Binalakshmi Nepram | |
---|---|
Born | |
Nationality | Indian |
Occupation(s) | Humanitarian, author and civil rights activist of a disarmament movement |
Years active | From 2004 |
Known for | Founder of Control Arms Foundation of India (CAFI), 2004, and Manipur Women Gun Survivors Network (MWGSN) |
Binalakshmi Nepram is an Indian humanitarian, author, and female activist for the advocacy of gender rights and women-led disarmament movements with the objective of arresting gun culture and bringing about peace for her home state of Manipur in particular and northeast India in general. [1] For her contributions in this field to Manipur and northeast India she is known by the epithet "The Face & Voice of North East". [2]
Nepram has established many institutions such as the Control Arms Foundation of India (CAFI) in 2004, and Manipur Women Gun Survivors Network (MWGSN). [1] [3]
On the disarmament issue she opines, "You cannot shoot an unarmed person. This goes for both the State and non State actors... nonviolence will win at the end." [3]
Forbes named Nepram as one of its "24 Young Minds to Watch out for in 2015", and the Action on Armed Violence of London listed her among the top 100 influential people in the world actively pursuing a reduction in armed violence. [2]
Nepram was born in Imphal, Manipur, northeast India. [3] Her parents are Nepram Bihari and Yensembam Ibemhal. [2] She grew up in Imphal in an atmosphere of violence and bloodshed which shaped her future work, and there was even a general curfew in Imphal imposed by the army when she was born. She did her schooling in Imphal and obtained a second rank in her High School Leaving Certificate (HSLC) examination, for which she received the Amusana and Gouro Memorial Award. [1] She holds a master's degree in history from the Delhi University and a Master of Philosophy (M.Phil) degree in South Asian studies in international relations from the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU). [4]
During her research stints in JNU she became aware of the seriousness of violence in her home state. Her research was influenced by the book Trafficking in Small Arms and Sensitive Technologies and a White Paper related to small arms issued by the Canadian government which had a lasting impact on her. Her two years of research in JNU resulted in the publication titled South Asia's Fractured Frontier (2002) and she continued to work on her favourite subject of "Small Arms and Light Weapons (UNPoA)". In 2004, she was instrumental in establishing the Control Arms Foundation of India (CAFI) in New Delhi with the objective of study of conventional disarmament issues as relevant to the increase in the use of small arms and light weapons that was detrimental to the social groups, in particular to women, children and old people. [1]
In 2004, she was disturbed when Buddha Moirangthem, owner of a car-battery workshop in Wabagai Lamkhai village of Thoubal district, was gunned down by unidentified persons for no known reason, and his wife never came to know who did it and why. There were several such incidents in Manipur which disturbed Nepram and prompted her to return to Imphal and establish the Manipur Women Gun Survivors Network (MWGSN) in 2007 with the primary objective of providing financial and other type of assistance to the female dependents of the people who were gunned down. [1]
In 2004, Nepram co-established the Control Arms Foundation of India which is the first of its kind in India dealing with conventional disarmament issues. In 2007, she took pioneering action to institute an organization in Manipur to help the many who have suffered due to gun violence. She also started the Manipuri Women Gun Survivor Network. She has participated in many conferences related to disarmament and also in the United Nations in New York City. [4]
Nepram is the recipient of the Ploughshares fellowship to pursue research on small arms mitigation in the Indo-Myanmar/Burma region. She has also received the Dalai Lama Foundation's WISCOMP Scholar of Peace Award for her research work in conflict resolution and peace process of specific relevance to "women and micro-disarmament". [4]
Nepram is the recipient of several national and international awards for her efforts to rehabilitate oppressed women and sufferers of armed conflict in Manipur and North East Region. [2] Some of the notable awards are Best Humanitarian Initiative of the Year 2010, the Sean MacBride Peace Prize for disarmament work in 2011, the CNN IBN Real Heroes Award in 2011, Ashoka Fellowship by the Ashoka: Innovators of the Public of Washington, [4] and the L’Oréal Paris Femina Women Award 2015 under the category of "Face of A Cause". [2]
On Thursday 4 October 2018, RAW in WAR (Reach All Women in WAR) honoured Binalakshmi Nepram, a courageous human rights defender from the war-torn Indian state of Manipur with the 2018 Anna Politkovskaya Award, which she shared with Belarusian writer and 2015 Nobel Prize winner in literature, Svetlana Alexievich. [5]
Nepram has published several research papers and four books: Poetic Festoon (1990), South Asia's Fractured Frontier: Armed Conflict, Narcotics and Small Arms Proliferation in India's Northeast (2002), Meckley (2004) based on unrest in Manipur, and India and the Arms Trade Treaty (2009). [4]
Manipur, historically known as Kangleipak, is a state in northeast India, with the city of Imphal as its capital. It is bounded by the Indian states of Nagaland to the north, Mizoram to the south and Assam to the west. It also borders two regions of Myanmar, Sagaing Region to the east and Chin State to the south. The state covers an area of 22,327 km2 (8,621 sq mi). The official and most widely spoken language is the Meitei language. Native to the Meitei people, it is also used as a lingua franca by smaller communities, who speak a variety of other Tibeto-Burman languages. Manipur has been at the crossroads of Asian economic and cultural exchange for more than 2,500 years. This exchange connects the Indian subcontinent and Central Asia to Southeast Asia, East Asia, Siberia, regions in the Arctic, Micronesia and Polynesia enabling migration of people, cultures and religions.
