JOIN USManipuri activist Irom Sharmila Chanu’s hunger strike against Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act (AFSPA) completed fifteen years on Sunday, with the activist wanting to continue the struggle until the Act’s repeal.
Called the iron lady of Manipur, Sharmila remained confined to her cabin at JN Hospital in state capital Imphal. The 42-year-old’s epic strike began after the death of ten people allegedly shot dead by security forces in November 2000 at Malom near Imphal.
“Irom Sharmila’s 15 year hunger strike is a symbol of a brave struggle against injustice,” FORUM-ASIA’s chairperson Henri Tiphagne said.
“The AFSPA has caused widespread human rights violations like enforced disappearances, extrajudicial executions, torture and sexual violence.”
For the past fifteen years, the state government kept her arrested and confined her to a special cabin at JN Hospital where she was force-fed through nose. She is also arrested every year under section 309 for attempted suicide.