A One-Man Army

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           Who Is Sharmila-

·         Irom Sharmila Chanu (born 14 March 1972), also known as the "Iron Lady of Manipur" or "Mengoubi" ("the fair one") is a civil rights activist, political activist, and poet from the Indian state of Manipur.

·         What is she doing?

·         On 2 November 2000, she began a hunger strike which is still ongoing. Sharmila, was 28 at the time, began to fast in protest of the killing, taking neither food nor water..

·          Having refused food and water for more than 500 weeks (almost 13years), she has been called "the world's longest hunger striker".

·         Why is she doing?

·         On 2 November 2000, in Malom, a town in the Imphal Valley of Manipur, ten civilians were shot and killed while waiting at a bus stop. The incident, known as the "Malom Massacre",was allegedly committed by the Assam Rifles (AFSPA), one of the Indian Paramilitary forces operating in the state. The victims included Leisangbam Ibetombi, a 62-year old woman, and 18-year old Sinam Chandramani, a 1988 National Child Bravery Award winner.

·         The Act she is up against-

·         The Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act (AFSPA), is an Act of the Parliament of India which was passed on 11 September 1958. It is a law with just six sections granting special powers to the armed forces in what the act terms as "disturbed areas". The Act has received criticism from several sections for alleged concerns about human rights violations in the regions of its enforcement, where arbitrary killings, torture, cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment and enforced disappearances have alleged to have happened.

·         If you wanted to know further-In 1951, the Naga National Council(NNC) reported that it conducted a ‘free and fair plebiscite’ in which about 99 per cent Nagas voted for a ‘Free Sovereign Naga Nation’. There was a boycott of first general election of 1952 which later, extended to boycott of government schools and officials. In order to deal with the situation, the Assam government imposed the Assam Maintenance of Public Order (Autonomous District) Act in the Naga Hills in 1953 and intensified police action against the rebels. When the situation worsened, Assam deployed the Assam Rifles in the Naga Hills and enacted the Assam Disturbed Areas Act of 1955, providing a legal framework for the paramilitary forces and the armed state police to combat insurgency in the region. But the Assam Rifles and the state armed police could not contain the Naga rebellion and the rebel Naga Nationalist Council(NNC) formed a parallel government "The Federal Government of Nagaland" on 22 March 1956. The Armed Forces (Assam and Manipur) Special Powers Ordinance 1958 was promulgated by the President Dr. Rajendra Prasad on 22 May 1958. It was replaced by Armed Forces (Assam and Manipur) special Powers Act, 1958 on 11 September 1958.

·         The Recognition- On International Women’s Day, 2014 she was voted the top woman icon of India by MSN Poll.

·         Sharmila was awarded the 2007 Gwangju Prize for Human Rights, which is given to “an outstanding person or group, active in the promotion and advocacy of Peace, Democracy and Human RightsIn 2009, she was awarded the first Mayillama Award of the Mayilamma Foundation “for achievement of her nonviolent struggle in Manipur”.

·         In 2010, she won a lifetime achievement award from the Asian Human Rights Commission. Later that year, she won the Rabindranath Tagore Peace Prize of the Indian Institute of Planning and Management, which came with a cash award of 5,100,000 rupees, and the Sarva Gunah Sampannah “Award for Peace and Harmony” from the Signature Training Centre.

·         Where we are- A nation driven by politicians, film stars and cricketers has refused to offer the centre stage to a commoner like her. I don’t know whether I support her movement or not, all I know is that I CANNOT BE LIKE HER, deciding to go without water for more than a decade…Still a question haunts me: DO I WANT TO BE LIKE HER? DO WE?-Arijit Ghosh

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