Mizo Hmeichhe Insuihkhawm Pawl (meaning "binding women together" in the Mizo language) or MHIP was formed in the union territory of

Mizoram Mizoram () is a state in Northeast India, with Aizawl as its seat of government and capital city. The name of the state is derived from "Mizo people, Mizo", the endonym, self-described name of the native inhabitants, and "Ram", which in the Mizo ...

, India, on 6 July 1974. It aims to empower women and support

women's rights Women's rights are the rights and entitlements claimed for women and girls worldwide. They formed the basis for the women's rights movement in the 19th century and the feminist movements during the 20th and 21st centuries. In some countries, ...

. Following the 2009 decision of the

Delhi High Court The High Court of Delhi (IAST: ''dillī uchcha nyāyālaya'') was established on 31 October 1966, through the ''Delhi High Court Act, 1966'', with four judges, Chief Justice K. S. Hegde, Justice I. D. Dua, Justice H. R. Khanna and Justice S. ...

to legalize same-sex relationships, MHIP joined an anti-

LGBT ' is an initialism that stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender. In use since the 1990s, the initialism, as well as some of its common variants, functions as an umbrella term for sexuality and gender identity. The LGBT term is a ...

alliance with Mizoram Upa Pawl (MUP), the

Young Mizo Association The Young Mizo Association (YMA) is the largest and most comprehensive non-profit, secular, nongovernmental organisation of the Mizo people. It was established on 15 June 1935, originally as the ''Young Lushai Association'' (''YLA''), which was ...

(YMA) and the Mizo Zirlai Pawl (MZP). In 2013, MHIP was behind several bills proposed in the

Mizoram Legislative Assembly The Mizoram Legislative Assembly is the unicameral state legislature of Mizoram in India. The seat of the Legislative Assembly is at Aizawl, the capital of the state. The Legislative Assembly is composed of 40 members, who are directly elected f ...

, such as the Mizo Marriage Bill, the Mizo Inheritance Bill, and the Mizo Divorce Bill. The 2014 Mizo Marriage Divorce and Inheritance of Property Act abolished the customary practice in which a wife was left with nothing after a divorce and established that a wife could end up with up to 50 per cent of any property. During the 2018 assembly elections, MHIP repeated its calls for more women to stand as candidates. MHIP was led by B. Sangkhumi and then by Lalthlamuani.

Recognition and awards

In Mizoram, 6 July is marked as MHIP Day and is a national bank holiday. The group was awarded the 2016 Nari Shakti Puraskar.

References

{{Authority control 1974 establishments in India Nari Shakti Puraskar winners Organizations that oppose LGBT rights in India Women's rights in India Political parties in Mizoram