Irom Sharmila's Fast Covered by BBC
Irom Sharmila Chanu's Marathon 6 year long marathon fast has been picked up by BBC. She's been fasting for about 6 years now as a protest against the controversial Armed Forces Special Powers Act or AFSPA, which gives sweeping powers to the army in the state.
She says,"My fast is on behalf of the people of Manipur. This is not a personal battle"
[BBC news]
Manipuri women have always been strong. Read my posts on manipuri women from the sidebar.
She says,"My fast is on behalf of the people of Manipur. This is not a personal battle"
On hunger strike since 2000, Irom Sharmila Chanu is being force-fed through a pipe in her nose on the orders of the state administration.
The 35-year-old is an iconic figure in Manipur's politics. She completes six years of fasting in November, in what is perhaps the longest such political protest ever recorded.
Sharmila is demanding the repeal of the controversial Armed Forces Special Powers Act or AFSPA, which gives sweeping powers to the army in the state.
Manipur, with a population of 30 million, has been administered by the Indian army since 1980 and human rights organisations often describe the army's powers as "draconian".
Atrocity
While the government maintains that the law is necessary to restore normalcy in a state racked by a militant secessionist movement, civil society groups allege gross human rights violations by the army.
[BBC news]
Manipuri women have always been strong. Read my posts on manipuri women from the sidebar.
posted by Admin at 10:24 AM
3 Comments:
Hello,
I have published several articles about North East India, among them an article about Irom Sharmila on the 13th of April, 2006, in a Swiss daily newspaper - "Le Courrier". Its site is www.lecourrier.ch, it is an independent French-language media quite close to freedom and human rights issues which publishes two "international solidarity" pages per week, on Saturday and on Tuesday.
Forced revolutionary zeal is what one can call Irom Sharmila being on a fast(unto death) since November 4, 2000, demanding that the Disturbed Areas Act be withdrawn from Manipur.
A fast unto death that lasts for more than six years is a little bit too much. Even Jain monks have never been known to survive that long.
Besides the people including Manipurians are getting increasing sceptical of what she portrays to be doing. Many believe she is doing all this under pressure from terrorist groups operating in Manipur.
And her appearance betrays her claim of having been on a fast since the last six years. In the latest pictures she even appears to have put on weight.
Some claim she is being force-fed through her nose but whether you are nose fed or any-way fed, the point is, the knowledge that the authorities will not let you starve to death come what may could encourage one to go on fasting-unto-death for sixty years.
BIOLOGOLICALLY SPEAKING, ITS IMPOSSIBLE TO GO ON A FASTING-UNTO-DEATH FOR SIX YEARS UNLESS YOU ARE SURE THEY WON'T LET YOU DIE COME WHAT MAY.
Thanks,
mrsingh, Bombay.
i am not a manipuri and have never experienced AFSPA. i may well not be much aware of the detail of terrorism and its implications in Manipur. however i reckon it has been able to create an unpleasant atmosphere in the state of Manipur. Irom Chanu sharmila is one of the many in Manipur who could gather enough courage to resist the so called the "draconian" act. i would even like to say her fast ordeal is much motivated by the act itself.
i believe the government must try to do something about it. the prevalent act anyway does not address any of the internal issue in the state. i believe that the government must realise to won this responsibility towards the citizens.
there are comments that for sharmila it is most unnatural to survive six years of fast and that she might playing tricks...however there is one thing clear that it is no way a pleasant way to choose.
i would there should be something more improved that AFSPA and some thing more practical than peace rallies in order to tackle terrorism in Maipur and India as whole.
AmritSangma
Guwahati
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