Tungshang Ningreichon
The Nagas: The Nagas are in essence hill people whose primary life stems from the village. Estimated population of the Nagas in the documentary films ‘A cry for freedom’ by Images Asia and ‘The other side of silence’ by other media communications is over three million. Compiling the 1991 census of India, the total population of the Nagas is 1441956 of which 739183 are males and 702773 are females. These figures are made up by the 37 Naga tribes recognized as Scheduled Tribes by the Govt. of India in the four states of Manipur, Nagaland, Arunachal and Assam and do not cover all the tribes, a sizeable Nagas living in the other side-Myanmar too. Using the available figures the sex ratio (which is an indicator of women’s status in a society) is 950 females per 1000 males which is not very bright. Even after adding the figures from the other side one cannot hope much given their economic, political and developmental condition which is not better.
Naga women, militarization and organizations: One query that is very often asked by non-Nagas is ‘where are the strong Naga women when comes to negotiation and decision making bodies?’ The consolation is that Naga women have come a long way from the traditional roles and responsibilities they used to confine to. It is a slow process whereby Naga women are grappling with the dynamics of political unrest, economic deprivation, social inequalities, cultural biases and environmental degradation. They learn as they struggle and continue to gain small but meaningful victories as women of conflict.
Having said that, Naga women organizations seem to reflect two opposite roles and functions. At one level they attempt to restore and revive old tradition and culture through promotion and observation of village festivals, customs etc. Some organizations make it obligatory for all to wear the traditional attire during festivals and functions. At the same time these organizations are making efforts to change and alter some traditional practices which are seen as restraining the growth of women. The Naga Women Union, Manipur (NWUM) for instance, have been advocating and lobbying for women’s right to inheritance and inclusion of women in village councils.
Naga women at the collective level are impressive and distinguished for their strength and potentialities. They have faced the brunt of the Indo-Naga conflict and the atrocities of militarization that place them in a vulnerable position where human rights abuses takes place in different forms. Yet, it is women who form powerful vanguard when confronted with military intimidation and violence.
What is remarkable is their ability to mobilize against the injustices meted out to them-be it abuses by military or even their own people. In places like Nagaland and Manipur there are strong Naga women’s organizations like the Naga Mothers Association (NMA), Tangkhul Shanao Long (TSL), Watsu Mundang, Angami Women Organization, NWUM etc., that have sprung up as significant and essential platforms for women. These women organizations have a national character as they have the mandate of the people and they represent the voice of women. Most of them were borne out of the conflict and they are an integral part of nation building.
The special feature of the Naga women organizations is that it is made up of different tribes like in the NWUM where every Naga woman above the age of 15 is a member and it has its unit in all the Naga villages. The different units maintain their specificity yet they also as a federation network and coordinate with each other to address various social and women-specific issues. Many women organizations work actively in areas that affect the society at large like drug abuse, alcoholism, and AIDS.
There are also ‘women’s societies’ formed under the church that contributes effectively not only to the church but the society in general through their various social welfare activities. At the national front organizations like the NMA, NWUM takes a strong position against violence. They have been advocating peace and participate actively in peace processes. They have been making efforts to bring conflicting parties together and impress upon different organizations and bodies for peace. ‘Shed no more blood’ campaign by the NMA is one significant milestone of the Naga women towards peace. It is through all these roles, functions and responsibilities that Naga women constitute a vital part in nation building.
The magnified position: Despite the strength and the positive roles Naga women demonstrates, the irony is that they remain bound by different social sanctions and traditional customs that inhibits their growth and development. Using dowry, dowry deaths, female infanticide, child marriage etc., as indicators to assess the position of women, social scientists very often say that Naga women relatively have a better position and enjoy considerable amount of freedom but it is this relativity that conceals and camouflages the actual position of Naga women.
If we explore and develop an overview based on the real lives of Naga women it will offer a picture about increasing pressure and demand on women in terms of familial and societal duties, their hard life, their effort to keep the house running, to keep the family together, their struggle that is compounded by conflict and militarization. They are also without realizing struggling with all the difficulties and effects of deforestation, global warming, liberalization, globalization and other emerging forces. Yet, the strong patriarchic social structure has not undergone change which seriously questions and challenges the very status of Naga women that is very often portrayed and projected as ‘unique’.
This ‘unique’ position is understood as Naga women being well placed in the society which does not seem to be as it does not get reflected in the social, economic and political structure of the Naga society. The strength women exhibit at the collective or organizational level does not get translated at the household and individual level.
