JOIN USManipur’s iconic anti-AFSPA crusader Irom Sharmila Chanu’s decision to quit the 16-year-long fast has much to do beyond the possible ‘influence’ of her love interest.
Even as the state has started the countdown to August 9, the date announced by the 44-year-old to quit her fast, rumbles in Sharmila’s close quarters suggest that her decision also has ‘political imprints’.
A local said, “In Imphal, ask anyone on the streets, they will tell you who Desmond Coutinho is.” The Goa-born British national supposedly fell in love with Sharmila after being pen pals for a while. The locals see him as the man and mind behind the decision. Some even labelled him as an ‘agent’ of the intelligence agencies.
“We were totally baffled when she announced that she will quit the protest and join politics. With Manipur elections around in a year’s time, our reading is that a political design is behind this,” said a young human rights activist from Imphal on condition of anonymity. The activists, who are closely associated with her protest, said that many political parties are approaching other close aides of Sharmila to join them. “It is not like political parties are making a beeline, but almost all people closely associated to her have been approached subtly. There is certainly more to what meets the eye,” the activist added.
However, DH could not independently verify these claims from Sharmila’s side since she is ‘inaccessible’ and is under arrest, lodged in a special ward of the JNIMS where she has been force-fed by nose for 16 long years. On July 27, Sharmila, during a routine appearance at a local Imphal court, told the media that she is going to withdraw her fast on August 9 and plans to contest the 2017 Assembly polls as an independent candidate, and also wished to marry and settle down.
Sharmila had claimed that she has taken the decision to re-strategise her fight against AFSPA. “I am surprised a bit with the decision. Her fight is second to none and as a family, we have always supported her fight,” her brother Irom Singhajit told DH.
“We are also worried about her health. For 16 years she has taken no food. I have been speaking to doctors to know how this would affect her health,” Singhajit added.