samyukta maharashtra movement

Samyukta Maharashtra Samiti From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Samyukta Maharashtra Samiti (Marathi: संयुक्त महाराष्ट्र समिति), roughly translated as United Maharashtra Committee, was an organisation that spearheaded the demand in the 1950s for the creation of a separate Marathi-speaking state out of the (then bilingual) State of Bombay in western India, with the city of Bombay (now known as Mumbai) as its capital. Flora Fountain was renamedHutatma Chowk ("Martyr's Square") as a memorial to the Samyukta Maharashtra movement. The Hutatma Chowk memorial with the Flora Fountain, on its left in the background. The organisation was founded on February 6, 1956, under the leadership of Keshavrao Jedhe in Pune. Prominent activists of Samyukta Maharashtra Samiti were Acharya Atre, Prabodhankar Thackeray, Senapati Bapat and Shahir AmarShaikh among others. Acharya Atre criticised Jawaharlal Nehru, Morarji Desai (then chief minister of Mumbai) and S.K. Patil (a prominent MP from Mumbai city) through his firebrand editorials in Maratha. The Indian National Congress had pledged to introduce linguistic states prior to Independence. However after Independence, Nehru and Patel were adamantly opposed to linguistic states. They perceived linguistic states as a threat to the integrity of India. For the first time and perhaps the only time, RSS and I ts chief Guru Golwalkar supported Nehru and Patel against redrawing of the map along linguistic lines. The catalyst to the creation of a States Re-organization Commission was the fasting death of Telugu nationalist Sriramulu Potti. In 1956, the SRC (States Re-organisation Committee) under pressure from Nehru/Patel recommended creation of linguistic states of [Andhra Pradesh|AP], Kerala and Karnataka but recommended a bi-lingual state for Maharashtra-Gujarat, with Mumbai as its capital. To add insult to injury (for Samyukta Maharashtra Samiti), they recommended the creation of Vidharba state to unite the marathi speaking people of former Hyderabad state with Holkar's Nagpur state. This led to the creation of the predecessor movement Samyuka Maharashtra Parishad, inaugurated on November 1, 1956, causing a great political stir and, under the leadership of Keshavrao Jedhe, a whole party meeting was held in Pune and Samyukta Maharashtra Samiti was founded on February 6, 1956. In the second general election the Samiti defeated the stalwarts of Congress by securing 101 seats out of 133, including 12 from Mumbai. The Congress party could form a government only with the support of Gujarat, Marathwada and Vidharba. Yeshwantrao Chavan replaced Morarji Desai as the Chief Minister of the bi-lingual Bombay State. SM Joshi, SA Dange, NG Gore and PK Atre fought relentlessly for Samyukta Maharashtra, even at the cost of sacrificing the lives of several people and finally succeeded in convincing Congress leaders that Maharashtra should form a separate state. The resignation of C. D. Deshmukh, the then Finance Minister of the Nehru Cabinet, had its salutary effect. In January 1956, demonstrators were fired upon by the police at Flora Fountain in the capital city ofMumbai. Flora Fountain was subsequently renamed Hutatma Chowk or "Martyr's Crossroads" in their memory. It is estimated that in all, 105[citation needed] people were shot by security forces. Morarji Desai, who was the then chief minister of Bombay state was later removed and replaced by YB Chawan as a result of criticism related to this incident. The Samyukta Maharashtra Samiti achieved its goal on May 1, 1960 when the State of Bombay was partitioned into the Marathi-speaking State of Maharashtra and the Gujarati-speaking State of Gujarat. However Goa (then a Portuguese colony), Belgaum, Karwar and adjoining areas, which were also part of the Maharashtra envisaged by the Samiti, were not included in Maharashtra state. Belgaum district, which has a majority Marathi population is still an active dispute and the government of Maharashtra has filed a petition in Supreme Court. SAMYUKTA: A Journal of Women ’s Studies http://www.samyukta.info/html/bac_iss.htm Samyukta: A Journal of Women's Studies is a bi-annual publication of Women's Initiatives . The first issue was released in January 2001 by H.E. Sukh Dev Singh Kang, the Governor of Kerala, at