Please find the speech of Monalisa Changkija at International Women’s Day celebration at Kohima
Respected Chairperson and Members of the NSCW, dignitaries of the Social Welfare Department, other Government Departments/agencies, NGOs and friends gathered here on this very significant day for women. On this day, let us not only strengthen ourselves but also re-resolve to strengthen, lift up and uphold each other and women across the globe to claim our personhood and help each other script irrefutable and inerasable histories. Towards this end, as the process has also begun here in Nagaland, I would like to commend, congratulate and thank the NSCW for leading from the front ~ albeit falteringly at times ~ but persisting and persevering unwaveringly always.
I am humbled to be present today in your midst ~ a galaxy of illustrious women ~ who have moulded and continue to mould our society and State into a better place for our daughters, granddaughters and the future generations of women. I salute all of you here and all our illustrious sisters across Nagaland, some of who remain unheard and unsung, nevertheless plod on, holding high the banner of self-realization thus paving the way for the younger generations of women to keep alive their aspirations, achieve their full potentials and fulfill the promises they hold within them.
If it takes a village to bring up a child, we have indeed shouldered our responsibilities to be that village but we need to aspire, inspire and steer it towards excellence. A woman’s work is never done but thankfully women are always up to the occasion and our work gets lighter and easier when we uphold each other every minute of our endeavor ~ not just on special occasions. Women’s strength is infinite ~ you know it from your struggles, sufferings, sacrifices, sorrows and your triumphs ~ so I really don’t need to tell you that only we can bring each other and ourselves down.
Each day is a baptism of fire for women but we have come out better. Our job now is to enable and empower other struggling women and those who will come after us to do and to be much better.
One of the obstacles women have constantly faced is the silence that is imposed upon us politically, economically, socially, traditionally and culturally. Ours too is a society that decrees women to be seen and to do but not speak and be heard. If we are to uphold each other and continue being that village that brings up the younger and future generations of women, we have to break free from the shackles of this silence. No one will unshackle this silence for us ~ only we can and must do it. This requires healthy self-esteem, self-confidence, self-respect, dignity and a firm belief that we have what it takes to achieve our dreams and aspiration and fully realize our potentials. In doing so we must ensure that we are not stepping on each other, harming each other and preventing each other from progressing forward. One of the fundamental requirements to break this shackle is bolstering our constitutional right to freedom of speech and expression, very vital to nurture and strengthen genuine and enduring democracy, especially in a society and State like ours. Hence this award is significant as a message of commitment to democracy and I am very proud that in this too women are leading.
I would also like to applaud the NSCW for being the first among governmental and non-governmental entities to acknowledge, recognize and honour a person from the Nagaland State media fraternity at the State level ~ if memory serves me right, this is a first in the history of Nagaland and the State media, which began with the publication of Ao Milen and the Kewhira Dielie in 1932, as per available documentary accounts. It is indeed a proud moment and an honour not only for me individually because as individuals, we are simply runners in the relay race but for the entire media fraternity of Nagaland because finally after 93 years, the existence o the media in Nagaland is being acknowledged. Thank you from all of us in the State media. Thank you for bestowing me with this honour ~ definitely a momentous highlight in my 40-year career in Journalism. This award signals that the State media is doing something right, as also encourages and motivates us to evolve further and press forward. Thank you so much. This award also underscores women upholding women. Thank you again.