Trigger warning: Mentions of rape, assault, violence, and death.
How many of you knew about the Manipur violence until a grainy video of two naked women being paraded founds its way onto your mobiles and TV sets? A woman has to be put at stake before the nation wakes up to the plight!
Manipur, a vibrant state among the scenic landscapes of North-east India with a rich culture, has witnessed the worst period in the history of its existence. Communal clashes and violence have been key in shaping its present socio-political situation. The conflicts between the Meitie and Kuki communities, which escalated after the High Court asked the state government to consider taking Meitie groups under the category of scheduled tribes, have transcended the bounds of law and morality.
While the Meities strive to expand their influence in the state, including Meities in the ST quota threatens Kuki's dominance over the forest lands. However, conflicts and violence are not fresh news to follow since they have been predominantly evident since humans began to settle down in communities.
What comes to our dismay is the situation of women in Manipur which clearly shows how patriarchal norms perpetuate gender-based violence to uphold dominance over others suggestively, even in 2023.
The video of two women being paraded naked in Manipur shook the grounds of principles and progressions onto which the nation stood firm and flaunted its call to create a safer nation and society for women.
Be it a woman herself, a man, or a teenager, the incident brought the underlying conscience of the citizens back to where it all began. Women are not safe even in 2023. Manipur violence is a testament to how rapes and assaults are weaponized during fights and feuds. But did it happen for the first time? Sincerely, no.
The Cycle of Gender based Violence and Society
Whenever we hear news of a woman, girl, or child being raped, it evokes a rush of hatred in our bloodlines. But then, it cools and withers away until next time. It is deeply saddening how it takes an assault in the news to get our morality back, at least for some moments.
However, since the context here is gender based violence during conflicts, the Manipur violence and assaults against women resulted from administrative failure and collective collapse of human rationality when it comes to women or anyone who is 'deemed weak'.
The incident happened on the 4th of May 2023 but came to light in July; that shows how desperately and systematically authorities must have been trying to suppress and vault down the bitter reality. But the real idea behind talking about violence against women in Manipur is to trace its roots back to the time and times.
What is more concerning is the government's silence and the judiciary's visible helplessness to curb such crimes against women and minorities.
Unearthing the Root Idea of Honor and Why It is Harmful?
Patriarchy, a practice whose birth and history are a mystery for all of us, has always been cruel, biased, unethical, and oppressive. To whom? Women only? Apparently, it has been scathing not only to women but to anybody who does not fit the parameters of an alpha man. It is to wonder who idealized the perfect man and who convinced whom that men are above and superior.
However, since every idea needs a strong backing point, biological differences must have been used to lower and limit the accessibility of women in every sphere of life. And the same old thesis of men and women being different and having different life goals put the women and marginalized on the verge of the most definitive vulnerabilities.
At this point, too, it's a question worth asking who brought the idea of honor to the room, and why linked it to the genitals of a specific gender only? And let us not forget that this very society emerges from the genitals that they choose to violate when it suits them! Hypocrisy is truly deep-rooted.
Talking about the weaponization of rapes during conflicts in the context of Manipur violence, the two Kuki women who were visible in the viral video and a third woman who somehow escaped the mobs were assaulted on the pretext of seeking revenge after a rumor of a Meitie nursing student allegedly assaulted surfaced.
But why is the women’s sanctity always at stake? This happens only because of the internalized idea that the honor of a family, a community, or any other group, lies with its female members, even though power doesn’t. It's been well perpetuated since the records of history that women were subjected to rape and humiliation to attack the ego and esteem of the other party.
And to add more, the way the institution has dealt with the case, with no such actions and gestures, the severeness of such ill mentality will surely boost up and cause more such cases.
Rewind101: Gender based Violence Since Ages
Who does not remember Draupadi from Mahabharata, who was dragged to the court brutally? Although the feud was between the Pandava and Kaurava males, Draupadi was the ultimate target in the plot of Mahabharata. And what does not surprise us is how no bystander could save or protest for Draupadi even 5000 years ago.
Even in the footnotes of diaspora worldwide in the modern world, women and marginalized were always traded across to satisfy the proportionality of blood and honor. It is to simply contextualize the Indian partition, whose realms have concealed thousands of women and children who were genocided and killed by their male counterparts to preserve family honor. To protect something irrational and invisible, millions of women were forever forced to embrace death, be it by force or by glorifying such instances where one woman's personal choice was generalized over others.
Even during the partition, women were supposedly easy targets. Women on both sides of the newly demarcated border faced horrendous crimes and suffered both physical and mental trauma. Be it the Eastern side or the Western side of the country, be it Hindu, Muslim, or Sikh, nobody stepped back from publicly assaulting and humiliating women of the other community. Even then, hundreds of women were abducted, paraded naked, and brutally raped in the daylight to demean the worth and masculinity of the other party.
Patriarchy knows well how to tie up and oppress in the name of gender division, protection, goddessification, and even under the pretext of love.
Violence Against Women in Manipur: A Modern War Targeting Gender
Returning to the Manipur violence and the violence against women, the viral video was shared over a million times through various social media platforms. At the time, it must have evoked a feeling of hatred and disgust as a citizen; for most morality bearers, it was still a source of voyeurism. Didn't morality shake and shatter while publicly sharing a video of women being assaulted? Wasn't the news enough to fire rage and raise a call?
Despite all, speaking facts and practicals will still be labeled as 'too woke.' We are in a segregated society to such an extent that people lack empathy for each other. And at times, the call of duty becomes so opportunist for some sections of society that they derive their calls from underlying agendas and nothing else. Manipur violence has shown that, be it administration, media, or citizens; the deafening silence is a perpetrator of such atrocities against women and other marginalized groups.
What is shocking and depressing is the silence of women in power who, unluckily, for their political benefits, are acting neutral and are not voicing for the victims being women themselves. The heartbreaking reality of this society is shattering millions apart and defaming the real meaning of women empowerment that the society truly wants and deserves.
The End?
We are in a world where women are paving their way out to the top of every work field. The women-majority team at ISRO sent Chandrayan to the moon, but when it comes to the Earth, women are merely objectified for sex and domination!
The engraved patriarchy in society is holding millions of women back. And whether one likes it or not, we all play a role in holding each other back, willingly or unwillingly. The subtle acts of accepting, allowing, not opposing, and letting it go, have brought billions to their knees, and we all know it. Despite this, the cycle continues; women suffer under several pretexts.
At a time when women are fighting for their rights and are discovering their long-due respect and opportunities, why are they still deemed weak, and for how long the cycle of gender oppression will continue? The problem lies with the society. Let us not just teach our girls about good and bad touch but teach the boys about boundaries and consent.
While Manipur violence was certainly a byproduct of systematic patriarchy and marginalization, the mayhem has surely linked gender based violence in the past to the present. Above all, the unethical linking of honor to women specifically and then weaponizing it to deem delusional control of one over another.
At last, we must introspect the bubble of gender roles that we have created to segregate, sabotage, and suppress each other. After all, how long must one bear the consequence of being born as a girl, marginalized, queer, or colored? It has to end!
The Voice Of Woman stands in solidarity with the survivors and lends a platform to speak for them. If there is anything like honor, it is personal to the one who hails for it. It is not to be personified in a woman, and women are no longer prisoners of patriarchy.