Dear Nandini,
It was nice to read your blog; I wanted to attend this conference but could not due to my prior commitments. Anyways what you have written is really valuable.
I would like to share that as Radha kumar’s ‘Doing history’ has come out a book of history of women’s movement and women in different struggles is a big contribution. But she also has written the stories of mostly women’s contribution in big cities and the academicians (English speaking (born in upper castes, but believe in no casteism) holding posts in all women’s studies centres in universities or institutes, or you should be Christian and good English writer orator, if you are belonging to Dalit- Bahujan-Adivasi, because women scholars from local languages are not allowed in Sanskritized local universities. Any ways so history writing is an expensive task, you need resources to visit to the people, to use libraries, records, archives etc. And why from self locatin, as herself an agency woman from deprived section cannot tell her contribution, but she does not have access. Women learned from such deprived communities always get subordinate treatment, and appreciation to few of them become celebrity tokenism to show that how these mainstreams are promoting Dalit-Bahujan-Adivasi or many others.
Any ways in past decade there are several books and writings have been published about women’s contribution in different movements. But only some of them are with the insider activists' stand point (but who knows English)But some articles like Gabriele, Nalini Nayak, Kalpana Kannabiran , Tharu, Lalita's about Telangana women, Gogu shyamla/ Jupaka subhadra, Chetana Gal a’s old article on Bodhgaya movement, the books by Ranka Ray, Amita Baviskar V. Geetha’s on Non-Brahmin movement in Tamilnadu, Ilina's new book “ inside Chhattisgarh”, Vandana Shiva's on Uttarakhand women, Chipko, Mamata Dash’s article on women in Posco movement, Roma's articles on forest rights and women's struggle and contrbution, etc are available. Mairia Paibi 's story of Nagaland tribal women's struggle, women's struggle for Gorkhaland has been published. Gail Omvedt's contribution to bring out women's contribution in satyashodhak movement, Hari Narake about 19th century's Bahujan women's contribution etc. C.K.Janu and Najubai Gabit are is distinctly distinguished among them. Their own stories as histories we can recognize written from two different locations.
However as Dalit women (from Kumud Pawade to Baby Kamble- Shanta Kamble- to sushila Patekar, Urmila Pawar to Kausalya Basentri have written their autobiographies are account of history of their struggle for livelihood, struggle for education, struggle in domestic sphere, struggle against casteism, and success stories of empowerment against odds. As they asserted, and put their foot down in mainstream is an inspiration for other history writers. OBC women, refugee women, displaced women did not come out.
I would like to share with you that I am doing research on OBC women's contribution in OBC movement and women's movement.
There is very little written about OBC women and OBC men leadership is not consciously talking about them. So data collection is really a hard task. I have appealed to several social networks to send me information. So it has been seen like my personal ambition, and there every one has forgotten my activist’s background. I know that if real voices from Bahujan Samaj will come out, it will be forever documented.
As all theseOBc (so called Shudras) women are the labours, unorganized workers, migrants, artisans, coming from productive castes in agrarian based communities or fisheries and approximately belonging to 3747 occupation. As I have born in Barai caste (OBC), have seen the status of women from my caste closely, very few of us could get education, but most of the girls are still going for agriculture labour, not having proper jobs, deprived from livelihood, no land-no water so no more production of beetle leaves. They are endangered, confused where to go and how to survive.
So I think writing history from your own location and stand point is also very important to bring out certain facts which you don’t get from periphery.
And when you have a perspectives like Marx, Phule, Shahu,Ambedkar, Periyar, savitribai, Tarabai shinde, Jaiprakash, Lohia, Gandhi, Gramchi, Rukaiyaa, Manto Ismat Chugtai,Taslima Nasrin, Flavia Agnes, Fatma Mensisi, C.K.Janu, Vaharu Sonavane etc, you really get new spectacles to look into history and you can bring out distinct, unique contribution in mainstream from contemporary but ‘missing’ people in history, especially women.
So much work has to be done. I hope that what injustice Sanjay Sangvai's book has done by neglecting so many activists’ contribution, or one can look differently and can say soften that what he could not cover, we should cover. Even history is always around great heroes/ heroines so many people who have worked lot, kept invisible, our own biases also pressurize us, so whom really have to be counted kept deprived. But one day comes and people get to know there was Zilkari bai, Tantya Bhill, Zingubai Bolke, Zebunnisa Sheikh, who were working in remote area and never taken into account because history was written from Delhi, Mumbai, Pune, Chennai, Trivendram, Hyderabad, Kolkatta, Patna, Ranchi, Banaras, Baroda-Ahmedabad, Guwahati and Shilong etc.
I think this is the time when all such hidden faces -voices should bring out. I wish all of us should contribute in history writing of our own time so at least which callously, purposefully was not mentioned or due to ignorance or due to not reach out have been left out will be covered.
