Chandraprabha Saikiani: A Firebrand Feminist

Chandraprabha Saikiani and her sister went to a boy's school to get their education as they had no schools then in their village. This escalated to a strong voice of dissent against the male dominated system of education. When she was in her teens, Chandraprabha Saikiani established a school only for girls. This was a makeshift school (under a shed) in the village. Meanwhile, she on her part used to go to the all boys school to receive her education. After returning from school she used to relay her learnings to the girls who came to her makeshift school. 

Chandraprabha Saikiani has etched her name forever in Assam's literary space as a revolutionary writer. She was a firebrand women's rights activist and a Padma Shree Awardee too. Incidentally, Chandraprabha Saikiani is credited to be the pioneer of the feminist movement in Assam.

She was born in Assam's Doisingari village of Kamrup district, on 16 March, 1901. She was the seventh of eleven children and chose the name 'Chandraprabha Saikiani' for herself. Her father's name was Ratiram Mazumdar who was the headman of the village. Clearly ahead of his times, her father had advised his daughters to pursue their schooling from the local school. Chandraprabha Saikiani and her sister went to a boy's school to get their education as they had no schools then in their village. This escalated to a strong voice of dissent against the male dominated system of education. Steadily people started demanding that girls and young women should have equal access to educational institutes and spaces.

When she was just 13, Chandraprabha Saikiani established a school only for girls. This was a makeshift school (under a shed) in the village. Meanwhile, she on her part used to go to the all boys school to receive her education. After returning from school she used to relay her learnings to the girls who came to her makeshift school. This very sincere, passionate and honest commitment of hers was noticed by Neelakanta Barua, who was the school inspector. In due course of time, Chandraprabha and her sister Rajniprabha got scholarships for studying in the Nagaon Mission School. Thereafter, her sister became the first lady doctor of Assam.

While Chandraprabha Saikiani was attending her school in Nagaon, she noticed some stark and alarming differences in terms of the treatment meted to the Hindu and Christian students. Students by and large were forcefully converted to Christianity. She was taken aback and shocked, when she saw that the girls were not allowed to stay in the hostels if they did not convert to Christianity. Chandraprabha thus flagged this injustice and fought against the authorities. Her demand was clear and simple- all girls should be admitted in the hostels irrespective of their religion. Her revolutionary attitude was further noticed when she delivered a speech in front of a public gathering at the age of 17. She demanded a blanket ban on opium, which is an addictive substance that had destroyed many people of the state in those days. She also fought against issues of caste, religion and all other social evils. Because of her efforts, the doors of Hayagriva Madhav temple in Hajo were opened to women, breaking all barriers.

Chandraprabha Saikiani was greatly inspired by Saint Shankardev's teachings and philosophy in terms of fighting social evils. The Assam Pradeshik Mahila Samity was initiated by her in 1926, after she had joined the Non Co-operation Movement. She fought for education, girl's rights and emphasized the relevance of our handicrafts and handlooms in terms of cohesive socio-economic and even political development.

Chandraprabha became a noteworthy writer with her popular novel Pitribhitha. She was also the editor of Mahila Samity's Assamese journal ABHIJATRI for seven years. She was awarded the Padma Shree award in the year 1972.

Saikiani died on her 71st birthday on 16 March 1972 by succumbing to cancer. She was honoured (posthumously) again in 2002 by the Government when a commemorative postage stamp was issued by the Department of Posts in 2002 under the series, social reformers. The Government Polytechnic in Kamrup, Guwahati is named after her and the Tezpur University established a women's centre in her name, Chandraprabha Saikiani Center for Women's Studies (CSCWS) in 2009 for promoting women's education in the Northeast India.

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