ABSTRACT
This chapter examines gendered politics within the commemoration of MNF martyrs between 1966 and 1986. The Martyrs’ Cemetery in Aizawl, Mizoram, established in 2008 by the Mizo National Front (MNF) to honour the martyrs, excludes a portion of the martyrs in practise. This chapter describes how, despite their emphasis on indigenous identitarian aspirations, these monuments are exclusive because they exclude women and reinforce patriarchal stereotypes. In addition to glorifying men’s tendency to defend the weak, the exclusion of women from this statist project of commemoration maps indigenous ethno-national aspirations onto the body of the deceased man. Through the writing of a martyrs’ history of men, this chapter examines how women’s roles in Mizo society are reduced to mothering and nation birthing. The chapter also examines how the politics surrounding the construction of this Martyrs’ Cemetery affect gender stereotypes regarding men as Pasaltha (literally, warrior-heroes) and women as victims. The chapter also examines Mizo women’s efforts to develop an alternative form of commemoration and how they challenge the highly contested notion of a ‘martyr.’
