This article is part of Overlooked, a series of obituaries about remarkable people whose deaths, beginning in 1851, went unreported in The Times. Human rights has long been considered a Western concept, but recent scholarship has been uncovering the influence of women from the global south. Mehta stood up against the British government during India’s struggle for independence. She campaigned for women’s social and political equality and their right to an education. And she fought for her ideals during the framing of the constitution for a newly independent India.

---

Persons: Hansa Mehta, Mehta Organizations: Times Locations: British, India