Irom Chanu Sharmila

Irom Chanu Sharmila
Born	(1972-03-14) 14 March 1972 Kongpal, Imphal, Manipur, India
Nationality	Indian
Ethnicity	Meitei
Occupation	Civil rights activist, political activist, poet
Known for	Hunger strike against Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act
Parent(s)	Irom c Nanda (father) Irom Ongbi Sakhi (mother)

Irom Chanu Sharmila (born 14 March 1972),^[1] also known as the "Iron Lady of Manipur" or "Mengoubi" ("the fair one")^[2] is a civil rights activist, political activist, and poet from the Indian state of Manipur. On 2 November 2000,^[3] she began a hunger strike which is still ongoing. Having refused food and water for more than 500 weeks, she has been called "the world's longest hunger striker".^[4] On International Women’s Day, 2014 she was voted the top woman icon of India by MSN Poll.^[5][6]

In 2014 two parties asked her to stand in the national election, but she declined. She was then denied the right to vote as a person confined in jail cannot vote according to law.^[7][8][9] On 19 August 2014 a court ordered her release from custody, subject to there being no other grounds for detention. She was re-arrested on 22 August 2014 on similar charges to those for which she was acquitted, and remanded in judicial custody for 15 days.^[10] Amnesty International has declared her a prisoner of conscience.

Background

Sharmila grew up and lives in Manipur, one of the Seven Sister States in India's northeast that are geographically, ethnically, and linguistically distinct from India, and has suffered from Insurgency and intra-tribal warfare, including terrorism and government-sponsored violence, for decades; from 2005 to 2015 about 5,500 people died from political violence.^[11] In 1958, the Indian government passed a law, the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act, 1958 that applies to just the seven states and grants security forces the power to search properties without a warrant, and to arrest people, and to use deadly force if there is "reasonable suspicion" that a person is acting against the state; a similar Act applies to Jammu & Kashmir.^[11]

She was already involved in local peace movements with regard to human rights abuses in Manipur when, 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.^[12] The incident, known as the "Malom Massacre",^[13][14] was allegedly committed by the Assam Rifles, one of the Indian Paramilitary forces operating in the state.^[15][16] The victims included Leisangbam Ibetombi, a 62-year-old woman, and 18-year-old Sinam Chandramani, a 1988 National Bravery Award winner .

The fast and responses

Sharmila, who was 28 at the time of Malom Massacre, began to fast in protest.^[12] Her primary demand to the Indian government has been the repeal of the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act (AFSPA).^[3][12][17] She began her fast in Malom on 5 November, and vowed not to eat, drink, comb her hair or look in a mirror until AFSPA was repealed.^[18]

Three days after she began her strike, she was arrested by the police and charged with an "attempt to commit suicide",^[3] which was unlawful under the Indian Penal Code (IPC) at that time, and was later transferred to judicial custody. However, Amnesty International and the World Medical Association both dispute that a hunger strike is equivalent to suicide as hunger strikers "generally hope and intend to survive".^[19][20] Her health deteriorated rapidly, and nasogastric intubation was forced on her from 21 November in order to keep her alive while under arrest.^[4][18]

Irom Sharmila has been regularly released and re-arrested every year since her hunger strike began^[17] under IPC section 309. The law declares that a person who "attempts to commit suicide ... shall be punished with simple imprisonment for a term which may extend to one year [or with fine, or with both]."^[21]

By 2004, Sharmila had become an "icon of public resistance."^[15] Following her procedural release on 2 October 2006 Irom Sharmila Chanu went to Raj Ghat, New Delhi, which she said was "to pay floral tribute to my ideal, Mahatma Gandhi." Later that evening, Sharmila headed for Jantar Mantar for a protest demonstration where she was joined by students, human rights activists and other concerned citizens.^[12] 30 women protested naked in support of Sharmila in front of the Assam Rifles headquarters. They held a banner saying "Indian Army rape us" and all of them were imprisoned for three months.^[12][22]

On 6 October, she was re-arrested by the Delhi police for attempting suicide and was taken to the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, where she wrote letters to the Prime Minister, the President, and the Home Minister.^[12] At this time, she met and won the support of Nobel-laureate Shirin Ebadi, the Nobel Laureate and human rights activist, who promised to take up Sharmila's cause at the United Nations Human Rights Council.^[12]

In 2011, she invited anti-corruption activist Anna Hazare to visit Manipur,^[23] and Hazare sent two representatives to meet with her.^[24]

In October 2011, the Manipur Pradesh All India Trinamool Congress announced their support for Sharmila and called on party chief Mamata Banerjee to help repeal the AFSPA.^[25] The Communist Party of India (Marxist–Leninist) (CPI ML) also stated its support for her and for repeal of AFSPA, calling for nationwide agitation.^[26] In November, at the end of the eleventh year of her fast, Sharmila again called on Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to repeal the law.^[27] On 3 November 100 women formed a human chain in Ambari to show support for Sharmila, while other civil society groups staged a 24-hour fast in a show of solidarity.^[28]

In 2011 the Save Sharmila Solidarity Campaign (SSSC) was launched to highlight Sharmila's struggle^[29] and in December 2011, Pune University announced a scholarship program for 39 female Manipuri students to take degree courses in honour of Irom Sharmila Chanu's 39 years of age.^[30]

She has only met her mother once since the start of the fast as seeing her mother's anguish may break her resolve. She said "The day AFSPA is repealed I will eat rice from my mother's hand."^[31][32]

In March 2013 she was put on trial again for attempted suicide.^[33] The prosecution's case was closed in June 2015 and Sharmila was scheduled to testify in August 2015.^[33] In November 2013 she gave an interview to NDTV in which she discussed tensions with her organisation, the Just Peace Foundation, in which she claimed that members had made honour killing death threats against her due to her relationship with Desmond Coutinho, a British citizen, and complained that the foundation was preventing her from giving prize money she had been awarded to people or causes she wanted to help. The foundation replied that her imprisonment had made communications difficult, and that NDTV was trying to rouse hatred between Sharmila and the organisation.^[34][35]

International attention

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 Rights".^[36] She shared the award with Lenin Raghuvanshi of People's Vigilance Committee on Human Rights, a northeastern Indian human rights organisation.^[36]

In 2009, she was awarded the first Mayillama Award of the Mayilamma Foundation "for achievement of her nonviolent struggle in Manipur".^[37]

In 2010, she won a lifetime achievement award from the Asian Human Rights Commission.^[38] 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,^[39] and the Sarva Gunah Sampannah "Award for Peace and Harmony" from the Signature Training Centre.^[40]

In 2013 Amnesty International declared her a Prisoner of conscience, and said she "is being held solely for a peaceful expression of her beliefs."^[41]

Works based on her life

Deepti Priya Mehrotra's Burning Bright: Irom Sharmila and the Struggle for Peace in Manipur details Sharmila's life and the political background of her fast.^[42] IronIrom: Two Journeys : Where the Abnormal is Normal (2012, with Minnie Vaid and Tayenjam Bijoykumar Singh)

Ojas S V, a theater artist from Pune, performed a mono-play titled Le Mashale ("Take the Torch"), based on Irom Sharmila's life and struggle. It is an adaptation of Meira Paibi (Women bearing torches), a drama written by Malayalam playwright Civic Chandran. The play was performed at several venues in several Indian states.^[43][44]

See also

• Indian general election, 2014 (Manipur)
• Insurgency in Manipur

Books

• Fragrance of Peace (2010)

External links

• Analysis of Sharmila's poetry
• Save Sharmila Solidarity Campaign
• Amnesty International USA's campaign page

References