Brave Bald Women Of Manipur Remind Us - Violence Isn't The Answer

Tonsuring the head is a rite of passage by Hindus as completing the last rites of an immediate family member. It is practised when one loses a father, mother, brother, sister, spouse, or child. This ritual is only done by the male mourners, who shave their heads as a sign of bereavement. However, since history misogyny has punished women, by tonsuring their heads. 

Punishing women has seen the most cruel rules created by men in power

In Europe, this practice dates back to the Dark Ages, and during the Middle Ages, it was done to mark her with shame. A woman’s most seductive feature is her hair. This was also a punishment for adultery. Now in Afghanistan, women will be publicly stoned to death if caught cheating on their married partner. Punishing women has seen the most cruel rules created by men in power. 

To humiliate a woman, the practice of shaving her head was to teach her a lesson. In 1923, when the French troops occupied Germany, the women who had relations with the French men, too suffered the same fate. This was the public punishment for women so that she never dared to defy the set construct of her expected demeanour. 

However, recently, seven women in Manipur have voluntarily shaved their heads as a protest to the ongoing unrest in Manipur. These tonsured women went around rallying on cycles across the state to express their disappointment and demand for peace in the violence-torn state. 

What remains interesting to note is that most protests across the state have gained momentum only when the women have gotten together to break the cycle of violence and demand action from the authorities who haven’t yet been able to restore peace in the state. 

As women, we can’t forget the July 2023 footage of the two women in Manipur, who were paraded naked by thousands of sword and stick-wielding men who groped at one of the women’s genitals as she was dragged into the fields and gang raped by the mob. The violence was between the Kuki and the Meitei tribe of Manipur. And as ever, a woman’s body was chosen by the debauched men to seek revenge and prove a point to the masses warning them of what can become of their female family members if they don’t adhere to the rules. The rape survivor has allegedly said that the policemen on duty did not start the car when she sought help, they instead said that the keys were not to be found. Which sadly indicates the hatred and the extremely sadistic attitude of men versus women. 

The Manipuri woman who shaved their heads as a symbolic protest rode bicycles with placards reading, “We want peace, No to separate administration, protect territorial integrity.”

More than 219 people were killed and thousands displaced from homes after ethnic clashes broke out on May 3 last year, when a ‘Tribal Solidarity March’ was organised in the hill districts to protest against the Meitei community’s demand for Scheduled Tribe (ST) status. Meiteis account for about 53 per cent of Manipur’s population and live mostly in the Imphal Valley. Tribals like the Nagas and Kukis constitute little over 40 per cent and reside in the hill districts.

The North East of India remains embroiled in constant conflict across many states. However, Manipur has seen some extremely strong women who have in the past paraded naked in protest to the governor's office for an alleged rape of a young mother. 

It now remains to be seen how far the heads will turn to address the situation of Manipur which is currently under a lot of tension and is not given enough attention in mainstream media. 

Mohua Chinappa is a poet, an author and runs two podcasts called The Mohua Show and The Literature Lounge. She has recently joined hands with a UK think tank called Bridge India.

Views expressed are the author's own.