Imphal is the capital city of the Indian state of Manipur. It is the second largest city in Northeast India. The metropolitan centre of the city contains the ruins of Kangla Palace, the royal seat of the former Kingdom of Manipur, surrounded by a moat. Spread over parts of the districts of Imphal West and Imphal East, the former contains the majority of the city's area and population. Imphal is part of the Smart Cities Mission under the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs. Being a mega commercial hub, Imphal is known for its weaving, brass-ware, bronze-ware, and other cottage industries. Meitei language is the most widely spoken language in the city.
Armed Forces Act (AFSPA), 1958 is an act of the Parliament of India that grants special powers to the Indian Armed Forces to maintain public order in "disturbed areas". According to the Disturbed Areas Act, 1976 once declared 'disturbed', the area has to maintain status quo for a minimum of 3 months. One such act passed on 11 September 1958 was applicable to the Naga Hills, then part of Assam. In the following decades it spread, one by one, to the other Seven Sister States in India's northeast. Another one passed in 1983 and applicable to Punjab and Chandigarh was withdrawn in 1997, roughly 14 years after it came to force. An act passed in 1990 was applied to Jammu and Kashmir and has been in force since.
The United National Liberation Front (UNLF), also known as the United National Liberation Front of Manipur, is a separatist insurgent group active in the state of Manipur in Northeast India which aims at establishing a sovereign and socialist Manipur.
Widad Akreyi is a Kurdish health expert and human rights activist. She has co-founded the human rights organization Defend International and is the author of several books about both health issues and human rights.
Irom Chanu Sharmila, also known as the "Iron Lady of Manipur" or "Mengoubi" is an Indian civil rights activist, political activist, and poet from the Indian state of Manipur, which is located on the north-eastern side of India. On 5 November 2000, she began a hunger strike in favour of abolishing the Armed Forces Act, 1958 that applies to the seven states and grants Indian armed forces the power to search properties without a warrant, and to arrest people, and to use deadly force if there is "reasonable suspicion" that a person is acting against the state. She ended the fast on 9 August 2016, after 16 long years of fasting. Having refused food and water for more than 500 weeks, she has been called "the world's longest hunger striker". On International Women's Day, 2014 she was voted the top woman icon of India by MSN Poll.
Human rights issues in northeast India have been widely reported in the press and by human rights activists. Northeast India refers to the north-easternmost region of India consisting of the states of Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim, and Tripura, as well as parts of northern West Bengal.
The Anna Politkovskaya Award was established in 2006 to remember and honor the Russian journalist Anna Politkovskaya (1958–2006), murdered in Moscow on 7 October 2006 in order to silence her reporting about the war in Chechnya.
The Insurgency in Manipur is an ongoing armed conflict between India and a number of separatist rebel groups, taking place in the state of Manipur. The Insurgency in Manipur is part of the wider Insurgency in Northeast India; it displays elements of a national liberation war as well as an ethnic conflict.
