Maniben Kara

A trade unionist and one of the founder member of Hind Mazdoor Sabha. Earler was member of M N Roy’s radical humanists. In the year 1929 she formed the Sewa Mandir and worked in many slums of the city, the dwelling place of many of the conservancy workers of the Bombay Improvement Trust(1905-1979)

A Sedition Case In the year 1932, Maniben Kara who was also a Corporator at the BMC and President of the Municipal Workers Union was charged under the Sedition on the basis of two speeches she made dring the May Day programmes at Dongri Maidain. The Chief Presidency Magistrate convicted her under section 153(creating class hatred) and section 124 A9sedition) and sentenced her to one year imrisonment and and a fine of Rs 300. She challenged the Magistrate order before the Bombay Hogh Court through Advocate F S Talyarkhan. During the proceedings before the Bombay High Court her counsel raised the question whether the section related to promotion of class hatred could be applied in cases of employers and employees.

The High Court judgement absolved her fo the accusations and cancelled the imprisonment but continued with the fine. The judgement dwelt on lenght questions like Who is a Capitalist?

She won the 1932 municipal elections from the D Ward. She was President of the Western Railways Employees Union during the 1960s and also of the Socialist Hind Mazdoor Sabha

Was president of the Hond Mazdoor Sabha, All India Railway Mens Federation. Influenced y MN ROY and started her trade union work by taking active part in the activities of Bombay Municipal Workers Union. She was also part of the Girni Kamgar Union and during the anti colonial struggle she asked the workers to cut electric cables, disrupt railway lines and sent hundred of cables to the police force to join the workers.

She died in the year 1979 and marking her first death anniversary, an institute by the name Maniban Kara Labour Institute was set up by the railway workers unions.

In 1950 she was booked along with M N Roy and V B Karnik under the Official Secrets Act for publishing a letter of the Ministry of Home Affairs in their publication Radical Humanist in which Maniben was the printer and publisher and Karnik the Editor but were later acquited from the charges.