a function held at the Raj Bhavan, Thiruvananthapuram. The journal was well received in India and abroad, and was perceived to have fulfilled the need for a journal of women's studies from this part of the world. The journal presents a forum for women to deliberate on their present subaltern status. It gives equal impetus to defining theoretical positions and feminist activism. With its proclaimed motto of organizing women to share knowledge, Samyukta seeks to reach out to women across barriers. SAMYUKTA: Back Issues. http://www.samyukta.info/html/bac_iss.htm January 2001: The inaugural issue of Samyukta focused on an important mode of women's expression—autobiography. The papers included critical essays on the autobiographical writings of Maya Angelou and Maria Campbell. Lalitha Ramamurthy made a theoretical examination of the collective consciousness of women in autobiographies. An interview with Kamala Das, the quintessential woman autobiographer and excerpts from the autobiography of the septagenarian Lily George balanced the personal narrative with the social. Among the contents was a survey of autobiographies by women in Malayalam, noting the historical background and the evolution of women's status. Critical evaluation of some of the milestones of Kerala history such as the Punnapra-Vayalar revolt, an assessment of the nature of reformation pioneered by Sree Narayana Guru, extracts from the Edicts relating to the sanction to cover the upper part of the body for ‘low caste' Channar women, an appraisal of women's empowerment and political reservation, a discussion on the politics of knowledge and its implications for women, and a critique on the politics of writing the history of women were other highlights. Creative pieces from some of Kerala's most important women writers of the earlier and present generations complemented the academic readings. Balamani Amma, the poetess of Kerala, in the poem The Pen , evokes the touching image of a woman parting ways with domesticity and finding relief in writing. The issue also had two feminist fictional retellings of Ramayana episodes by well-known short story writers of Malayalam, Sara Joseph and K. B. Sridevi. July 2001: The second issue of Samyukta focused on ‘Women and Power'. Eminent feminist scholar and activist, Prof. K. Saradamoni's theme paper set the tone. There were articles on women and power in the Namboodiri community, male hegemony in the unique matrilineal system of Kerala effected through the karanavar, the eldest male, and the depiction of power relations in Malayalam fiction. This number carried excerpts from the autobiography of the famous revolutionary leader and political activist, K.R. Gowri Amma. The famous short storySuicide by Rajalakshmi, a writer who ended her life when on the brink of literary stardom, The Carpenter's Daughter, a feminist reading of the legend of Perumthachan, the master builder, by Vijayalekshmi, an iconoclastic invocation of the epic heroine Sita by Vasanthi Sankaranarayanan in To Sita , along with P. Valsala's short story A World without Dushyanthan and Bheeman completed the theme of feminist de-mythification initiated in the first issue. There were also articles on women and media, a Kerala response to Amartya Sen's development perspective, the Lucknow Baijees of the 19th and early 20th centuries and a semiotic interpretation of women's use of flowers andkumkum. January & July 2002: The third and fourth issues of Samyukta dealt with a significant topic yet to receive the attention it deserves—problems confronted by women in healthcare. The third issue (en)gendered women's health by tracing the history of women's involvement in health from the 1850s to the present, focusing on the problematic areas in the field. The eight articles in the issue included discussions on the importance given to women's health in women's studies by Lakshmi Lingam, discriminatory acts against women in healthcare by Dr. B. Ekbal, analysis of mental health in adolescents, reproductive and child health issues in Kerala, legal and social implications of the right to abortion, women's perspectives on HIV/AIDS and a health agenda for sex workers. The other highlights of the issue were a comprehensive survey of Indo Anglian women poets by Prof. Sanjukta Dasgupta, and an insightful article on