Women and Violence: A Gendered Reading of Angst for Homeland

Abstract

Following the Merger Agreement, 1949, a majority in Manipur, a sovereign State earlier, have always been skeptical of its inclusion into the Indian Union. In this context and to suppress the subsequent surge of secessionist groups, the Indian Union enacted the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA), 1958. Thereby, Manipur has become a battlefield of the native insurgent groups and the Indian armed forces. As such, most works of literature from Manipur deal with themes of violence and conflict. In this bullet-riddled setting, this article endeavours to critically read a collection of poems “Angst for Homeland” from Tattooed With Taboos: An Anthology of Poetry by Three Women from Northeast India (2015). Through a gendered analysis of socio-cultural as well as political structures, the article attempts to explore the plight of women and the oppression they undergo amidst what Banerjee calls “two armed patriarchies.”

Keywords: Angst for Homeland, Violence, Women, Tattooed with Taboos, AFSPA, Manipur