Hi Guyzzz during the first week of April the Indian Media filled its pages with the news about the world cup and our victory and during the first half of second week the world cup mania was replaced by the news about the protest carried out by Shri.Anna Hazare for the introduction of “LOK JANPAL BILL” or the “CITIZEN OMBUDSMAN” bill. The government had to concede to his demands because Anna’s cause gained momentum within hours he started the protest and people from length and breadth of the country voiced their support to him. You may be wondering why I am telling all this now and the reason is I wanted to draw your attention to another protest that’s being staged by a young lady from Manipur since the last 10-11 years. Her name is “IROM CHANU SHARMILA” and she is also known as the IRON LADY of Manipur. I am sure that the majority of us wouldn’t have heard her name or heard about her struggle and we can’t be blamed because the media or the politicians at the center never gave her story the attention it deserves. For the media unlike Shri. Hazare she was just a “NOBODY” whose name never surfaced in the Mainstream and thus not worthy of dedicating any media space and for the politicians she wasn’t worth the trouble. So one of the longest protest in the history of INDIA (or maybe the world) remains unheard by the masses and I think that’s the biggest injustice we are doing towards her. Even I wasn’t aware of such a struggle till my friend walked me thru her story during a discussion (or a debate rather) and to be honest after that I didn’t give much thought about that story. But the news about Shri.Hazare’s victory made me think about the plight of Ms. Irom Sharmila and that propelled me to type this article. Since I am not from Manipur I cannot talk about the things that led to Ms.Irom’s protest and whether the present situation demands such a protest but I just know that she has been protesting for something for so long in a GANDHIAN way and that she should be heard by us (The AAM AADMI).



1. Who is Irom Chanu Sharmila ?

A 38 year old lady from the state of Manipur. She is also known as the IRON LADY OF MANIPUR


2. What's so special about her ?


She has been staging one of the longest protest in the history of India (and most probably in the world).She has not eaten in the last 10 years and nor drunken a drop of water during the same period. She is being forcefully fed thru a tube inserted thru her nose(No solid food intake in last 10 years). Her story, more than a decade old, started with the infamous Malom massacre of November 2000 when 10 people, including a 1988 National Child Bravery Award winner, were gunned down by security forces in Malom town of Imphal valley. My salutations to her…she sacrificed her youth, health and life for the welfare of the people she loves dearly and for defending the values she believed in….


3. what is She fighting for?


She is fighting/Protesting for the scraping of “AFSPA” or the ARMED FORCES (SPECIAL POWERS) ACT which gives the army powers to



-Fire upon or otherwise use force, even to the causing of death, against any person who is acting in contravention of any law" against "assembly of five or more persons" or possession of deadly weapons.

-To arrest without a warrant and with the use of "necessary" force anyone who has committed certain offenses or is suspected of having done so

-To enter and search any premise in order to make such arrests.



4) What is wrong with AFSPA ?

Majority in the state believes that the Army is using this force to rape, torture and kill the poor civilians rather than fight the insurgents. The major Human Rights organizations like Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International has criticized the Act and asked for the scraping of the same. As per the GOVT submission itself thousands of civilians has been killed in Manipur after the introduction of AFSPA and the number of insurgent groups have increased from 4 to 25 since the imposition of the Act.


5) Where is she now ?


She has been in and out of the jail during her initial years of protest because the Indian Penal Code (IPC 309 )states that “Any attempt to end one’s own life” is a criminal act punishable under law and as per this definition “Fasting unto death” is another form of committing suicide. I wonder why the same law is not applicable to the other dignitaries or celebrities or politicians who use “FAST UNTO DEATH” as a method of protest. She is now in a hospital ward which is also acting as a temporary jail beauce of her poor health conditions.



6) Is she alone? Who else is there in the fight with Irom Sharmila?