the poetry of Prabha Ganorkar by Shalmalee Palekar. The issue also included the wide-ranging discussion that Gita Hiranyan had with the noted feminist scholar and activist, Prof. Sara Joseph, touching on religion, family, language and a host of other issues that have a bearing on the lives of women. An excerpt from the autobiography of the Sri Lankan writer, Jean Arasanayagom was another major feature. In the creative writing section, the stories, Remani , by K. Saraswathyamma and Tales of the Vetal by B. Chandrika were noteworthy contributions. In addition to other regular features, the issue also presented Identity Formations in Intercultural Encounters by Eleonore Wildburger and a theoretical examination of Reservation and Social mobility by J. Prabhash. The fourth issue of Samyukta deliberated on the thoughts and suggestions on health introduced in the previous issue. A sociological examination of the issues relating to women's health and health care in India by the reputed women's rights activist and scholar Vibhuti Patel placed the issue in perspective. A poignant account by a distinguished academician of her survival from breast cancer, articles on women and mental health, a critical study of the depiction of lunacy as a female malady in literature, essays on women and violence addressing the social, legal and psychological dimensions of the disastrous link between the two, well-researched article on the role of women in the plural medical system in Kerala comprising the biomedical, Ayurvedic, Homoeopathic and the marginal yet powerful Kani mode of traditional healing provided interesting as well as informative reading. The profile on Dr. Mary Punnen Lukose (1886-1976), the first lady doctor of Kerala who pioneered medical services to women, steering clear of all the gender biases that impeded her, made an inspiring tale. However, what brought critical attention to this particular number was the autobiography of the Adivasi leader, C.K. Janu, narrating her rise from an illiterate woman to one who commanded the respect of millions. Another highlighting feature of this number of Samyukta was the explorations into the realms of women's spirituality. The article by Dianne E. Janett on the sigificance of the pongala at the Attukal temple, and that by M.S. Hema on Bhakti as a movement of liberation, gave a totally new dimension to discussions on women's liberation. An array of creative writers, including those who had won international acclaim, like Sujata Sankranti and Leela Mayor lend charm to this number. Another notable inclusion was the translation of the famous play, Lanka Lakshmi , by C.N. Sreekantan Nair. In its fourth issue, Samyukta launched a forum for discussion. The first in this series, “Possibilities in Eco-Feminist Politics for Contemporary Kerala” by Devika, raised a serious issue that prompts a critique of the Kerala model of development. Devika calls our attention to the need of an eco-feminist demystification of the development rhetoric and tourism literature of Kerala. This necessitates a feminist review of (1) the commodification of the female body by way of powerful anti-consumerist campaign, (2) medicalisation of the female body in Kerala, the inevitable consequence of the technological suppression of the natural process of child birth, (3) the ideology of womanly domesticity promoted by the modernization project that exploits the ‘ingrained' feminine qualities of maternity, nurturing and peaceful management, not only within the realm of home but in the workplace and public spheres of activity like politics and anti-liquor movement as well. The second essay in the Discussion Forum was on “Fisheries in Turmoil: A Feminist Perspective” by Nalini Nayak, an extension of the first essay in this series. Modern development as a male project built on the logic of destruction is reflected in the area of fisheries too, leading to the annihilation of nature and the feminization of poverty. The article critiques the anti-nature, anti-life measures implemented under the development project in order to increase fish production. Sustainability of sea resources through life nurture processes and a selective technology that respects the cycles of fish production necessitate and validate respect for life on land too. January 2003: The fifth issue of