Women’s bodies, disinformation and nationalism in Manipur

Women's nude bodies have been central to two tumultuous events in Manipur separated by almost two decades. Home to the Imphal Valley-dwelling Meitei and the predominantly hill-dwelling Kuki-Zo and Naga tribes, Manipur has with varying intensity witnessed ethnic conflict, armed insurgency, separatist movements and militarisation ever since its merger with the Union of India in 1949. A flashpoint in 2004 and now another in 2023 have drawn global attention to Manipur's simmering cauldron of deprivation both real and perceived, its human-rights violations, ethnic hostilities, land conflicts, violence and breakdown of governance. At both times, women's bodies have been the canvas on which nationalistic projects have been etched.

However, the difference between the two events could not have been starker. In one, Meitei women dramatically disrobed in public as a powerful protest against abuses by Indian security forces; in the other, three Kuki women were stripped and paraded naked by Meitei men, and two of them were gang-raped in public, to humiliate an entire community.