Irom Sharmila has been leading an unnatural life, out of choice and goaded by the Manipuri society, especially civil society groups. For nearly 11 years now, it has become a routine for her to remain housed in hospital, in judicial custody, with a tube dangling from her nostrils to force-feed her. Always flanked by cops rather than relatives and friends, she visits the court every fortnight in an ambulance and says “no” on being asked if she will end her fast.
Her resilience to carry forward the silent protest since November 2000 against a draconian law, the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act (AFSPA), has earned her the title Manipur's ‘Iron Lady.' She has put little known Manipur on the world map with probably the longest running hunger strike in recorded history. She has become an iconic figure for the entire Manipuri society; she is the torchlight-bearer of the people against a law that gives the security forces power to kill with impunity.
AFSPA is in force in the ‘disturbed areas' of Assam, Manipur (excluding the Imphal municipal council areas), Nagaland, parts of Arunachal Pradesh, 20 km in Meghalaya bordering Assam, a few police stations in Tripura, besides Jammu and Kashmir. Her hunger strike began following an incident in which the security forces allegedly sprayed bullets and killed 10 innocents at a bus stop in Malom town. Since then the incident has been known as the Malom massacre. The civil society groups are proud of Irom Sharmila for carrying on with her crusade on behalf of the people.
How long will she fast is anybody's guess? She is 39 years old and already past her youth. When she acknowledged to a journalist about her fondness for a man called Desmond Coutinho, a British national of Goan origin, whom she met only once in March this year following a yearlong exchange of letters, there was an element of disdain for her by those who used to shower her with praise and affection.
In one fell swoop, their pride in her has crashed. Why? Is this feeling out of desperation because all along, they supported her and probably in the process pinned their hopes on her “sacrifice”? Did they in the process start misreading “her” struggle as “our” struggle? Is this why her willingness to lead a normal life jolted them?
The civil society groups' struggle, however, appears a long-drawn affair. There has been no progress to replace the Act with a more humane law as was promised by the Union government in 2004. The reason being the security establishment, particularly the Army, is opposed to the idea of tinkering with the Act. Home Minister P. Chidambaram has also admitted the lack of consensus within the government on the issue.
No doubt, Manipur's young and old have had their own share of struggle and apathy. But does it mean that Sharmila has no right to lead a normal life? She has, of course, said she will marry only after the Act is repealed. Whether she is being tricked in this love affair as suspected by many
Babloo Loitongbam, human rights activist from Manipur and Sharmila's long associate from the Just Peace Foundation, refuses to comment on her personal life. “She can stop her fast whenever she wants, she can marry whoever she wants. There will be no interference from our side.”
But what about the Meira Paibis, who took up the cudgels against wrongdoings in the State? In July 2004, Meira Paibis made the headlines worldwide when they stripped themselves — the ultimate form of protest — in front of the Kangla Fort, against the excesses committed by the security forces on the people. Why did they not support Sharmila? Why did they not stand up for another woman's cause?
Interested parties see a conspiracy and burnt copies of the newspaper that published her interview and banned the newspaper in Manipur. Why? According to some civil rights activists, a relationship has surely developed between Sharmila and Desmond. But the venom is against the reportage. “In the backdrop of Anna Hazare's fast against corruption, the article was more about her love story than the cause for which she has been on a hunger strike for more than a decade. The write-up also tried to create differences between her and us. …why?…how can we intrude into her personal life when we are not even allowed to meet her?” asks a civil society activist.
But, how long will the civil society groups ride on Sharmila's shoulders? On the one hand, these groups strongly support freedom of the press and, on the other, they ban the newspaper in Manipur for publishing Sharmila's interview. Why this double standard?
Whatever the case, Sharmila should not be allowed to end up like Bobby Sands, the revolutionary spirit of freedom who represented the Irish nationalist aspirations and died on the 66th day of his hunger strike in May 1981. Or like Pedro Luis Boitel, a political revolutionary from Cuba, who died in jail in May 1972 following his fast unto death. Potti Sreeramulu, the Amarajeevi (immortal being), died in December 1952, following his fast for linguistic re-organisation of the States and achieving Andhra Pradesh. And, there are also others who have died — unsung heroes like Swami Nigamanand in June 2011 after fasting in his quest for stopping quarrying in the Ganga.
(A Delhi-based independent journalist, the writer's email id is: bula07@ gmail.com)
