Wakching village, among the Konyaks dismantled the old AnghPan (King Morung) which was built in 1960 and inaugurated new Angh Pan on 2nd April 2016. The inauguration was uniquely dedicated to every woman from the Pan who marries man from outside the Angh Pan. The Angh Pan people paid utmost honor to their women through invitation to each of them who settled with men from different communities and regions. These women from far and near returned for the inauguration ceremony; they were welcomed with love, respect and kindness, in addition, they received numerous gifts from the Pan. This is the culture of how women were respected and taken care since the fore parents time among the Konyaks. There are numerous realities of women ownership that men are unable to make any decision individually in every Naga tribe. Women have always shared the history and culture of humankind equally in every given responsibility, women were central in history of society, not marginal in making the society of civilization (Lerner. 1986); men and women in the Naga history remain acknowledged and disciplined to one another in sharing leadership – responsibilities, unlike it is misinterpreted today. This history remains doubtful among many Nagas for it has no written record as such nor people pay attention to learn it.
The universal concept of patriarchy is nothing more than male leadership community. The modern society conceptualized patriarchy as women oppression which emanates the debate between modern feminists and traditionalist men. In addition, some radical women like spinsters, divorcees and old aged exhibit extreme caution that patriarchy refers to power of father over daughter and every woman. Moreover, such statement does not indicate women’s independence or empowerment (Walby. 1990). It intrigues the enmity between men and women in terms of gender inequality within and outside the family without rigorous distinction among certain exclusive responsibilities of men and women. This concept concealed the other fact that mother-centered precedes father centered civilization. When marriage took over as the principle of life, women took over exclusive ownership of children and property in certain aspects and subsequently, father’s right, ownership, division of labor, agriculture and institution leadership emerged (Narenjo. 1994). Similarly, among the Konyak Nagas, few villages have women ownership of properties like granaries. Women solely own the ownership of anything which enters the granaries. Men has not right to enter the granaries which is acceptedas sharing culture without further argument.
Ignoring the culture of mutual sharing responsibilities is entrenched between men and women in the Naga society. Generalization of gender inequality in every step misleads the concept of patriarchy in juxtaposingequality, which enmeshes the true knowledge of patriarchy.It discerns as everyday explicit phenomenon to display the male dominance and female subordination to measure the proportion of work distribution. Such misinterpretation of patriarchy today infuses negative concept in the innocent minds of the younger generation which repercussions remain as threat for the peaceful coexistence of women and men in the future. Modern men and women are responsible for delineating patriarchy as men oppress and subjugate women.One should not forget the existence of subconscious natural law which emanates based on the demand and context of community or society. This is the reason why there is existence of both patriarchy and matriarchy that needs to avoid from congealing the negative understanding of both headships. In both the societies, intra-discrimination, dominance and inter-subjugation and discrimination exist based on the power manipulation of leadership. Individual grievances experiences within the particular leadership should not generalize the global picture of patriarchal and matriarchal culture negatively –anti-women or anti-men culture. Patriarchal structure is incumbent among many societies and Naga society is one among many which inevitably follows patriarchal culture. Patriarchy as discourse and its implementation in the history of the Nagas did not exist like it is now. Male leadership existed based on the context and the need of the society when numerous inter-villages wars emerged. As biological constraints prevailed between men and women to participate in war, men became leader and women remained as equally supportive in other management. However, the emergence of modern foreign education among middle age and young Naga men and women, patriarchy is completely misinterpreted and misused now. The philosophy of patriarchy has been patented in the modern and post-modern era as exclusive male supremacy over women, women oppression, women captivity and inequality.Men and women are equally responsible for this misinterpretation and misguidance. One of the reasons for such misinterpretation is the imitation of the western concept of feminism. Patriarchy and feminism are wrongly interpreted as anti-elements and inter-chauvinism to one another which remissions its peaceful coexistence.
Religion cannot be blame for the inflammation of anti-element between patriarchy and matriarchy.However, it is important that religious institution begins to facilitate the elicitive emancipation participation approach in sharing responsibilities within and outside the religious institution as a threshold towards reeducating the meaning of patriarchy and matriarchy world. It includes reanalyzing time immemorial culture and tradition in the contemporary society to inculturalize the dynamism of social, religion, culture and political evolution. It requires mass study of women and men behaviors in every village, town, city and family to indicate the reality of delegating leadership responsibilities with no discrimination to one another. Without such experience, the misinformation of patriarchy would continue to spread based on personal grievances for self-justification. In relationship to the history of equal responsibility sharing among men and women based on the competency, there is a space for sharing equal opportunity in the modern world in terms of utilizing the intellectual ability, education, knowledge, wisdom and strength in every possible field than attacking with negative mentality over one another. Reeducation of male and female responsibility in the current society with mutual understanding is the current need to abrogate culture of alienating enmity between men and women over sharing responsibility.
Lemwang Chuhwanglim Researcher & Activist