Lata Pratibha Madhukar Social Activist, Writer and Researcher
It was nice to read your blog; I wanted to attend this conference but could not due to my prior commitments. Anyways what you have written is really valuable.
I would like to share that as Radha kumar’s ‘Doing history’ has come out a book of history of women’s movement and women in different struggles is a big contribution. But she also has written the stories of mostly women’s contribution in big cities and the academicians (English speaking (born in upper castes, but believe in no casteism) holding posts in all women’s studies centres in universities or institutes, or you should be Christian and good English writer orator, if you are belonging to Dalit- Bahujan-Adivasi, because women scholars from local languages are not allowed in Sanskritized local universities. Any ways so history writing is an expensive task, you need resources to visit to the people, to use libraries, records, archives etc. And why from self locatin, as herself an agency woman from deprived section cannot tell her contribution, but she does not have access. Women learned from such deprived communities always get subordinate treatment, and appreciation to few of them become celebrity tokenism to show that how these mainstreams are promoting Dalit-Bahujan-Adivasi or many others.
Any ways in past decade there are several books and writings have been published about women’s contribution in different movements. But only some of them are with the insider activists' stand point (but who knows English)But some articles like Gabriele, Nalini Nayak, Kalpana Kannabiran , Tharu, Lalita's about Telangana women, Gogu shyamla/ Jupaka subhadra, Chetana Gal a’s old article on Bodhgaya movement, the books by Ranka Ray, Amita Baviskar V. Geetha’s on Non-Brahmin movement in Tamilnadu, Ilina's new book “ inside Chhattisgarh”, Vandana Shiva's on Uttarakhand women, Chipko, Mamata Dash’s article on women in Posco movement, Roma's articles on forest rights and women's struggle and contrbution, etc are available. Mairia Paibi 's story of Nagaland tribal women's struggle, women's struggle for Gorkhaland has been published. Gail Omvedt's contribution to bring out women's contribution in satyashodhak movement, Hari Narake about 19th century's Bahujan women's contribution etc. C.K.Janu and Najubai Gabit are is distinctly distinguished among them. Their own stories as histories we can recognize written from two different locations.
However as Dalit women (from Kumud Pawade to Baby Kamble- Shanta Kamble- to sushila Patekar, Urmila Pawar to Kausalya Basentri have written their autobiographies are account of history of their struggle for livelihood, struggle for education, struggle in domestic sphere, struggle against casteism, and success stories of empowerment against odds. As they asserted, and put their foot down in mainstream is an inspiration for other history writers. OBC women, refugee women, displaced women did not come out.
I would like to share with you that I am doing research on OBC women's contribution in OBC movement and women's movement.
There is very little written about OBC women and OBC men leadership is not consciously talking about them. So data collection is really a hard task. I have appealed to several social networks to send me information. So it has been seen like my personal ambition, and there every one has forgotten my activist’s background. I know that if real voices from Bahujan Samaj will come out, it will be forever documented.
As all theseOBc (so called Shudras) women are the labours, unorganized workers, migrants, artisans, coming from productive castes in agrarian based communities or fisheries and approximately belonging to 3747 occupation. As I have born in Barai caste (OBC), have seen the status of women from my caste closely, very few of us could get education, but most of the girls are still going for agriculture labour, not having proper jobs, deprived from livelihood, no land-no water so no more production of beetle leaves. They are endangered, confused where to go and how to survive.
So I think writing history from your own location and stand point is also very important to bring out certain facts which you don’t get from periphery.
And when you have a perspectives like Marx, Phule, Shahu,Ambedkar, Periyar, savitribai, Tarabai shinde, Jaiprakash, Lohia, Gandhi, Gramchi, Rukaiyaa, Manto Ismat Chugtai,Taslima Nasrin, Flavia Agnes, Fatma Mensisi, C.K.Janu, Vaharu Sonavane etc, you really get new spectacles to look into history and you can bring out distinct, unique contribution in mainstream from contemporary but ‘missing’ people in history, especially women.
So much work has to be done. I hope that what injustice Sanjay Sangvai's book has done by neglecting so many activists’ contribution, or one can look differently and can say soften that what he could not cover, we should cover. Even history is always around great heroes/ heroines so many people who have worked lot, kept invisible, our own biases also pressurize us, so whom really have to be counted kept deprived. But one day comes and people get to know there was Zilkari bai, Tantya Bhill, Zingubai Bolke, Zebunnisa Sheikh, who were working in remote area and never taken into account because history was written from Delhi, Mumbai, Pune, Chennai, Trivendram, Hyderabad, Kolkatta, Patna, Ranchi, Banaras, Baroda-Ahmedabad, Guwahati and Shilong etc.
I think this is the time when all such hidden faces -voices should bring out. I wish all of us should contribute in history writing of our own time so at least which callously, purposefully was not mentioned or due to ignorance or due to not reach out have been left out will be covered.
Lata Pratibha Madhukar Social Activist, Writer and Researcher
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