Since she started her protest, many have come forward in support of her and her cause. They include prominent transnational personalities, institutions, states and citizens. Here is a list of entities that have advocated for Irom Sharmila Chanu:

• Prabir Ghosh General Secretary of Science and Rationalists' Association of India
• Sumitra Padmanabhan General Secretary of Humanist Association
• Shirin Ebadi - Iranian Nobel Peace Prize winner
• Mahasweta Devi
• Arundhati Roy
• Sandeep Pandey
• Prabhat Maharana
• Gwangju Asian Human Rights Folk School, South Korea
• Kindle Magazine
• M K Choudhury - IIPM founder director


& We the peace loving citizens of India



If POTA can be scraped then why not the AFSPA ?
















We can ignore her protest stating that we live in a different world and so we aren’t affected by AFSPA or we can support her because this situation can happen to us tomorrow. We love and respect our Armed Forces (Majority of whom are righteous and patriotic) but that doesn’t mean we should give them ULTIMATE IMMUNITY and give them free rein to do whatever they like. Either the law should be scrapped or it should be modified such that people are held accountable for their acts and I don’t think that’s asking for too much. We are a Democracy and not a Military state so we should not support any Acts that threatens the freedom of citizens. One of the major reasons for the unrest in North-Eastern states is due to the brutality of armed forces towards the people of those states. The Govt should give more importance to their issues and should take necessary steps to make them happy and also to make them feel that they are very much an integral part of India (which unfortunately is not the way they feel now as per the opinions of many). Imposition of oppressive rules and regulations will not help in maintaining peace in those states but only help in more resistance and insurgency (that’s proven from the statistics).



Below are some excerpts from the articles I read concerning Ms.Irom Sharmila and they are thought provoking. Please have a look at the below and if possible please go thru the links provided in the end of this article….


Excerpts from different articles


In 2006, Irom Sharmila had not eaten anything, or drunk a single drop of water for six years. She was being forcibly kept alive by a drip thrust down her nose by the Indian State. For six years, nothing solid had entered her body; not a drop of water had touched her lips. She had stopped combing her hair. She cleaned her teeth with dry cotton and her lips with dry spirit so she would not sully her fast. Her body was wasted inside. Her menstrual cycles had stopped. Yet she was resolute. Whenever she could, she removed the tube from her nose. It was her bounden duty, she said, to make her voice heard in “the most reasonable and peaceful way”.



"She has not met her mother once these 10 years: her pact with her unlettered mother is that they will see each other only after she achieves her political goal. Her body organs have begun to degenerate irreversibly; her menstrual periods have halted. The tube through which she is forcefully fed is continuously painful," reads a cause dedicated to demanding a Nobel prize for the woman, who is popularly called the 'Iron Lady of Manipur'.


“Curiously, it took Iranian Nobel Peace Prize winner Shirin Ebadi to raise proportionate heat on Irom Sharmila, on a trip to India in 2006. “If Sharmila dies, Parliament is directly responsible,” she thundered at a gathering of journalists. “If she dies, courts and judiciary are responsible, the military is responsible… If she dies, the executive, the PM and President are responsible for doing nothing… If she dies, each one of you journalists is responsible because you did not do your duty…”


Draconian in letter, the Act has been even more draconian in spirit. Since it was imposed, by official admission alone, more than 20,000 people have been killed in Manipur. Rather than curb insurgent groups, it has engendered a seething resentment across the land, and fostered new militancies. When the Act came into force in 1980, there were only four insurgent groups in Manipur. Today there are 25 on the government’s own watch-list.


“Everywhere in the country, those who took to arms and unleashed mayhem were heard by the government of india. here is a woman staging an epic protest. she will not eat or drink until the AFSPA in manipur is abrogated. she has not eaten or had a drop of water in the last Ten years. no one anywhere in the world has fought a struggle such as hers. is Irom sharmila to fail merely because she doesn’t wield a gun?”


LINKS


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irom_Chanu_Sharmila

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Armed_Forces_%28Special_Powers%29_Act,_1958

http://www.countermedia.in/?p=186

http://www.tehelka.com/TSearch.asp?cx=008457777601950459037%3Aocm6dyyosyo&cof=FORID%3A9&ie=UTF-8&q=irom+sharmila&sa=Go&siteurl=www.tehelka.com%2F#1023

Thanks to Rakesh - http://neelavelicham.blogspot.com/ - he told me the story of this great Lady...


Friends please spread this message and do your bit in helping her cause….