Human Rights groups from across the nation have welcomed the decision of the sub-registrar (Marriage), Kodaikanal, overruling the objections raised by some activists over the wedding proposal of rights activist Irom Sharmila.
People’s Watch Executive Director Henri Tiphagne in a press release issued here on Saturday said that Ms. Irom Sharmila, considered as the Iron lady of Manipur, has every right to live anywhere in the country and marry of her choice. “ If there is a living embodiment of non-violence in this country, it is none other than Ms. Irom Sharmila,” he added.
The rights groups condemned the objections raised by some activists as “an engineered move” with an intention to humiliate Ms. Irom. Thanking the Sub-Registrar for taking the wise decision, the members underlined that like every citizen, who had the right to live anywhere in the country, she too shall exercise her freedom of movement enshrined in the Constitution of our country, they noted.
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The order that the objections (raised by the activists) were irrelevant and did not come under the Special Marriages Act, Section 4, had come as a relief to law-obeying citizens. The police should ensure that Ms. Irom Sharmila was not disturbed by forces, which attempted to give a different colour, Mr. Tiphagne said.
A total of about 50 rights organisations from across the country, freelance journalists and a few activists from Sri Lanka and Bangladesh had supported Ms. Irom Sharmila’s marriage proposal and commended the official’s order passed in Kodaikanal two days ago making way for the marriage to be performed on August 16.