Monalisa Changkija
Early this month the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) listed Nagaland as the Safest State for Women in India once again. Obviously, a celebratory record for this State. However, the calm surface doesn’t always reflect the under currents below. And it is these under currents that need societal attention, addressal and redressal for women here and elsewhere to be truly safe. Unfortunately, these under currents do not seem to come under the purview of the NCRB as such.
Quite clearly the problem is patriarchy, which allows women to be safe only to a certain extent and that too conditionally because patriarchy is all about power, second-classing women and keeping them “in their place”. This is reflected unambiguously in our customs, cultures, traditions, religions, laws and generally how society and State operates. Both centrifugal and centripetal forces and movements that spin within society and state underscore patriarchy’s dynamism and strengthen it. No doubt, over the centuries, changes have occurred in women’s lot but certain aspects of women’s existence, survival, freedom and mobility haven’t seen much desired change. Women, cutting across geography, class, race, religion, economic independence, etc., continue to live in fear and this hasn’t abated, much less changed because patriarchy’s power dynamics and equations haven’t changed.
To be sure, the Indian Constitution has made much stride to safeguard women’s personhood starting with the Right to Life, equality, voting rights, property laws and inheritance rights, etc., but in tribal societies, constitutional safeguards and guarantees for women continue to be sidelined against the preeminence of tribal customary laws ~ and patriarchy is deeply rooted in our customary laws. No doubt, in Nagaland, in the past couple of decades or so, a few tribes and communities have begun on a self-correction course vis-à-vis inheritance and property rights but such measures are dependent on education, exposure and sensitivity levels of tribal and/or village leadership. And the very concept of leadership in patriarchal Naga society is by itself another complicated issue. Inversely, it is also a very simple issue ~ all leadership in Naga society is male-centric.
The Nagaland Government hasn’t appointed a single woman Dobashi and Gaonburi across Nagaland. In all customary courts across Nagaland, there are no women Dobashis and Gaonburis presiding over or sitting on criminal and civil benches. In fact, there are no women Dobashis and Gaonburis adjucating on any case, even in matters of family law. Dobashis and Goanburas are said to be the repositories of our customary laws, which are patriarchal in letter and spirit. Unsurprisingly, rare is the Naga woman who wins a divorce, property, inheritance or child custody case in customary courts ~ if she wins, it is more a Pyrrhic victory. Now, where is that right to equality in our context? Where is her right to representation from the gender perspective? Isn’t the very practice of second-classing women a crime against women? There are now a good number of women seeking justice in the court of law and winning but it comes with a heavy price ~ not too many families encourage settlements in constitutional courts; then there is that social disapproval bordering on demonization and stigma. It, indeed, takes a very brave woman to fight it out in court and actually win and then live with the consequences.
True the 33% reservation for women has come into effect early this year in our Urban Local Bodies (ULBs) but these are constitutional bodies, not traditional and customary bodies. It is from these traditional and customary bodies that women are still debarred and because of Article 371 (A), no Act of Parliament or the Supreme Court can intervene on behalf of our women’s right to decision making in these bodies. These traditional and customary bodies still continue to dictate the lives of Naga women in our urban or rural areas. Where is our right to equality? And, this very denial of our right to equality dictates and determines the character and content of crimes against women in Naga and numerous other tribal societies. We now have two women legislators in our Assembly but they were hand-picked and blessed by the powers-that-be underscoring that unless a woman has the sanction and backing of the powerful at the State and village levels, on her own merit she has little or no chance of winning.
Broadly, we tend to look at crimes against women in terms of rape, harassment, murder, domestic violence, etc., which are constitute physical abuse and violence but there are emotional and psychological abuse and violence that remain unsaid, unaccounted and unreported and which condemn victims to hell on earth. Do the NCRB’s data reflect these crimes against women in Naga society and State to declare Nagaland as the Safest State for Women? In any case, how many cases of domestic violence, rape and other forms of sexual harassment, molestation are actually reported? Worse still, how many of such cases are encouraged and allowed to be reported by family members, village, tribe and clan elders and leaders? There are known incidences of the victim and/or the victim’s family being intimidated not to report such cases and to “compromise”. Numerous crimes against women, more often than not, get lost in the quagmire of power, muscle and money games. One problem is our women’s ignorance of customary and constitutional laws making them vulnerable to familial and societal pressures as also imprisoning them to silence. No Sir, the NCRB is clearly dealing with incomplete data and therefore it is highly debatable whether Nagaland is the safest State for women.
But then it is not really the fault of the NCRB because our society itself does not recognize, acknowledge and admit to numerous crimes against women simply because these crimes are inherently and integrally in the patriarchal package therefore crimes against women are normalized and buried as something that happens and can be fixed through fear, muscle-flexing, money and other irresistible offers, particularly if the victim belongs to economically and otherwise disadvantaged sections therefore vulnerable. The victim is doubly victimized as she has never had the power to negotiate for the rights to her body, her heart, her mind and her place in the family and society. Women are then nobodies and nothings. This is the real crime against women in patriarchal societies that spill over to equally patriarchal States and all other crimes against women are natural corollaries of power plays. Sure, there are Naga men who are sensitive to women’s equality and rights but fear of tribal/village sanctions silences them too. It is difficult to defy customs, cultures, traditions and laws rooted in traditionally and constitutionally protected patriarchy.
Perhaps the parameters of the term “crimes against women” could be changed and made more inclusive of unspoken and suppressed crimes against women. But that would require a revisit and redefinition of ‘power’ in society and State, no? A very tall ask, indeed ~ an ask power wielders will not concede to readily and easily.
(The Columnist is a Dimapur-based veteran journalist, poet and former Editor of Nagaland Page. Published in the October 28, 2025 issue of Assam Tribune)
