THE POWER OF ONE

                        

                    Irom Chanu Sharmila

                            Irom Sharmila Chanu (born March 14, 1972), also known as the Iron Lady of Manipur , is a civil rights activist, political activist, journalist and poet from the Indian state of Manipur. Since November 4, 2000, she's been on a political fast demanding the Government of India to withdraw the Armer forces(Special Power) Act, 1958 also otherwise known as AFSPA, from Manipur and other areas of India's north east.

                           Ten years since it began in 2000, Irom Sharmila Chanu's fast is unparalleled in the history of political protest

           Everywhere in the country, those who took to arms and unleashed mayhem were heard by the government of india. here is a woman staging an epic protest. she will not eat or drink until the AFSPA in manipur is abrogated. she has not eaten or had a drop of water in the last six years. no one anywhere in the world has fought a struggle such as hers. is irom sharmila to fail merely because she doesn’t wield a gun?                                                                                                     

                                                                      

  

                            AN  IMAGE  AND  SYMBOL

Irom Sharmila's achievement is that she has become an image and a symbol of the pain and tragic memories not merely of her people but of democrats everywhere. But this symbol is now imprisoned by the very power of what it symbolises, and the forces she has released.

The unique nature of her protest has also brought into sharp focus the limitations of an all-or-nothing agenda. While she remains steadfast in the resolve she made 10 years ago (“I will not eat until the AFSPA is withdrawn from Manipur”), neither she nor her supporters have an answer to a state and a system in Imphal and Delhi that remain unrelenting and indifferent. Even in Imphal, she has become a fixture, a fact of life and an object of curiosity even if she symbolises the pain and suffering of living under the AFSPA. Above all, the objective she has set forth to attain remains elusive.

At a personal level, 10 years of the most unnatural kind of life — constant public exposure, moving from prison to hospital and court and, above all, the forced nasal feeding — has, according to medical opinion, done irreparable damage to her organs. Even if some kind of a compromise were to be reached, like the farcical alternative of ‘AFSPA with a human face' as an acceptable face-saver, she will never be able to lead a normal life.

The AFSPA has taken an immense human toll. Under its umbrella, many people have literally got away with murder. However, it has also taken its toll on a vibrant young woman, without physically killing her.

                        THE  LAST  OF  A  DYING  BREED

 

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