We know the Manipuri women have played no mean part in shaping the course of the history of the land and its people and we also know that even today they form one of the most powerful lobby, thanks to the Meira Paibi movement, but the question today is what exactly is the status of the Manipuri woman as an individual, as a mother, as a wife and as a daughter. 

Nupi Lan, which is observed religiously every year to remember the uprising of the women folk against the artificial rice scarcity during the British Raj in 1939 has been romanticized to such an extent today that in observing the day we tend to overlook the basic fact of where exactly the Manipuri women today stand in the patriarchal set up of the Manipuri society. 

By this we are not in any way implying that the historical aspect of the day should not be remembered but yes we need to look at this day from a fresh perspective given the fact that the Manipur of 1939 is very different from the Manipur of 2002. 

Have we been able to keep tab with the changing world and realize that the role and rights of women folk too have undergone some radical changes? And when we talk about the changing roles and rights of women can we forget the crimes that are being perpetrated against women? 

It is rather tragic but true nevertheless that in this land of Nupi Lan, crime against women folk have seen an upward trend during the last few years and stories of sexual molestation and rape have become more routine stuff. Domestic violence against women is another disturbing trend.

We may further question whether our women are today free from being type cast with expectations attached to them right from birth. Is the girl child as welcome as the boy child or more specifically how does the expectant mother and father and of course the barrage of relatives react when the new born child is a girl? 

Are our women free to travel late in the night? Can our young daughters and sisters step out of the house without any fear of being teased by some road side Romeos? Eve teasing may appear harmless but it reflects the society's attitude towards the fairer sex and what is disgusting and yes alarming is the point that eve teasing appears to have some sort of a social sanction here. 

These are fundamental questions and may appear trivial to some but it is these basic facts and practices that go a long way in determining how society treats its women folk. It would be in the fitness of things if everyone of us, as responsible members of society, ponder over the condition of the women in the social hierarchy and only then will observing Nupi Lan has some significance. 

There is absolutely no point in eulogizing the heroines of the Nupi Lan if the Manipuri women are kept confined in a time warp with certain expectations attached to the girl child the moment she is born.

(Courtesy: The Sangai Express)