Bulett Surojini Today Full

1946, the Great Calcutta Killings and Noakhali Genocide

The Golden Threshold

She was the 'Nightingale of India', and her voice was first heard in 1905 when 'The Golden Threshold' was published. This collection of Sarojini Naidu's early work is already infused with the rich imagery and lush descriptions of India that she was known for. Borrowing from the tradition of British Romanticism, the works are largely lyric poetry. But never mind the style, it is the substance that counts. A rich range of content includes songs for music, folk songs and poems, all opening a window and allowing the scents and sounds of early-20th century India to blow in. Evocative, educational, imaginative, charming...this is ideal for fans of Arundhati Roy's 'The God of Small Things' and the poetry of Daljit Nagra. Sarojini Naidu (1879-1949) was an Indian poet and political activist. She was educated in Madras, London and Cambridge, where she took up the cause of women's suffrage. Back in India, she became a leading figure in India's struggle for independence from colonial rule. Her poetry, which was vivid, colourful, evocative and challenging, earned her the title "The Nightingale of India". In 1925 Naidu was made president of the Indian National Congress and in 1947 was appointed Governor of the United Provinces.

The Mothers of Manipur

July 15, 2004: An amazing scene unfolds in front of the Kangla Fort in Manipur, the headquarters of the Assam Rifles, a unit of the Indian army. Soldiers and officers watch aghast as twelve women, all in their sixties and seventies, position themselves in front of the gates and then, one by one, strip themselves naked. The imas, the mothers of Manipur, are in a cold fury, protesting the custodial rape and murder of Thangjam Manorama, a 32-year-old woman, alleged by the army to be a militant. The women hold aloft banners that shout, 'Indian Army Rape Us', 'Take Our Flesh'. Never has this happened before: the army is appalled. Hundreds of thousands of people around the country, watching the drama unfold, are shocked. Can this be possible? A naked protest in India? By mothers? The imas of Manipur are known to be strong, self-sufficient. It is they who by and large run the economy of the state; here, though, they are doing something different. Manorama's death is the trigger for their renewed protest against the Draconian Armed Forces Special Powers Act 1958, which is used with impunity in the state and excuses all sorts of army excesses. Manipur has witnessed several decades of low-intensity war with more than twenty militant outfits operating in the state. In this unusual book, journalist Teresa Rehman, tells the story of the twelve women, of how they took the momentous decision - in some cases unknown to their families - and how they carried it out with precision and care. The story of the mothers of Manipur reflects the larger history of the conflict-torn state and of the courage and resistance of the people in the face of overwhelming odds.