JANGNADOP: TRADITIONAL PRACTICE, WOMEN’S AGENCY, AND CRISIS RESPONSE AMONG THE KUKI COMMUNITY

This study examines the role of women from the Kuki community during the ongoing ethnic conflict in Manipur, northeastern India. Under the initiative of the Kuki Women Organization for Human Rights (KWOHR), a traditional mutual-aid system known as Jangnadop, has been transformed into an organized crisis response mechanism with the approval of the political leadership of the Kuki community, the Inpi, an exclusively male body. Through Jangnadop, the Kuki community provides emotional support and financial assistance to bereaved families. This transformation has reshaped women’s agency in a male-dominated society. Through local turn and feminist agency theory, this study positions Kuki women as active crisis responders who renegotiate gendered power structures via a transformed traditional practice.