* Moscow terror attack: President Putin calls for ‘Humanism, Mercy’ as death penalty debate grows     * No Immediate Relief From High Court, Arvind Kejriwal To Stay In Custody     * 2 gambling scandals are now threatening pro sports, and the problems may run deeper     * No immediate dollar estimate on bridge damage or timeline for reopening, Buttigieg says     * REQUIEM FOR A RAPPER: Sex trafficking investigation against Diddy heating up

16 years long struggle! For whom ?

Posted in View Point

Published on August 19, 2016 with No Comments

To the western world her story of 16 years of struggle may sound queer. IromSharmila’speaceful hunger strike to protest against State violence in the form of the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) makes her a modern living legend. The very fact that she chose to end the fast that lasted 16 years last week doesn’t make her effort any small.

It’s of little importance that her campaign hasn’t succeeded, and the very cause for which she remained off food for good 16 years hasn’t been addressed by various state and central governments in India. However, her epic fast for a major cause against the State is unprecedented and gives her an exalted standing. A defiant fast is a deep political instrument. And to say that by ending her fast she has been unsuccessful,certain individuals in India have tried to undercut her individual effort. The chances of AFSPA being removed from the statute book any time in the near future is remote and is being cited by her critics as the reason of calling her unsuccessful.

She showed her will in courting death by refusing food for long.  Having refused food and water for more than 500 weeks, she has been called “the world’s longest hunger striker”. On International Women’s Day, 2014 she was voted the top woman icon of India by MSN Poll. Her story has deep roots, in 1958 when the   Indian government passed a law, the the Armed Forces Special Powers Act that applies to just the seven states in Eastern India 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 also applied to the state of Jammu and Kashmir.

During all these years there were some attempts to let her end her fast. However, those too remained unsuccessful and the “Iron Lady” remained steadfast. While she struggled, it’s unfortunate that her fellow Manipuris did not mount any big movement in recent times assuming Shamrila’s sole effort would be able to move the governments. Neither the Manipuris took the lead nor did the governments respond. The media too was not kind to her. A fast of such a nature anywhere in the national capital or the metros would have grabbed attention, but anything happening in Northern States doesn’t move the media in India.

IromSharmila was an icon with no parallel in independent India; but today, with a section of the press reporting that IromSharmila has nowhere to go; she is a homeless social reject.While the Red Cross Society and individuals connected to Naga Peoples Movement for Human Rights have come forward to provide shelter, certain individuals too have come forward but resoluteIromSharmila has decided to stay in a government Hospital in Imphal till August 23.

IromSharmila’s decision to join politics and work towards becoming Manipur’s Chief Minister is a good one.  She deserves to live her life as she pleases, but the path ahead will be full of thorns.  Now that she has been reduced to a social reject, her strategy of carrying on the fight against the special powers through mainstream politics is unlikely to work. When she broke her fast, she expressed a desire to become the Chief Minister of the state. A distant dream. Ironically her real and everyday challenge will now be more monotonous – food, which she voluntarily shunned for 16 years, and shelter.

Till she was on fast, the government was not wary of her, but now her dreams will pose a threat to the government and to the Opposition. It is important that Manipuris come in support of her given the fact that she dedicated 16 years of her life to them and to an important cause. Will she be able to garner support when she was not able to get the same when she was fasting?

 

 

No Comments

Comments for 16 years long struggle! For whom ? are now closed.