Today is Nupi Lal

Today is Nupi Lal. It is a state Holiday in Manipur.It means Women's War or A War fought by Women. I had written about it earlier in my Blog here.

Women have also played major roles in the politics of Manipur. Not that there
have been many many politicians, but women groups do have a say in many
matters.This can be dated back to 1931, when a very important event took
place called the Nupi Lan. Nupi Lan marked an important event in the history of Manipur. Nupi Lan means the women's war, Nupi meaning women and Lan meaning war, when women stood up in an uprising againts what we called chak tangba( inflation of food ie rice). The war or uprising started at the said Ema Keithel, when women protested against exports of Rice to Assam to feed the Brittish when Rice itself became scarce in Manipur. But since the British were paying, more local
prices shot up making itvery expensive in Manipur thereby causing a lot of
problems for the local populace. We rememeber the brave women who
fought in nupi lan with state holiday every december the 12th. More.........

It marked a very important event in the History of Manipur and on
empowerment of Manipuri Women. I don't know of any other war on a War or
uprising solely by women other than for a cause solely feminist[ eg. Bra Burning]. We have also heard of Women Warriors in Jhansi Ki Rani orJoan of Arc, But Nupi Lal, was uprising by women solely for a social cause. We call elderly Manipuri women by the loving word "Ema" meaning Mother and the uprising was led by most elderly women. Even today, women groups are very strong today in Manipur as everybody must recall the Manorama Incident[Read more], when some elderly women had protested in front of the military. Even today, an informal network of local Emas (motheras) roam the streets of manipur with improvised torches. These women are called Meira Paibis or torch bearers. Started out as an informal group to punish drunkards and other social evils, they are now a very strong force who even have a say in political matters. Read about Meira paibi here.

And I believe seeds of the empowerment of women in Manipur was sown during the Nupi Lal. Everybody could learn a lesson from this historic event that equal participation of sexes can only but uplift a society. Note that, Manipur is not a Matriarchal society and the Men are not lazybums and have a history of being fierce warriors. But women have been very effective in many an event. In Manipur, women don't beg or fight for their rights and respects, they earn it and the men are fiercely protective about their women and vice versa. Do link this post and let the world know.. Crossposted at my Other Blog.