Irom Chanu Sharmila is arguably waging the longest-running hunger strike in history. This year will mark the fourteenth year of her protest — launched on November 5, 2000 — demanding that the government repeal a draconian law that grants absolute power to armed forces in troubled areas. She survives only because she is being force-fed through a tube attached to her nose.
Even before the strike, Sharmila was no stranger to political activism. She has been associated with All-Manipur Students' Union for Sightless, Centre for Organization Research and Education, Human Rights Alert and the like.
But the Malom massacre of November 2, 2000, in which 10 civilians in the Imphal Valley of Manipur were killed allegedly by the Assam Rifles, traumatized her like no other incident. The armed forces drew their right to use force from the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA), 1958.
But AFSPA has done little to suppress insurgency. On the contrary, it had perpetuated widespread violation of human rights by law-enforcement agents.
Sharmila's individual heroism is integral to the wave of protests against AFSPA. Her peaceful protest against a repressive law has got the recognition it deserves. In 2007, she was co-conferred the Gwangju Prize for Human Rights (South Korea).
She has since refused to accept any award until her demand of repealing AFSPA is fulfilled. Through an order in 2004, the government had discouraged Sharmila's contact with supporters — they required the permission of the home department. The restriction was, however, relaxed recently after the National Human Rights Commission and high court issued notices.
A little-known aspect about Sharmila is that she is also a poet. She has written over 100 poems. "Fragrance of Peace" and "Birth" have been translated into English. The youngest of nine siblings, Sharmila is currently an inmate at the security ward, Jawaharlal Nehru Hospital, Imphal, where she is under judicial custody for attempt to suicide. She has denied the charges, saying she did not wish to die. She merely uses her body as the only weapon to defend human rights.
Sharmila has over the years become an icon of the wave of protests against AFSPA in particular and satyagraha in general. Her recourse to non-violent struggle against the might of the state is a lesson for other movements across the globe.
via The Economic Times ,
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