Sub-human women & champion women activists
- The Sangai Express Editorial :: August 06, 2014 -

It is rather poignant and distressing. Bizarre it may sound but the reality is, women in Manipur are elevated to the high pedestal of being champions of all kinds of socio-political issues and at the same time they are being reduced to wretched, discard-able sub-humans.

Male chauvinism and hypocrisy have reached its zenith in the troubled state of Manipur. Just look at the front pages of all the newspapers published in the last couple of days at Imphal.

Every reader would have noticed unfailingly the disgusting admixture of womenfolk leading in the forefront the mass movement for implementation of Inner Line Permit System in the State with reports of rape and murder (of women), the latest being Lourembam Ranjita.

Rapes and murders are no longer isolated criminal cases. Rapes and murders have been fast evolving into some sort of a deadly infection which is eating into the vitals of the society.

Manorama, Ratanmala, Meneka, Premila, Satyabhama and now Ranjita. The list is simply endless and they are all testimonies of political and structural violence against women.

And in each and every incident, the violence is stark, brutal and inhumane. These disturbing incidents are stark reminder of the prevailing state of affairs.

They also put a big question on the earlier understanding of our society as gender-sensitive where women are accorded a higher status as compared to other societies.

Public memory is still fresh with the gang-rape and killing of Thangjam Manorama by Assam Rifles personnel and the rape and gang-rape of a woman at Bishnupur and others.

A reading in totality of such brutal incidents indicates that culture of violence and militaristic method of settling down issues in the society has spilled over from the military (both state and non-state actors) to the civilian population.

When violence has become a way of life in Manipur wherein the weaker are at the receiving end, specially women, and in the light of the ever increasing incidences of violence against women, there is a growing need for active and sustained engagement on the issue in the form of collective people’s movements with the necessary doses of gender readings of the situation as well as the movements.

Such an engagement becomes crucial all the more on account of ever increasing violation of the body of the women and her life in various spheres such as economic, political and social – or in short, in the everydayness of her existence.

What is being proposed then is the need for women specific political agenda.

But the issue is whether such (women specific) movement would be problematic for larger movements like the ongoing one for Inner Line Permit System or the perennial movement against Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act and human rights violation.

Nonetheless, if within a broader frame or condition of life, the category of women is put central and a gender reading of such life is being attempted at some point of time, if not now, then it will not only be about empowerment but also of justice.

For that matter, women empowerment cannot be confined within the limited scope of imparting education at par with males.

Yes, education is crucial but it is not enough.

Women empowerment needs to encompass the capability to defend and protect themselves from all kinds of violence committed by not only military personnel but also male civilians.

It is a tragedy that despite the rich and long tradition of women’s movements, Manipur is yet to witness any gender-centric mass movement.

Its absence is conspicuous by itself given the fact that domestic violence, rape and murder of women have been disturbing the collective psyche of our people more frequently than ever before.