ABSTRACT
Watershed moments in history and society have always provided an impetus to women's voices of dissent, and literature has always been the most powerful medium of registering and voicing protests. One such moment in history, which has been singularly responsible for changing the social and literary rubric of a place is the “Bhasha Andolon” in the Barak Valley of Southern Assam. On May 19, 1961, during one such sit-in protest at the railway station, the police opened fire and 11 young people lost their lives. This incident made the Government take back the law and eventually 19 May became the marker of a cultural uprising – “Unish” as it is fondly known in the Valley. Subsequently, “Unish” turned into an identity marker and became the cynosure of cultural and literary movements in the Valley. This chapter will endeavour to make an in-depth study of how these cultural and literary movements impacted the works and literary expressions of women writers of the Valley, who, needless to say, held the baton of protest high with their writings. In doing so, the chapter will take into consideration poems by select women writers and try to focus on the treatment of “protest” as a theme and its evolution over the decades.
