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ABSTRACT
The Assam Movement (1979–1985) has been a turning point in the politics of Assam in India that has raised the question of identity and at the same time triggered the struggle to self-determination by the insurgent organization United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA). This paper aims to take identity as the point of departure to mark the transition of women’s role from the Assam Movement into their underground roles in ULFA. In such narratives of hero-making and patriotism, under-representation of women’s strategic involvement and self-sacrifices in the insurgent outfit often leaves the lives of the women members misrepresented and fails to highlight the in-betweens of life and death. This paper pushes the idea of identity assertion in Northeast India beyond citizenship and questions the way women’s presence in the insurgent organization gets narrated, documented, and established. Oral histories are crucial sources of data for this study.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.
Notes
1. In conversation with Arabinda Rajkhowa on 19th of January 2019 at Lakwa, Assam.
2. Sharma, “Role of Women during the Anti-Foreigners’ Agitation,” 18–32.
3. Aretxaga. Shattering Silence: Women, Nationalism.
4. Usage of the term ‘ULFA’ in place of ‘pro-talk faction’ as according to Arabinda Rajkhowa (in conversation with Arabinda Rajkhowa on 18th of January 2019, Lakwa) they refute the state coinage of ‘pro-talk faction’ to represent ULFA and they favour solution over talk.
5. Dutta, Creating Robin Hoods.
6. Manchanda, Gender & Ethno-Nationalist Struggles.
7. Yuval-Davis, Nationalist Projects and Gender Relations, 19.
8. Ibid.
9. Colonization as an idea is critical of heterogeneity and attempts to structurally dominate and suppress it. See Mohanty, Feminism without Borders, 18.
10. Manchanda, Gender & Ethno-Nationalist.
11. Connell, “The Sociology of gender,” 550–567.
12. This compels one to question if it is rooted in the intellectual exchange that takes place in the North. See Connell, “The Sociology of gender,” 550–567.
13. Mohanty, Feminism without Borders.
14. Smith, Decolonizing Methodologies.
15. Mohanty analyses key concepts of feminism through a nuanced, transnational and an interdisciplinary understanding. See Mohanty, Feminism without Borders.
16. Ziipao, ‘Researching Political Economy,’ 26-37.
17. Fujii, “Five stories of accidental,” 525–539.
18. Portelli, The Death of Luigi, 48.
19. Frantz Fanon describes how women used their modesty in concealing arms and ammunitions in the over ground spaces. See Fanon, A Dying Colonialism, 58.
20. It was perceived by the students’ organization that total autonomy could save the state from economic exploitation. See Hazarika, Ethnic Autonomy Question in. 176.
21. Both the wings were merged into Central Command Headquarter (CCHQ) based in Bangladesh. See Mahanta, Confronting the state, 63.
22. In conversation with an anonymous former male Commander of ENIGMA B camp in Guwahati on 19th of June, 2018.
23. ULFA, Constitution, 29–30. Received from journalist Rajeev Bhattacharyya on 19 July 2018.
24. Enloe, Bananas, Beaches and Bases, 119.
25. Herath, Women in Terrorism, 107.
26. Ibid., 108.
27. In conversation with Monika Baruah, wife of Anup Chetia on 23rd of October 2016 in Guwahati.
28. Choudhary, Let’s Call Him Vasu.
29. Saxena, She Goes to War, 95.
30. Rajkonwar, Issa Annissa Swotteo kisu.
31. Herath, Women in Terrorism.
32. Almohammad, “ISIS Child Soldiers.”
33. Deka, UNDERGROUND: Lives, Activism, 76.
34. Middleton, Martyrdom, 30.
35. Roy, Remembering Revolution: Gender, Violence.
36. Basnet, “Baijayanti Devi: Assam Agitation’s,” 6.
37. Mahanta, Confronting the state.
38. Hindi term for Martyr.
39. Assamese term for Martyr.
40. There are three conditions to this distinction- the individual must have foreknowledge of the danger he or she faces; the individual must be willing to die but also have a desire to live; and the enemy must make an active or informed decision. See Gullickson, “Emily Wilding Davison.”
41. Suykens, “Maoist Martyrs,” 378-393.
42. Butalia, The Other Side of.
43. Ibid., 195.
44. Hellman-Rajanayagam, “Female Warriors, Martyrs,” 1–25.
45. Herath, Women in Terrorism, 151.
46. This information emerged in the course of my interviews and should be perceived as testimonies in the study and not absolute judgments.
47. Deka, “Reframing female insurgency.”
48. Butler, Frames of War, 53.
49. Deka, “My Stay at ULFA’s.”
50. Moral, The Woman Rebel, 72.
Additional information
Notes on contributors
Dixita Deka
Dixita Deka is a Ph.D. candidate at Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS), Guwahati Campus, India. She holds her BA and MA degrees in Political Science from Cotton College and Gauhati University respectively, and MPhil in Social Science from TISS, Guwahati. Her research interests include gender studies, peace and conflict studies, and multiculturalism.