GUWAHATI, June 20 - Dr Anuradha Sarma, an Associate Professor in the Department of Modern Indian Languages and Literary Studies of Gauhati University, was recently conferred the Matangini Hazra Women Awareness Award, a press release received here stated.
The award, it may be mentioned, was jointly instituted by the Kolkata Federation Hall Committee and Nationalist Research Scholars� Association. In a formal ceremony organised on June 17 at the Kolkata Federation Hall, Shyamal Sen, former Governor of West Bengal, presented the award to Dr Sarma.
Dr Anuradha Sarma writes under the pseudonym Rudrani Sarma. Her second Assamese novel Damitar Dastabez has already been translated into Nepali, Hindi and Bengali, while the English translation is under way. The Bengali translation of the novel done by Jahnabi Das and published by Kolkata-based Dey�s Publications received wide acclaim and appreciation amongst the women activists and research scholars of Bengal, and the presentation of this award to Dr Sarma was in recognition of her endeavour in this regard.
Dr Sarma has already carved a niche for herself in the literary world of Assam through a series of thought-provoking novels.
It may be pertinent to mention here that Matangini Hazra was a martyr in India�s Freedom Struggle and a woman of immense valour who had the courage to raise her voice in support of women�s rights back in those days.
Therefore, the presentation of the Women Awareness Award in the hallowed memory of Matangini Hazra to Dr Anuradha Sarma was the recognition of the latter�s powerful and dynamic portrayal, through her novel Damitar Dastabez, of the varied trials and tribulations confronting the womenfolk of our society at large.
As part of this occasion, Alauddin Mandal, Associate Professor in the Department of Bengali, Assam University, was presented the Shyamaprasad Mookherjee Personality Award; Bela Bhattacharjya, former Professor of Pali at Calcutta University, was honoured with the Rabindra Bouddha Philosophy Award; and Shukla Chakraborty, former Professor of Tamil, was honoured with the Tagore-Bharati Literary Award. The intellectual significance of this event was further augmented through an academic discussion on Rabindranath Tagore and Buddhism.
In her acceptance speech, Dr Anuradha Sarma remarked that it was her privilege to have received the award from the hands of the former Governor Shyamal Sen and further emphasised the significance of this first recognition of her literary merit being conferred in the name of Matangini Hazra.
Dr Sarma further conveyed her feeling of encouragement at being honoured in the name of such a woman as Matangini Hazra, who had dedicated her life to fight for the holistic development of women as well as to the cause of her motherland�s emancipation from slavery and bondage. Dr Sarma concluded by reiterating her commitment to the ongoing struggle of the have-nots of the society and to humanity at large.
