Irom Chanu Sharmila...Fasting for 10 years...

[Rowdy]

Mana state lo chaala mandhi fast chestunnaru ga....Enni original enni duplicate lo televu kaani eme 10 years nunchi chestundhanta...

Wikipedia Article

Activism

On November 1, 2000, in Malom, a town in the Imphal Valley of Manipur, ten innocent people who were waiting for their buses at a bus station were gunned down by the Assam Rifles, one of the Indian Paramilitary forces operating in the state. The incident, which later came to be known as the Malom Massacre, affirmed the continuation of the endless killing spree by the Indian armed forces in Manipur since 1958.

The next day's local newspapers published brutal pictures of the dead bodies, including one of a 62-year old woman, Leisangbam Ibetomi, and 18-year old Sinam Chandramani, a 1988 National Child Bravery Award winner. Soon afterwards, that very day, the people of Manipur, including major civil society organisations and other state institutions, agitated and demanded a magisterial inquiry into the incident. The army, using the unperturbed authority given to them by AFSPA, however, disallowed any such inquiry, leaving the people of Manipur frustrated and helpless yet again. This convinced Sharmila, then only 28, that she must take a decision and act. On the evening of November 4, after taking blessings from her mother, she launched her hunger strike against the widespread repression unleashed against the people of Manipur by the Indian state.

The single most determined objective of her protest then was the repeal of the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act, 1958 from the state of Manipur. However, in due course over the last nine years, she has extended the scope of her demand to all regions of India's north east where AFSPA has been imposed.

When she began her fast on the 4th of November, 2000, most people had little inkling of her resolve. Some of them shrugged it off, others did not take it seriously and a handful ridiculed the decision. But for Sharmila, life had taken a different turn, a tough long-distance journey with a clear destination, a U-turn with no return ticket.[1]

On 6 November 2000, three days after she launched the strike, she was arrested by the police and charged with "attempt to commit suicide", which is unlawful under section 309 of the Indian Penal Code, and was later transferred to judicial custody. With her determination not to take food nor water, her health deteriorated tremendously and the police then forcibly had to use nasogastric intubation in order to keep her alive while under arrest. Since then Irom Sharmila has been under a ritual of of release and arrest every year because under IPC section 309, a person who "attempt to commit suicide" is punishable "with simple imprisonment for a term which may extend to one year[or with fine, or with both]".[2]

She has been kept alive on the constant painful nasogastric intubation (filled with vitamins, minerals, laxatives, protein supplements and lentil soup) and in solitary confinement as a high security prisoner for almost ten years. The ritual of release and rearrest is still continuing.[3]

Following her procedural release On October 2, 2006, for around four months, Irom Sharmila Chanu escaped to New Delhi. On reaching Delhi, Sharmila immediately headed for Rajghat, where she said in her slow, tired, mincing words, he journey there was "To pay floral tribute to my idol, Mahatma Gandhi." Later that evening, Sharmila headed for Jantar Mantar for a protest demonstration. She went there to garner publicity and sympathy for her cause. Students, human rights activists and other concerned citizens rallied around her as she lay in protest at Jantar Mantar. The Delhi police swooped down and arrested her at midnight on October 6, then arrested her for attempting suicide and whisked her off to AIIMS. She wrote three passionate letters to the Prime Minister, President, and Home Minister during that time. She got no answer. It was also in AIIMS that she met Shirin Ebadi, Nobel Laureate and human rights activist, for the first time. Ms. Ebadi announced her public support for her campaign against AFSPA and promised that she would take up the issue at different global fora, particularly the United Nations Human Rights Council. Ms. Ebadi told to a group of journalist then, "If Sharmila dies, Parliament is directly responsible. If she dies, courts and judiciary are responsible, the military is responsible… If she dies, the executive, the PM and President are responsible for doing nothing… If she dies, each one of you journalists is responsible because you did not do your duty…"

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irom_Chanu_Sharmila

Please no Telangana and Andhra fights here