Event Description

A two-day research meet was organized by CSWSC, Tezpur University in collaboration with Centre for Women’s Development Studies, Delhi on the topic “Women markets in Assam: An Analysis. The Head of the centre, Dr. Madhurima Goswami welcomed the esteemed guests and all the participants to the Research Exchange Meet.

Prof. Indu Agnihotri Director, CWDS gave the keynote address. As Prof. Agnihotri was introduced by Amal Latif, student of the Cultural Studies department and was felicitated by the Prof. Sharma with a traditional Eri shawl. Prof. Agnihotri acknowledged the rich culture and history of Tezpur. Prof. Agnihotri gave a rich insight on the evolution of women study centres in India, especially in Delhi in the 1980’s. She talked about how women study centres have increased in over the last twenty years. She threw light on how women study centres were started and the confrontation of problems that had been arising since then. She emphasized on research work based on our own research approaches rather than western approaches which is strongly influencing social science researches. Meenakshi Bhuyan presented the history of Tezpur District Mahila Samiti.She said that TDMS started in the year 1919. She gave a beautiful narration of its inception and Chandraprabha Saikiani’s role in it. Chandraprabha Saikiani, who was very beautiful and a store house of leadership, an activist and epitome of bravery, established Mahila Samiti in Nagaon. Meenakshi Bhuyan talked about Gandhi’s influence on women of Assam. The first agenda of TDMS was to challenge the society for its various practices like child marriage, against opium and to open the barriers for women in public space. They were called popularly as “marriage broker group”. She talked about many instances where Chandraprabha Saikiani actively played the role of a great leader. There was a program in Gohpur where she lead 10-15 women riding horse. Those days women were supposed to be kept within the four wall of a house. Under the influence of Chandraprabha Saikiani women broke the barrier and came out of their house. When Gandhi visited Assam in 1921, hundreds of women came out on the road to have a glimpse of Gandhi ji. Mahila Samiti was visited by Gandhi as he was interested in meeting the weavers of Assam. Meenakshi Bhuyan narrated the life history of Chandraprabha Saikiani and her role as an activist under the banner of Tezpur Mahila Samiti. She further narrated the ups and down of Tezpur Mahila Samiti and the women leaders who actively fought for the rights of women. She talked about women leaders like Chandra Bala Patangia, Chandra Prabha Mahanta, Meena Agarwala who contributed as leaders in the growth of Tezpur District Mahila Samiti.