The day 12 women stripped themselves bare in Manipur, India...

Something extraordinary happened in Manipur on July 15, 2004. A bunch of feisty old women, angry at the alleged murder and rape of 30-year-old Manorama Devi at the hands of the armed police, headed straight to the Kangla Fort, which then housed the Assam Rifles, and stripped themselves bare. 

As the nation, which had till then shut its eyes to the deadly implosion in this small northeast state bordering Myanmar, was startled into awakening by shame and disbelief - images of 12 naked "brave mothers" screaming from every newspaper and TV channel - prime minister Manmohan Singh was forced to constitute a committee to review the controversial Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA), a law every Manipuri swears has been scandalously misused by the administration.

During his Imphal visit in November that year, the PM met the women and consoled them saying he will give back to Manipur the historic Kangla Fort, which for 113 years had symbolised state excess and repression, first by the British and then by the Assam Rifles. After soldiers of the berated paramilitary force hurriedly vacated the sprawling enclosure, the gift was made to an agonised people on November 20. More...

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