Rani Gaidinliu

In news– Recently, the Union Home Minister virtually laid the foundation stone for the ‘Rani Gaidinliu Tribal Freedom Fighters Museum’.

About the museum project-

It was sanctioned by the Ministry of Tribal Affairs, Government of India in 2019 at an estimated cost of Rs 15 crore.
The museum would help preserve and exhibit artefacts related to the tribal freedom fighters, involved in different stages of the fight against the British colonial rule like Anglo-Manipuri War, Kuki-Rebellion, Naga-Raj movements, among others.
The proposed museum will be set up in Rani Gaidinliu’s birthplace, Luangkao Village in Tamenglong district.

About Rani Gaidinliu-

She was a Naga spiritual and political leader of the Zeliangrong Nagas who led a revolt against British rule in India.
She was born on 26 January 1915 in Manipur.
She was from the Rongmei Naga tribe (also known as Kabui).
At 13, she became associated with freedom fighter and religious leader, Haipou Jadonang, and became his lieutenant in his social, religious and political movement.
Jadonang, who was also a Rongmei, started the ‘Heraka movement’, based on ancestral Naga religion, and envisioned an independent Naga kingdom (or Naga-Raja).
The movement later turned into a political movement seeking to drive out the British from Manipur and the surrounding Naga areas.
After the execution of Jadonang, she took up the leadership of the movement, which slowly turned political from religious.
Rani started a serious revolt against the British and was eventually imprisoned for life and was released after 14 years, in 1947.
An advocate of the ancestral Naga religious practices, she staunchly resisted the conversion of Nagas to Christianity.
Within the Heraka faith, she came to be considered an incarnation of the Goddess Cherachamdinliu.
Acknowledging her role in the struggle against the British, Jawaharlal Nehru called her the “Daughter of the Hills” and gave her the title “Rani” or queen.
She passed away on February 17, 1993.
She was bestowed a number of honours including the Tamrapatra in 1972, Padma Bhushan in 1982, Vivekananda Sewa Summan in 1983, and Stree Shakti Puraskar in 1991.
She posthumously was awarded the Bhagwan Birsa Munda Puraskar in 1996.
The Government of India also issued a commemorative stamp, coins in her honour.
The Indian Coast Guard commissioned a Fast Patrol Vessel “ICGS Rani Gaidinliu” in 2016.