Samyukta addressed a significant domain of women's empowerment—education. Prof. Sudha Rao, eminent educationalist, was the guest editor. There were ten articles by prominent educationalists on the historical evolution of women's education in India , its problems and possibilities. Articles on pertinent issues such as women's education in Kerala and North India during the colonial period, the education of the girl child, women's empowerment through technical education, women's performance in the field of management, and role of women's studies centers, opened up significant areas of gender research. The interview Ritu Menon and Zoya Hassan had with Uruz Fatima, pioneer in women's education among Muslims, was especially interesting. Carla Petievich in her article threw light on gender politics and the urdu ghazal with a rare critical insight. Dhanya Menon's examination of the highly sophisticated theories of Indian Aesthetics, in her article, "Transforming Nature in Art", attracted a lot of critical attention. The discussion on women and devotional literature continued in this issue, with the article by V.T. Usha on “Invisible Bodies: Andal, Bhakti and the Language of Poetic Discourse”. The moving account of a psychiatrist's journey into the mysteries of a patient's unconscious was indeed the centrepiece. The long poem Santa , by Kadammanitta Ramakrishnan, rendered in English with great felicity by Vasanti Sankaranarayanan, set the tone for the creative content of this issue. The translation of C.N. Sreekantan Nair's Malayalam play Lanka Lakshmi continued in this number. The Malayalam short story Onion Curry and the Table of Nine by Priya A.S., and short poems by Ashita, were also included. Perhaps a fitting comment on this issue was the story, The Provenance of the Literary Editor by the renowned Malayalam writer, V.P. Shivakumar. July 2003: The sixth issue of Samyukta was a special number, focusing on Indian short fiction by women writers. Thirty-four stories from fourteen languages, including English, were selected. The regional editors were Dr. Malashri Lal (English), Dr. Alladi Uma (Southern region), Dr. Anamika (Northern region), Dr. Sanjukta Dasgupta (Eastern region), and Dr. Shirin Kudchedkar (Western region). The issue has a detailed introduction followed by shorter briefings by the contributing editors on the rationale of their choices. By choosing to translate from the regional languages into English, that enjoys a hegemonic status as a world language, we were addressing issues of power, and writing from the periphery to the centre. The translations retained the cultural nuances of the original as far as possible. On occasions when English did not provide an equivalent, the original was retained. These were not highlighted through italics, in order to facilitate the entry of these expressions into the cultural landscape of the English language. The stories represented the variations and polyphony of Indian women's writing. The best of Indian women writers such as Amrita Pritam, Kamala Suraiyya, Sashi Deshpande, Indira Goswami, Ajeet Caur, Dhiruben Patel and Sara Joseph were included. January 2004: The seventh issue of Samyukta had articles by Dr. Ayyappa Paniker and Krishna Rayan which together explored the theory of interiorisation, and responses to it. The issue also carried the entire text of Kizhakkeppattu Ramankutty Menon's Parangodi Parinayam , one of the earliest Malayalam novels. General articles included those by Beena Gopinath on The God of Small Things , Sara Joseph on the disparity between artistic and actual truths in the lives of women, and Veena Pooncha on the changing policies of education in the era of globalisation. Translations included the concluding part of Lanka Lakshmi , the first part of Devaki Nilayangode's autobiography, and the short stories of K.R. Meera, Bama and C.S. Chandrika. The poems of Shanta Acharya, Soudamini, Bini B.S., Rosary Royar and Kutty Revathy were also featured. Other highlights were the interview of Gita Hiranyan by Sreedevi K. Nair, and regular features such as the study of the feminist (Julia Kristeva), the thinker (Raja Ram Mohun Roy) the topic of discussion by M. Kunhaman, Pages from History and review of books. January 2005: This issue was guest edited by Vibhuti Patel and focused on “Women and