Meira Paibi is a women's social movement in the Indian state of Manipur. Referred to as the "guardians of civil society", Meira Paibi dates to 1977 in present Kakching district. It derives its name from the flaming torches which the women carry while marching through city streets, often at night. They do so both as a patrol, and in protest, seeking redress against human rights violations committed by paramilitary and armed forces units against the innocent. Contextualized, Meira Paibi was founded at a time when the people of Manipur were fighting for self-determination, political autonomy, and independence.
Robert Naorem is an Indian fashion entrepreneur, designer and makeup artist from Manipur, India. He is known for his contribution towards the handloom and textile of Manipur.
Control Arms Foundation of India is a New Delhi-based gun control organisation co-founded in 2004 by activist Binalakshmi Nepram to curb armed violence caused by the proliferation of small arms and improvised explosive devices.
The 1993 Manipur riot refers to the Hindu-Muslim riot followed by the large scale deaths of the Meitei Pangals and the Hindu Meiteis, on 3rd May 1993. In the past, there has been some land disputes and fear of Bengali Muslim influx.
Lourembam Bino Devi is a practitioner and a popularizer of the appliqué art of Manipur called Leeba in the Meitei language. The Leeba art is used in creating Monmai which is a decorative circular appliqué art piece used in covering both ends of the traditional Manipuri bolster pillow. In the olden days, Leeba was practiced at "Phiribi Loishang", which is a house for maintaining clothes worn by the deities and royals. The apparels used by the royals, including shoes, were mostly designed using the Leeba technique. Bino Devi has devoted her life to practice this art form and to revive it by trying to transmit her skills to younger generation of interested women. She has been providing this training in collaboration with the Heritage Foundation of Mankind, a Non-Governmantal Organization located in Imphal. She has also conducted several workshops at Imphal and at various other places in India.
Miss Manipur or Miss Manipur Queen is an annual beauty pageant that is run by the Manipur based Miss Manipur Committee (MMC). It is one of the most watched beauty pageants in North East India. It co-exists with Femina Miss India Manipur, Miss Kangleipak and Miss Meetei Chanu. The titleholder of Miss Manipur represents Manipur in the Miss North East, organised by Northeast Beauty Pageant Organisation (NEBPO) every year.
Femina Miss Manipur Queen or Miss India Manipur Queen is an annual beauty pageant that selects representatives from Manipur to compete in Miss India, and then to Miss World, one of the Big Four international beauty pageants. The event is organised by "Robert Naorem Studio and Academy", under the guidance of Robert Naorem. It is one of the most watched beauty pageants in North East India. It co-exists with Miss Manipur, Miss Kangleipak and Miss Meetei Chanu.
Nongda Lairen Pakhangba, was the first Meitei monarch of the Ningthouja dynasty, who ascended the throne of the Kangla of Kangleipak realm) in 33 AD, after the withdrawal of the mainstream powers of the Khabas. Before the reign of king Nongda Lairen Pakhangba, the clans, or salais were already in existence.
Femina Miss India 2023 was the 59th edition of the Femina Miss India beauty pageant. After a two-year hiatus, it was held on 15 April, 2023 at Imphal, Manipur, with contestants from 29 states and a collective representative for all Union Territories adding up to 30 participants competed for the title.
Thounaojam Strela Luwang is an Indian television anchor, social activist, model and beauty pageant title holder who was crowned second runner up at Femina Miss India 2023. She represented her state Manipur at Femina Miss India 2023 after winning Femina Miss India Manipur 2023. She won Miss Manipur pageant held in 2017. She was also one of the top five finalists at the Miss Diva Northeast 2016-17. She was featured in 2018 educational film, Who Said Boys Can't Wear Makeup? directed by Priyakanta Laishram, which was the first-ever Indian film on gender-neutral fashion and men's make-up.
On 3 May 2023, ethnic violence erupted in India's north-eastern state of Manipur between the Meitei people, a majority that lives in the Imphal Valley, and the Kuki-Zo tribal community from the surrounding hills. According to government figures, as of 15 September, 175 people have been killed in the violence. 1,108 others were injured while 32 are missing. 4,786 houses were burnt and 386 religious structures including temples and churches were vandalized.The violence left more than 70,000 people displaced from their homes. Unofficial figures are higher.