Imphal: After being on fast for nearly 16 years in protest against the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act, Irom Chanu Sharmila, the Iron Lady Manipur, is all set to end her stir on August 9, 2016.
On Tuesday, Sharmila, who has been called the symbol of self-sacrifice will inform the Court about her decision. With this, the Court is likely to release her from judicial custody.
However, what is surprising is the reaction that her decision to end fast has evoked. There is certainly no celebration and jubilation surrounding her decision. The image of Sharmila with a tube hanging down from her nose has become Manipur’s poster image of sacrifice and it so seems that the citizens of Manipur do not want the image to change.
Sharmila has expressed her desire to get married and announced that she would join electoral politics to continue the fight to get AFSPA repealed. But, while some have urged the civil rights activist to continue stir, some radical factions have threatened her of dire consequences.
Meanwhile, her family says that Sharmila did not consult them before taking the decision. Sharmila’s brother Irom Singhajit said that even though the family was not consulted before she took the decision, his sister was welcome home if she wanted to stay with the family. “I am not happy with her decision,” he brother said.
Irom Sharmila started her hunger strike after Assam Rifles personnel allegedly shot dead 10 civilians. Since then she has mostly been in custody (getting released and re-arrested every year on the charge of attempt to suicide) in a hospital being force-fed through a tube inserted into her nose.
