Saluting the Meira Paibi movement : Time to sincerely introspect
- The Sangai Express Editorial :: January 31, 2013 -
Singjamei Meira Paibis rally against selling and abuse of drugs and alcohol in July 2012 :: Pix - Banti Phurailatpam
Symbol of hope.
Torch bearers, literally and figuratively speaking. Author of revolutions. The vanguard of society's morale.
The Meira Paibi movement is this and more.
Not surprising then that five prominent Meira Paibi leaders have been conferred the Times of India Social Impact Awards.
Stretch this a little more and it is not only the five Meira Paibis who have been honoured but the movement launched by the womenfolk of Manipur.
Clearly the story of Manipur would not be even half complete without a reference to the unique Meira Paibi movement and this is perfectly in line with the history of Nupi Lan, perhaps the one and only instance in the history of the country, when the common womenfolk came out on the streets to protest the policy pursued by the Britishers.
A continuum of what happened way back in 1939 and fast forward by a couple of decades and it should be clear that the seeds which were sown during the British Raj continue to impact on the social life of the people of Manipur.
Launched sometime in the 1970s to combat social ills like alcoholism and drug abuse, the Meira Paibi movement gradually metamorphosed into something bigger.
Lighted torch in their hands and keeping vigil in the neighbourhood, not only against alcoholism and drug abuse, but also against the growing excesses of the security forces and the presence of the Meira Paibis in the consciousness of the Manipuri society is something that cannot be written off at all.
Be it the vigil mounted against the ills of alcohol or drug abuse or excesses of the security forces or lending a voice against the continued imposition of the Armed Forces Special Powers Act, almost everything that has impacted on the lives of the common people have been touched by the Meira Paibi movement.
Perhaps this is also the opportune moment to ponder and introspect.
In as much as the Meira Paibi movement has positively impacted on the lives of the people how successful has it been in bringing a change in the status of the women at the individual level or in the private domain ?
A case of stereotyping the role and responsibility of the womenfolk in the public domain ?
Not a very comfortable question, but right time to raise such a poser for it is a question on where exactly women stand in society.
This question should also gain credence in the backdrop of the increasing crime against women in the State.
Yes, Manipur has no reported cases of bride burning or dowry death, but the very fact that Government agencies have deemed it proper to issue guidelines to all private clinics that sex determination of the unborn child is illegal says something very significant.
The male-female ratio may not be as skewed as in some of the north Indian States like Punjab and Haryana, but this should not lull anyone into a sense of complacency.
Quite a large number of women continue to be punching bags within the confines of their homes.
So even as the Meira Paibi movement is being extolled on the National turf, courtesy Times of India and JP Morgan, this is also the right time for everyone to take one hard, sincere look at how exactly are womenfolk being treated in the private domain.
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