Women's Role in Micro-Disarmament in India's Northeast
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
Women’s Role in Micro-Disarmament in India’s Northeast Binalakshmi Nepram Mentschel Women’s Role in Micro-Disarmament in India’s Northeast Copyright© WISCOMP Foundation for Universal Responsibility Of His Holiness the Dalai Lama, New Delhi, India, 2011. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher. Published by WISCOMP Foundation for Universal Responsibility Of His Holiness the Dalai Lama Core 4A, UGF, India Habitat Center Lodhi Road, New Delhi 110 003, India This initiative was made possible by a grant from the Ford Foundation. The views expressed here are those of the author. They do not necessarily reflect those of WISCOMP or the Foundation for Universal Responsibility of HH the Dalai Lama, nor are they endorsed by them. 2 Contents Acknowledgments .................................................................................... 6 Introduction .............................................................................................. 7 The Context ............................................................................................ 17 Chapter I ................................................................................................. 20 Women and Micro-Disarmament: Developing the Concept 1.1 The Small Arms Scourge ........................................................... 21 1.2 The Multi-Billion Dollar Arms Trade has put Women in Firing Line .................................................................................. 24 1.3 The Historical Emergence of Women’s Disarmament Movements ................................................................................. 26 1.4 Why are Women Asking for Disarmament? .............................. 28 1.5 Women, Peace & Security: United Nations Resolution 1325 ................................................ 30 1.6 Success Stories of Women’s Involvement in Disarmament ...... 30 Chapter II ................................................................................................ 32 Armed Conflict and Small Arms Proliferation in India’s Northeast 2.1 Genesis of Ethnic Conflicts in Northeast India and Proliferation of Armed Groups .................................................. 33 2.2 Proliferation of Small Arms in Northeast India ......................... 37 2.3 Small Arm Routes in Northeast India ........................................ 37 2.4 The Origin and Spread of Narco-Insurgency in India’s North East ....................................................................... 38 2.5 Narcotic Trafficking: The North Eastern Region Scenario ....... 40 2.6 Does the Phenomenon of Narco-Insurgency Exist in the North Eastern Region? ............................................................... 44 3 Chapter III .............................................................................................. 47 State of Women in India’s Northeast 3.1 State of Women in India’s Northeast.......................................... 47 3.2 Violence against women in India’s Northeast............................ 48 3.3 Armed Violence and Trafficking of Women from India’s Northeast .................................................................................... 56 3.4 Women and Armed Conflict....................................................... 57 Chapter IV .............................................................................................. 62 Emergence of Women’s Movement in India’s Northeast 4.1 One hundred Years of Struggle: Women in Manipur ................. 62 4.2 Emergence of Women’s Movement in Nagaland ....................... 65 4.3 Emergence of Women’s Movement in Assam ............................ 66 4.4 Women in other Northeast Societies .......................................... 68 4.5 Critical Aspects ........................................................................... 68 Chapter V ............................................................................................... 71 The Need and Ways for Women to Look and Implement Micro-Disarmament Measures in Northeast India 5.1 Why do women in Northeast India need to look into micro-disarmament? ................................................................... 71 5.2 Micro-disarmament through Gender Security Sector Reform in India’s Northeast ....................................................... 73 5.3 Definition of micro-disarmament vis-a-vis women’s work in India’s Northeast ........................................................... 75 5.4 How do we work with women in Northeast India on micro-disarmament issues? ........................................................ 75 5.5 Challenges to disarmament in a region where rebel groups operate? .......................................................................... 76 4 Chapter VI ............................................................................................. 78 Profile of a Woman’s Collective for Micro-Disarmament in Manipur 6.1 Meira Paibis................................................................................ 78 6.2 Manipur Chanura Leishem Marup (MACHA LEIMA)............. 82 6.3 Other Women’s Organisations in Manipur for Future Networking on Disarmament.......................................... 84 Chapter VII ............................................................................................. 85 Micro-Disarmament at Grass Roots: Manipuri Women Gun Survivor Network 7.1 Background ................................................................................ 85 7.2 Manipuri Women Gun Survivor Network ................................. 86 7.3 Testimonies of Manipur Gun Survivors ..................................... 86 7.4 Finding Livelihoods for the Women Gun Survivors in Manipur .................................................................................. 94 Appendix I .............................................................................................. 97 Programme of Action to Prevent, Combat and Eradicate the Illicit Trade in Small Arms and Light Weapons in All Its Aspects Objective of the Seminar 5 Acknowledgements To Ambassador Arundhati Ghose for her constant support in all my endeavours in understanding the issue of small arms, light weapons and the issue of disarmament. To Air Cmdr Jasjit Singh and his team at the Institute of Defence Studies and Analysis, New Delhi who pioneered small arms and light weapons work. To Dr. Anuradha Chenoy for her support and guidance. It is women like her whose ideas and commitment see us through the maze of militarization which has taken over our lives while we continue to remain blind to it. To Dr. Meenakshi Gopinath and the WISCOMP team for making my idea of ‘women and micro-disarmament’ flower by entrusting me with the Fellowship. To Dr. Sumona DasGupta and Ms. Stuti Bhatnagar, for believing in my work and supporting it at every step. To Vanessa Farr, UNDP with whom the first discussion in Nairobi in summer of 2004 made me think about the idea of ‘women and micro- disarmament’. To Professor Robert Hinde of Cambridge who engrained in me a belief that wars are of no use to human kind. To Northeast India’s most remarkable women whose lives, ideas and support inspired me; my mother Y.Ibemhal, Ima Ramani, Ima Taruni, Irom Sharmila, Sitara Begum, Rose Mangshi, Eche Ibeyai, MK Binodini, Maya, Memchoubi, Patricia Mukhim, Akham Rebika, Reena Mutum, women of Wabgai, Bishenpur, Imphal and many others whose lives were only read in newspapers after they had fallen victim to armed gun violence. To my husband, Stefan Mentschel who supported me in every possible way to see that this work sees the light of the day. Binalakshmi Nepram Mentschel 6 Introduction Much attention has been paid to weapons of mass destruction (WMD) and their impact on the international security dilemma. Analysts have paid comparatively less attention on the catastrophic effects that small arms and light weapons (SALW) cause in inter and intra state conflicts around the world. However, this gap is beginning to dissipate due to an increase in evidence suggesting that SALW cause greater risk to more communities than WMD, with the Federation of American Scientists even referring to SALW as “weapons of individual destruction.”1 According to the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), SALW and their ammunition are linked to more deaths each year than any other type of weapons system, with an estimated 740,000 deaths each year in combat and non-combat zones. They estimate that 490,000 people die each year in non-combat or ‘peaceful’ areas, such as the United States and Canada, due to accidents, homicide, and suicide, and that an additional 1.5 million people are wounded each year by SALW around the world.2 The United Nations defines small arms and light weapons as “arms that can be used by one or two people and carried by a person, pack animal or light vehicle.” Small arms include weapons that “are designed for person use by one person and include revolvers, self-loading pistols, rifles and carbines, sub-machine guns, assault rifles, and light machine- guns,” while light weapons are meant to be manned by a “small crew” and include “heavy machine guns, grenade launchers, small mortars, mobile anti-aircraft, and anti-aircraft and anti-tank guns, mobile rocket launchers, shoulder-fired anti-aircraft missile launchers, and mortars of calibers under 100 mm.”3 The Small Arms Working