In what has become an annual affair, anti-AFSPA activist Irom Sharmila was arrested on Friday and was charged with attempt to commit suicide for continuing with her hunger strike.
Soon after being released from the security ward in J.N. Institute of Medical Sciences on Thursday, where she is held throughout the year, Ms. Sharmila went to a tin-roofed makeshift office of the Save Sharmila Organisation and continued her fast; free of the tube that feeds her through her nose.
Meanwhile, Ms. Sharmila has said Manipur Chief Minister Okram Ibobi Singh approached her on March 4 to persuade her to join the Congress. Mr. Singh reportedly told her that it would not be possible to repeal the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act, 1958 without her cooperation and that she could contribute effectively if she joined the ruling party. Ms. Sharmila however declined the offer. Last month, she turned down the Aam Aadmi Party, which wanted to offer her a ticket.
