For more than six years, one young woman has attempted to fast to death until justice was done, but has been arrested and force-fed. Why are the women of Manipur using their bodies as their last weapon?
For decades Manipur, a state in northeastern India, has been torn apart by violent separatist movements. The Indian government has attempted to crush the insurgency with military force often with tragic results.
The naked protest of these elderly women unleashed a wave of demonstrations in Manipur. Young men set themselves on fire; school children poured into the streets; rallies, roadblocks, sit-ins, and general strikes shook the state for months.
When the government responded, people were publicly beaten and humiliated. Young men were rounded up and tortured and hundreds of protesting women were herded into trucks and dropped off miles from anywhere. The twelve women who peacefully protested naked found themselves being harassed by the police and facing dubious charges.
When I heard of all this from my Manipuri friends, I was shocked. What troubled me most, however, was that the rest of India simply ignored it. The mass protests, the public anger, and the government repression hardly made it to the mainstream news media. It was as if, for the rest of India, Manipur did not exist.
People need to know and see what is going on in Manipur in order to understand the urgency of the situation. My film, Tales from the Margins, is a small effort in that direction.
I chose to focus on Manipuri women because I believe that when a region is in armed conflict for a long period of time, it is often women who pay the highest price. Not only are their lives and livelihood under attack, but they also face constant sexual violence.
However, in spite of all the oppression, the women of Manipur have been at the forefront of the protests. Pushed to the wall, they have turned their bodies into weapons for peace and justice.
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FILM CREDITS:
Director and Producer: Kavita Joshi
Camera: Sunayana Singh
Sound: Asheesh Pandya
Editing: Mahadeb Shi
For entire credit roll, please see added story to the right.
For more information, please visit http://kavitajoshi.blogspot.com