The first seed of Sathyagraha

It sometimes becomes interesting to find out, if there is any precedent for some events which are considered original and the brain-child of the innovator. I had long thought that Mahatma Gandhi should get the full credit for having invented a unique weapon of non-violence called 'Upavasa Sathygraha'. But no. There was another person much before Gandhi who had already done it! She is a Scottish woman Marionne Wallas Dunlop.

Marion Wallace Dunlop was the first female suffragete go on hunger strike , on 5 July 1909, demanding voting rights for women prisoners in Scotland's Halloway Prison. Her Satyagraha later inspired great personalities around the world to adopt this mode of agitation to fight for their rights.

Historians and policians celebrate the centenary of Upavasa Sathyagraha.

Sometimes, the power of an isolated incident, in a remote place, by a less known mortal can act as a catalyst setting in motion a chain of events marking the beginning of a new path.

In the meanwhile, Suffragette is a term originally coined by the Daily Mail newspaper as a derogatory label for the more radical and militant members of the late-19th and early-20th century movement for women's suffrage in the United Kingdom, in particular members of the Women's Social and Political Union (WSPU). However, after former and then active members of the movement began to reclaim the word, the term became a label without negative connotations. It derives from the word "suffrage", meaning the right to vote.