Development”. It carried eleven articles on the subject authored by experts on the subject. The first article in the issue was by the guest editor herself on “Gender and Development Debates: A Case Study of India”, followed by articles on women’s access to economic opportunities through credit and employment programs (Sangita Kamdar), on how globalization merely ends up reinforcing and reconfiguring women into established gender hierarchies (Damyanti Bhattacharya), on alternatives to globalization (Barbara Kalima), on how the female face of poverty has been ignored (Suzanne Membe Matale), on differential development of women in Kerala and Andhra Pradesh (Kiran Prasad), on gender equality and millennium development goals (Kamayani Bali Mahabal), on the vulnerability of women who work in the home based sector (Meena Gopal), on self help groups and women’s empowerment and sustainable development (Dolly sunny) and on poverty, AIDS and the struggle of women to live (Rose Wu). Creative writing includes such gems as the award winning “Reindeer” translated by the author herself into English, translation of Mamang Dai’s “Prayer Flags”, Satchidanandan’s “Three Poems of Hope”, K.R.Mallika’s “Concerning Caste”, Rukmini Bhaya Nair’s “Yellow Hibiscus”, O.V.Usha’s “Suspended Soil” and Lakshmi Rajeev’s “On the Threshold of the House”. Critical articles on “Changing Faces of Patriarchy, Women and Family in India” and “Sex of Knowing: Towards Revitalizing Epistemology” are included. The second act of Saketam and the last and concluding part of Devaki Nilayangode is also included in the issue. July 2005: This issue, guest edited by Ritu Menon focused on the pressing concerns of the women’s movement in 21st century in India. The first aticle, Maithreyi Krishnaraj’s “Challenges Before Women’s Movement in a Changing Context”, looks at the threats of communalism, the impact of economic reforms on women’s position and the rising incidents of violence against women and examines ways in which women’s movements ought to face the threats. Uma Chakravarthi examines How autonomous the autonomous women’s movement is in the article of the same name while Kumud Sharma talks of “Institutionalising Feminist Agenda(s)”. Nanditas (Gandhi & Shah) writes of “An Interactive Space for Feminisms” while Gabriele Dietrich writes of “The Women’s Movement: Between Autonomy and Alliance-Building”. Ritu menon’s article is on “The Dissenting Feminist Voice in a Globalised Marketplace”. Antonia Navarro-Tejero’s interviews with Rajini Tilak provide insights into Dalit Feminist Movement. Other articles include Sharmila Rege’s “More than Just Tacking Women onto the ‘Macropricture’: Feminist Contributions to Globalisation Discourses”, Ammu Joseph’s “Moving with Media Agenda”, Indira Jaisingh’s “Democratic Lawyering” and Shilpa Phadke’s “Thirty Years On: Women’s Studies Reflects on the Women’s Movement”. The issue also includes the script of C.S.Venketeswaran’s documentary “Matha to Ma on Mandakini Narayanan and Bindu Amat’s meeting with the Marxist-Feminist Mandakini Narayanan. January 2006: This issue focused on the history of education of women in Kerala from 1819 to 1947, especially through missionary schools. Apart from an article on the subject by Hepsi Gladston, the particular issue of Samyukta also carried the complete text of the autobiographical narrative by Augusta Blandford, a woman missionary belonging to the Church of England Zenana Mission Society entitled “The Land of the Conch Shell”. Other scholarly articles of the issue includes Bina Agarwal’s “The Hidden Side of Group Behaviour: A Gender Analysis of Community Forestry in South Asia”, K.S.Vaishali’s “Mothers in a Conflict Ridden Her Land, “The Mothers of Maya Diip” by Sunithi Namjoshi and Manveer Kaur and Ameen Sultana’s article “Patriarchy in Punjab: Documenting the Narrative of Women from 3 Generations of Jat Sikh Families of Punjab”. Apart from translated short stories of N.S.Madhavan, P.Surendran and K.P.Sudheera, the issue also carried Shanta Acharya’sstory, “The South Bank Show” and Sharmishta Ghosh’s “Wind Chimes”. Poets – Usha Kishore and Parineeta Shetty seek to define themselves in the issue in poems like “I am the Poet” and “I am a Woman” while Bini Sajil is “The Fluid Woman”. A critical study of Rati Saxena’s “the Seeds of the Mind” by