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eel review I think again to myself… Is this the ‘prophecy of silence’? 2006. The filmmaker reveals to me, multiple identities, of caste, tribe, age, occupation, community and position. A scheduled caste woman, a dalit woman, a young adivasi woman, a woman from the barber community, a woman panch (elected official), from across rural Karnataka, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh…all paraded naked before their families and communities. Sexually violated for resisting injustice and hierarchy for questioning territory and ownership for challenging patriarchy for accessing what’s rightfully theirs their land their resources their equal place in society 1947, 1957, 1971, 1986, 1998, 2004. They stare at me, from Assam, Nagaland, Mizoram and Manipur,. They urge me to tell their story to the world… let it be told on behalf of all who have not yet spoken. She was paraded naked towards the church, in 1957... she was fighting for a Naga nation. The military came and set up camp…the orange tree lived to share the testimony of 1971, of women and girls paraded naked at the church. In 1986, a soldier came to take another ‘body’, she did not agree, he beat, shot and killed her, in Manipur. Through the film, I am introduced to her mother who filed a case in court…it took four years to get justice. She hasn’t forgotten, she still grieves. Her friend has woven the story into a sarong in motifs that symbolise protest, the journey of people going from one court to another. Everyone wears it commonly now, to remember her. As the film reflects on the state and its paraphernalia, the state’s various laws and security procedures, I wonder who they really protect, in the North East or in Kashmir. Who is the enemy where ‘land’ is the context and where social and religious practices ‘govern’? I ask myself who is the enemy? Who determines justice? The film begins to go deeper into the body and I can see some ‘lightning’ testimonies once more. The images are now transforming. A woman disrobes as ‘Draupadi’ in a play and everyone reacts against her, questions her chastity, her womanhood, her self-respect. A creative expression in theatre I think or really a breach in dignity? And then, I am made witness to the protests in which 12 imas (mothers) disrobed at Kangla Fort. I now become the in plainspeak · ISSUE 1 · ‘09 · 38
eel review woman in the story…merging voices in the film speak in the same tone. Weaving the testimonies of pain and resistance together, I can see the same images in different locations or is it the same location and different images? The film ends, but my journey with it continues…I try and seek answers to the film verse that has gone alongside, especially as it now presents itself in these words… How does one tell which image represents the ever changing words of a testimony? How does one remember? What remains and what gets submerged? The words of the filmmaker again help me out… Does the rain remind you of the camps on both sides of the border? I hope it does, so that you don’t forget what does not remain and what emerges…Perhaps because of its hues, its subtleties, its canvas of expressions, the light amidst darkness, the darkness within The Lightning Testimonies, it’s not easy to forget what you don’t see in this film Aanchal Kapur has been working in the field of development and human rights for the past 18 years. She is a facilitator and trainer on organizational development, gender analysis and programming, social analysis and activism, as well as documentation and development communication. Aanchal is the Founder and Team Leader of a not-for-profit organization, KRITI: a development research, praxis and communication team. She may be contacted at aanchal_ kapur@hotmail.com in plainspeak · ISSUE 1 · ‘09 · 39
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