Yimchunger Naga women break tradition to enter Morung and beat log drum

Noklak (Nagaland): Yimchunger Naga women achieved what was considered unthinkable even a few days back.

In a first and historical move breaking the age-old traditions and customs, women entered the auspicious Naga hut “Morung” and beat the highly respected log-drum in Wansoi village in Noklak district in Eastern Nagaland on April 13.

BJP leader and Nagaland’s Member of Parliament to Rajya Sabha, S Phangnon Konyak and other women participated in the beating of the log drum for the first time by women at Wansoi village, under Noklak district, not far from Myanmar borders, on April 13.

This was a unique forward-looking event as the Naga society is traditionally known for being a staunch male chauvinist society. And even at present, the State is in turmoil over the issue of 33 per cent reservation for women in urban local bodies. Several tribal bodies have slammed the Naga Mothers Association.

The Morung is a key institution of the Nagas and is regarded as the centre of the social life of males, generally unmarried men.

The development of women entering the Morung has been complimented by Prime Minister Narendra Modi as a “very important step” towards women empowerment.

Nagaland’s Member of Parliament to Rajya Sabha, S Phangnon Konyak, the first Naga woman to enter the Rajya Sabha, paid tribute to the Wansoi village leaders while informing that she attended the event marking the women’s entry to the village Morung as a guest of honour.

“A tribute of gratitude to the collective wisdom of Wansoi village leaders who have understood that in today’s progressive society women also are equal members & allowed women of Wansoi to enter the Morung & play the logdrum for the first time!” she has tweeted.

According to her, tradition “never allowed women to even step inside a Morung”.

“As guest of honour, I joined the Khiamniungan women as they stepped forward in ringing in a new era of Nari Shakti,” she said, sharing photos and a video of the event. On April 15, PM Modi lauded the progressive step.

“A very important step, which will give a boost to dignity and empowerment of women. Compliments to the people of Wansoi village,” he tweeted.

It must be noted here that traditionally entry or access to Morung is given mostly to unmarried male members of the society who learns social practices and beliefs as well as the way of life.

Likewise, the beating of the log drum is also considered a “male domain” for Nagas as such method is used during various emergencies, festivals and important events surrounding the village polity.

However, in a ‘non-traditional’ set-up, particularly during the annual State’s premier Hornbill Festival, such practices are seldom followed. During festivals, women participate in the beating of log-drum in some areas.

In Nagaland, the BJP created history in March 2022 when it nominated a woman leader, S Phangnon Konyak, as the party candidate for the State’s lone Rajya Sabha. Fielding its State women’s wing chief for the Rajya Sabha polls may not seem much of a surprise in the rest of India. But it was a pathbreaking move in Nagaland, where patriarchy and male chauvinism rule politics.

Nagaland had never elected a woman to its State legislature till March 2023, when two women NDPP nominees made it to the assembly.

Earlier, women did contest assembly elections occasionally but could never win. Prior to BJP nominee Phangnon’s election to Rajya Sabha in 2022, the only instance of Nagaland sending a woman to Parliament was in the 1970s. Rano Shaiza was elected as Nagaland MP to the Lok Sabha as a United Democratic Front (UDF) candidate, defeating the sitting Congress Chief Minister Hokishe Sema in the post-Emergency anti-Congress wave in 1977.

It goes without stating that Nagaland has a high literacy rate, and English is its official language. However, the Nagaland Assembly holds the dubious distinction of opposing the women’s reservation bill, which had sought to reserve 33 per cent of State legislatures and parliamentary seats for women. In 1997, during the tenure of the S C Jamir Government in Nagaland, the then parliamentary affairs Minister, Zhove Lohe, moved a resolution, which the assembly passed unanimously.

The Opposition Nagaland People’s Council (NPC), the earlier avatar of the Naga People’s Front, led by the flamboyant Late Vamuzo, were part of the move. The Naga Students’ Federation (NSF), the influential pressure group, too had written to the parliamentary select committee chairperson Geeta Mukherjee of CPI, saying the bill went against Naga tradition. Even the women’s reservation in urban local bodies has been vehemently opposed.

Projecting’ matri shakti’, women’s power, has been Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s political mission in the North East. In the run-up to the Manipur polls in 2022, the BJP appointed the first woman president of the State unit, Sharda Devi. In the ultimate analysis, the move paid in dividends.

In Tripura, the BJP projected several women leaders, including lawmaker Pratima Bhaumik, Union minister of State for social justice and empowerment in the Modi Government. She became the first Tripura resident and only the second woman from the North East to be a Union Minister in mid-2021.