Naga women and economy: M.C.Culloch in T.C Hodsons’, The Naga Tribes of Manipur(1911), cited “In the gray of the morning the females of the family are astir and the village resounds with the blows of the long pestle in the wooden mortar beating out the rice from the husk. This finished; breakfast is cooked both for the family and the pigs, for the latter the husk mixed with other refuse serves the purpose. Breakfast over, which it usually is about sunrise, the women proceed for water, which they fill into bamboo tubes and bring out on their backs in baskets. Then they go fetch firewood, and this brought, they set the internal economy of the house; that is to see their husband’ drink being in proper quantity and quality, do their spinning or their weaving, or any other household occupation”.
One can make out the dynamics of gennas, taboos, beliefs in supernatural elements around which Naga life was constructed in ancient times that perhaps formed the basis for the social structure where men and women were assigned various roles and responsibilities that has its implications on the share of unequal workload between them because what was described years back still holds true. It is difficult to measure and hard to put in record the work of women because they undertake multiple activities and roles that is bound up with the social roles within the family and society. The work burden that is added by the primitive mode of agriculture and the hilly terrain.
Over the years women’s work has aggravated because of the changes and destruction that is taking place around the world. Deforestation is one where the main effect can be seen in obtaining firewood and fetching water, which has become difficult. Hours are spent just to obtain only the bare essential firewood. Owing to dearth of data and statistics on the Nagas we do not have an accurate data of the main workers and its break up but the few available data one can access to- suggests that highest concentration of the Naga population is in cultivation and of these women are the majority.
People in the category of ‘other services’ is negligible and women are even lesser. The literacy rate of the women has increased considerably but it has failed to represent in the economic structure and employment composition. Yet, it is women that form the backbone of the Naga economy, the indispensable part of the labour force in the agrarian Naga society.
Over the years men are slowly abstaining from most of the agricultural activities unless it requires greater physical strength. Interestingly, there are also men who would rather baby-sit while the women go to the field to work with the other capable children of the house. The work cycle in the Naga agrarian society is a yearlong affair though the intensity may vary and with or without the men, women take the responsibility to ensure that the agricultural activities are carried out in a proper manner and time and it is precisely this responsibility of women which forms the base of the Naga village economy that gets build as the economy of the Nagas at large.
Naga women and Polity: In Naga society women cannot inherit the chieftainship and the ancestral properties. They are also not allowed to be a member of village council/authority. We are talking about a populace of nearly fifty percent who have no political rights in the village around which basic polity of the Nagas evolves and revolves, not to talk of mainstream political parties where women are virtually absent.
There are few instances like one in Maram Khullen of Senapati district where the chief of the village is a woman but one wonders how much of support she gets from the men when comes to decision making or is she just a symbolic chief without any significance. There are also reported cases of women taking over the chieftainship after the death of the husband but the men would not accept it. It was an agreeable change to have woman like Atila who was elected as a GB but derecognized by some men organizations because it was seen as challenging the tradition. What tradition are we talking about when we have allowed GB’s, Village Development Boards, and Municipalities as system of governance replacing our traditional system? It is the ability to adapt to a given system that will make more meaning rather than harping on tradition all the time. It was the process of democracy that elected Atila but the democratic value that we very often identify with becomes meaningless in the face of patriarchy.
Gender: The issue does not end here. One can explore further which is not the attempt here. Conflicts have taken much of our strength that we have failed to address many important issues that confront us. Gender is one where we have miserably failed. The Naga society is said to be, and we are proud to claim it as an egalitarian society. We are also proud of the community life that we have, that serves as a strong support system. It is the village democracy that is the specificity of the Nagas. Yet, within these positive attributes we cannot conceal the strong patriarchy that exists in the society that besets almost any activities that women undertakes and yet again it becomes difficult to move forward as a nation without women. The ‘unique’ position accorded to Naga women thus becomes very superficial that it is imperative to come in terms with reality if Naga society wants to progress and develop. Yes, Naga women have definitely progressed and are progressing but there are still barriers to break and resistance to overcome that operates and exists in different forms. What use is tradition that inhibits progressive activities. All that was relevant during the time of our forefathers cannot possibly be relevant now.
The world has changed so much. It is with these and through these changes that we have to also adapts and adjusts according to the need of our times. This does not in any way mean to indicate that we disband whatever is left and adopt a new culture altogether. It is but important to deconstruct the strong patriarchy that subsists. The Naga societies have to become more gender sensitive because we have seemingly failed to grasp the intricacies of the existing social structure but by delinking patriarchy from it. It is time that we seriously start contemplating gender as an issue.
It becomes meaningless to talk about social change, reformation, transformation and a nation without addressing the issue of patriarchy side by side. Just as we talk of a nation it is equally important to take in hand the issue of patriarchy and its undercurrents because it is the kind social structure we have, that determines the level of progress and development. So long women are not empowered in the real sense of the term no society will grow and progress. Democracy and people’s participation should have real meaning. The dream and the vision for a free nation is not enough. It has to transcend the concept of a free nation and envisage to build the small but a strong Naga nation.
