TODAY -
In Manipur, Women Take the Lead
New York Times Blog | Lydia Polgreen | Nov 25, 2011,
India is the land of a million mutinies, in V. S. Naipaul’s indelible phrase, but almost all the mutinies I have witnessed have been led and populated by men. When the farmers of Uttar Pradesh demonstrate against a new highway, they leave their wives at home. When the Jats agitate for caste-based job and education preferences by sitting on railway tracks, their daughters remain in the village, their faces, in all likelihood, covered by dupattas.
But when I rolled up to an agitation in the village of Gamgiphai in Manipur earlier this fall, the ramparts were lined almost exclusively with women. The road connecting the village, which sat nestled in the hills outside the state capital, had been torn up. The protesters had blocked the roads into Manipur, as so often happens in this remote region. They hoped that strangling commerce would force officials here to grant their request: a separate administrative district for their ethnic group, the Kukis. I used my cellphone to record a video that captured just how unafraid Manipuri women are to confront soldiers.
“Women take the lead in these protests,” explained Lamshi Haokip, one of the women at the barricades. “If the men did it the army would kill them.”
Perhaps, but the involvement of women in the struggle for human rights and self-determination in Manipur has a long history. In 1939, Manipuri women launched what was called Nupi Lan, or the women’s war, against the maharaja that ruled the kingdom over what they called his oppressive policies.
“It is a patriarchal society, but women take very strong roles,” said Basantakumar Wareppa, a lawyer who works at Human Rights Alert, one of the groups working on Ms. Sharmila’s cause. “They are not afraid to fight for their rights.”
Indian women have come a long way. The country has had a female prime minister and president, and women occupy top leadership roles at major companies and institutions. But when it comes to hitting the streets and making their voices heard, Manipuri women seem to be leading the pack.
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* This Post is uploaded on November 25 2011
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