Motherhood: The soul and spirit of family & society
- The Sangai Express Editorial :: May 13, 2024 -

As the world celebrated the Mother's Day on Sunday, it's time to remind ourselves of the momentous roles and responsibilities a mother shoulders till her last breath.

In fact, a mother is a symbol of sacrifice, compassion and forbearance.

Napoleon Bonaparte made no mistake when he said, "The future destiny of the child is always the work of the mother".

Again, American poet William Rose Wallace wrote "The hand that rocks the cradle rules the world".

When mothers have such central roles in shaping the future and destiny of their children, one can safely surmise that the world today is largely a making of women, or mothers to be more precise.

The contribution of women in the history of world civilization right from the Stone Age up to the contemporary period is no lesser than men's contribution.

Yet, women's role, responsibility and contributions, are always undermined, underestimated and in many instances went unacknowledged.

Yes, there is a gap between womanhood and motherhood. Obviously, motherhood carries much greater responsibility.

Apart from all the duties of a mother which no father can fit in, motherhood demands all women to be compassionate, caring, dedicated and persevering.

The same thing applies to fathers but women are naturally endowed with such qualities like tenderness, compassion, etc.

Biologically speaking, all women can become mothers but in the real sense of the term not all women are bestowed with the qualities demanded by motherhood.

In another word, all mothers are women but all women are not mothers.

Yet there is a multitude of commonness between women and mothers, the so called fairer or weaker sex; domination, suppression and exploitation by the 'stronger sex' being common experience.

In India, the land of goddesses and Devis, a woman's journey of life is strewn with thorns.

In many States across the country, female foeticide is rampant. Dowry related death is almost a daily-occurrence.

Rape and molestation happen every single minute.

Notwithstanding all the legal systems and constitutional rights which put women at par with men theoretically, a large section of the country's female population lives under the mercy of males.

Is Manipur, the land of the historic Nupi Lans and the vibrant Meira Paibi movement, any different?

Rape, murder and rape plus murder were reported from different corners of the state more often than not even though, fortunately, there were no such reports in the recent past.

One would certainly find it' hard to swallow if this bitter truth is juxtaposed with the two famous Nupi Lans or the vibrant Meira Paibi movement.

Yet, we are proud for the vibrant Meira Paibi movement and the famous Nupi Lans.

No one can deny women constitute a major force as protestors whether it is against human rights violation including crimes against women ordrug trafficking.

The state has witnessed immense powers of women in the field of protest.

But does the male-dominated society ever acknowledge their struggles and contributions?

In spite of all the contributions of women in the collective struggle of the people, a woman was strangulated and another woman manhandled on the day of first phase voting for Lok Sabha elections.

There was also an instance of placing an explosive at the residence of a woman activist not so long ago.

All these incidents paint a very poor picture of how women and mothers are treated in our society.

Reports of rape and murder and these disturbing incidents are a clear manifestation that culture of violence and militaristic method of settling down issues in the society have spilled over from the military (both state and non-state actors) to the civilian population.

The issue of violence against women should be allowed to take central position within the broader framework of all human rights movements, at least for some period. Women's agenda cannot be women exclusive.

They are mothers of our society, and they have been acting as vanguards in many crucial phases of Manipur's existential history.

Meira Paibi movement is undoubtedly a socio-political movement and utmost care must be taken to see that it always treads on politically correct paths.

At the same time, one must not overlook the fact that the Meira Paibi movement stemmed from mothers' unconditional love and concern to protect their sons and daughters.

Regardless of whether one is a socio-political activist or not, all mothers are the very soul and spirit of each family and the society at large.