IMPHAL Women in Manipur have always been at the centre stage, and there is no exception when it comes to playing a role in restoring peace and normalcy amidst the ongoing ethnic violence in the northeastern state, where over 100 people have been killed and more than 320 others injured since the strife broke out on May 3. Around 4,000 vendors of the world’s largest all-women-run market “Ima Keithal” or the “Mother’s Market”, located in Imphal, began on Tuesday a three-day long sit-in-demonstration demanding the restoration of peace and normalcy in Manipur. The agitating women vendors also demanded the implementation of the National Register of Citizens (NRC) and the identification and pushback of infiltrators from Myanmar, Nepal and Bangladesh. “The vendors in the Ima Market, which has a history of over 500 years, are known as ‘imas’ or mothers, and the majority of the sellers are between the ages of 50 and 70 years,” Manipur
Since ancient times, women played a significant role in Manipur, wielding swords and defending their villages when men were away fighting battles in faraway places.Besides various other social evils, the women in Manipur have been fighting .