She Saw, She took the step, She won

4^th October 2018

London : She saw a 27 year old man was killed by militants of Manipur. The man left behind his young and newly wedded wife Rebika Akham. She was disturbed by the untimely death of that man and was worried about the survival of Rebika. She took the first step and helped Rebika to buy a sewing machine so that she could secure a living. She is Binalakshmi Nepram a young activist from Manipur and an awardee of Reach All Women in WAR (RAW in WAR), London.    

Binalakshmi Nepram  

Binalakshmi, a campaigner supporting women survivors of violence in northeast specially in Manipur of Bharat was named on Thursday as winner of an annual award recognising female human rights workers. She shared the award with Nobel literature laureate Svetlana Alexievich, an investigative journalist and writer from Belarus.

This award is being given annually by Reach All Women in WAR (RAW in WAR) in the remembrance of Anna Politkovskaya a Russian investigative reporter who uncovered state corruption and rights abuses, especially in Chechnya. She was shot dead in the lobby of her Moscow apartment block at the age of 48 on 7^th October 2006. This is the 12^th year of recognizing woman worldwide who fought for women in the burning zone of her habitat who stands up for the victim of conflict, often at great personal risk. Anna lived a life of courage and truth-telling in the face of grave danger, just like her friend and the first recipient of the Anna Politkovskaya Award, Natalia Estemirova, who was murdered on 15 July 2009.

Anna Politkovskaya 

Binalashmi’s co-winner, Svetlana Alexievich, 70, won the 2015 Nobel Prize for Literature for her portrayal of the lives of Soviet women during World War Two, as well as the impact of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster and the Soviet military adventure in Afghanistan. She lived in exile for many years because of her criticism of the Belarusian government but returned home in 2011.

Svetlana Alexievich

Binalakshmi said to press that she had to leave India about a year ago for her own security and now lives in the United States. She was watching the militant activities in her area from her childhood. Hence she joined Oxfam, co-founded in 2004 the Control Arms Foundation of India (CAFI), an civil society organisation working on disarmament and opposing militarisation. Then she saw the killing of Rebika’s husband and provided her with the sewing machine. But this was not enough for her habitat as all of the area was under the threat and father, brother, husband and sons of the survived women are taken away from them. Their survival was a pity but Binalakshmi not only showed the sympathy but she formed an organization called Manipur Women Gun Survivors Network, which has helped more than 20,000 women deal with decades of armed conflicts and ethnic violence in the northeast Bharatiya state of Manipur on the border with Myanmar.  

Binalakshmi said that the group's work has extended beyond helping those who have lost the males of their families in the violence and also assist women and girls raped and sexually assaulted in the ongoing conflict.

"Every day the violence continues unabated ... with our region seeing some of the highest numbers of rape and women trafficked in the country," she said.

"In this conflict, a lot of girls and women are subjected to sexual abuse and there is a climate of impunity." Binalakshmi’s initiative encouraged the victim women to live their lives.