Is It Time For Another Nupi Lan Or Women's War?

The women workforce constitutes 40% of the State’s total women population but hardly 10% to 12% are in the formal economic sector while the rest are engaged in the informal or unorganized sector which is characterized by low productivity, insecurity and vulnerability.

- Reena Nongmaithem

Women of Manipur have been collectively taking part in crucial roles in history. They are known for their fearlessness and active participation in social issues. The historic Nupi Lan (Women’s War in Manipuri) first took place in 1904 and consequently in 1939 when the women of Manipur rose against exploitative colonial policies. The women campaigned against the political agent Mr Maxwell who facilitated forced labor (Lalup Kaba) on Manipuri men. The women pressurized the British government to protect their male counterparts from such a system and consequently the British had to withdraw it in 1904. That incident is still marked as the ‘First Women’s War’ (Ahanba Nupi Lan) in Manipur. The Manipuri women’s movement against the more export oriented trade policy of the State’s Maharaja and Marwari monopoly irrespective of the limited production of food grains later evolved into a movement of constitutional, political, and economic reforms in Manipur. Many of them were injured from the bayonets and butts of the soldiers’ weapons and many were thrown into ponds by soldiers on that cold winter day of 12th December 1939, which the present generation observes every year as ‘Nupi Lan Numit.’

Women: Equal Only on Paper