The maternal representation of India as a nation that rebelled against the oppressive colonial rule is a common metaphor used to express nationalism. As part of their "civilizing mission", the British justified their governance on the pretext of barbaric traditions which undermined the plight of women. In-order to rationalise the same, the British codified laws which meant hegemony of Brahmanical religious text. The agency of women remained centric to these scriptures, which were to be

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... d by the Hindu patriarchs. Thus, the nationalist struggle became a call for duty for men to protect their Indian women that signified purity and chastity from imperialism which aimed at delineating traditional ethos of Indian womanhood.