=http://www.asthabharati.org/Dia_Oct%20010/nat.htm | title=Other nonagenarian Gandhians | publisher=Ashta Bharati | date=October 2010 | access-date=30 November 2015}}</ref> endured financial and health challenges in her 90s and received financial assistance from the State Government.<ref name="Financial aid to ailing Gandhian Hema Bharali">{{cite web | url=http://www.tarungogoi.in/pressrelease.php?displaytype=Press&displayid=PR-101215 | title=Financial aid to ailing Gandhian Hema Bharali | publisher=Tarun Gogoi | date=19 December 2013 | access-date=30 November 2015 | url-status=dead | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304125508/http://www.tarungogoi.in/pressrelease.php?displaytype=Press&displayid=PR-101215 | archive-date=4 March 2016 | df=dmy-all }}</ref> She lived in [[Guwahati]], in Assam.<ref name="MS. HEMA BHARALI">{{cite web | url=http://nfch.nic.in/sites/default/files/WORD_FILE/Award(IND).pdf | title=MS. HEMA BHARALI | publisher=Government of India | date=2015 | access-date=30 November 2015}}</ref> As of April 2016, she has continued to make public appearances.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.assamtribune.com/scripts/detailsnew.asp?id=apr0816/city051 |title=Tributes paid to philanthropist Dr HK Das |newspaper=The Assam Tribune |date=7 April 2016 |access-date=20 June 2016 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160807025210/http://www.assamtribune.com/scripts/detailsnew.asp?id=apr0816%2Fcity051 |archive-date=7 August 2016 |df=dmy-all }}</ref>

She died on 29 April 2020, at age 101.<ref>[https://www.guwahatiplus.com/daily-news/freedom-fighter-hema-bharali-passes-away-in-guwahati Freedom Fighter Hema Bharali Passes Away in Guwahati]</ref>

== See also ==
* [[Sarvodaya]]
* [[Vinoba Bhave]]
{{portal|India}}

== References ==
{{reflist|colwidth=30em}}

{{Padma Shri Award Recipients in Social Work}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bharali, Hema}}
[[Category:1919 births]]
[[Category:2020 deaths]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Padma Shri in social work]]
[[Category:Women educators from Assam]]
[[Category:Educators from Assam]]
[[Category:Social workers]]
[[Category:Gandhians]]
[[Category:Indian independence activists from Assam]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian women]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian educational theorists]]
[[Category:Social workers from Assam]]
[[Category:Indian centenarians]]
[[Category:Women centenarians]]
[[Category:20th-century women educators]]

Hema Bharali - Revision history

->JJMC89 bot III at 18:26, 31 July 2021