Suja Kurup is followed by Saxena’s “Love songs in Atharva Veda”. Mary Wollstonecraft is the feminist whose profile is added in the volume while the autobiographical narrative included is that of P.Valsala. July 2006: issue of Samyukta carried articles of Leela Gulati on “Asian Women in International Migration - With Special Reference to some Labour Exporting and Importing Countries”, of Rekha Pande on “Globalization and Trafficking of Women and Children”, of Anu Saksena on”Women Workers in Textile Industry” of Gayatri Lokhande “Contemporary Women and Political Participation in India” and Supriya M’s “A Narrative of Dysporic Homecoming:M.G.Vassanji's The In-Between World of Vikram Lall”. The issue carries poems of Neerada, Anitha Thampy and Anvar and stories written by Catherine Thankamma, R.Chudamani, K.R.Meera, Alistair Padma and. Santhosh Echikkanam. The issue carries too an interview with Sitara, the writer and Autobiographic Monologues of various women penned by Volga and translated by Vasanth Kannabiran. The feminist, whose profile is included is Trinh T.Min-ha. The issue also carries the regular feature, Book Reviews. January 2007: issue of Samyukta is a special commemorative issue on Dr. K. Ayyappa Paniker, Malayalam poet, critic, translator and intellectual who has published extensively in English as well. Dr. Paniker’s works, had not, we felt received the critical attention it deserved and hence the attempt to evaluate Dr. Paniker as a poet, as a prose writer, as a critic and as a translator. Hema Nair R, Jayasree Ramakrishnan Nair, P. Radhika, S. Bini, Sreedevi K Nair, Rati Saxena, Vincent Netto and Lakshmi Sukumar penned research papers on these aspects. A poem on Paniker, written by K. G. Shankara Pillai and an interview with noted dramatist and theatre personality, Kavalam Narayana Panicker, his cousin was included in this issue. The issue carried the hitherto unpublished translation ofPathumani Pookal entitled Poetry at Midnight as well as translations of Kurukshetram and South Bound. An extensive bibliography on Dr. Paniker was also part of this issue. July 2007: issue of Samyukta has women saints and the Bhakti Movement in India as focus. This issue is important in that it carries the selected poems of enlightenment of Avvai and Andal, translated into English from the original Tamil by Thomas H. Pruiksma and Shobha Ramaswamy respectively. Thomas H. Pruiksma has provided twenty translations from Avvaiyar's quatrains, with an explanatory translator’s note; the translations show an effort to maintain structural similarity to the original and are a source of instruction and delight. The other highlight of this issue is the translation of 30 verses of Andal’s Thiruppavai, together with a translator’s note. Selections from these great women poets throw light on their works and philosophy and provide enough inspiration for sustained research into their contribution. To complement these pieces, we also have an article by Snehi Chauhan which discusses the women seers in the Rig Veda. This article draws attention to the 27 odd women seers of the Rig Vedic period who composed and visualized many of the Vedic hymns. These women seers are revealed as groups of articulate and spiritually enlightened women who display women power in their own right. Our regular features include interview with Captain Lakshmi Sehgal by Veena Poonacha; an autobiographical excerpt on the positive aspects of her colonial education by Maria N. Ng, and a profile of the feminist Gloria E.Anzaldua. Besides these, the issue carries articles such as ‘Narratives and the Creation of Community’ by Susan Viswanathan and an article on Mahasweta Devi’s After Kurukshetra, by Susan Oommen, stressing the importance of the ecosystem and its protective role. This issue of the journal also includes some of the best pieces of creative writing in the form of short stories and poems. Book reviews, as usual, are a regular feature in this issue of Samyukta. SARJERAO JEDHE http://www.ssmslawpune.com/images_other/ph_04.jpg http://www.sculptorbrkhedkar.com/images/22.gif Acharya Atre http://shamdeshpande.com/images/about_img.jpg Prabodhankar Thackeray http://www.indyapulse.com/IndiaGuide/photos/JawaharlalNehru.jpg http://www.whereincity.com/india/great-indians/prime-ministers/images/morarji-desai2.jpg