Irom Chanu Sharmila (born 14 March 1972), also known as the "Iron Lady of Manipur" or "Mengoubi" ("the fair one")[1] is an Indian civil rights activist, political activist, and poet from the Indian state of Manipur, which is located on the north-eastern side of India. In November 2000, she began a hunger strike for abolishing the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act, 1958. After 16 years, she ended her fast in 2016, after being nasally force-fed for over 500 weeks in custody. Therefore, she has been viewed as the world's longest hunger striker. Amnesty International has declared her as a prisoner of conscience.
Early life
Born on 14 March 1972 in Imphal[2] to Nanda who worked as an attendant in the state veterinary hospital, and Sakhi, a housewife. Sharmila was the ninth child, and her mother was 44 years when she gave birth to her. Her mother had problems with breastfeeding her, and she was suckled by women in the neighbourhood.[3] As an average student, Sharmila would stay aloof from most of the 17-member strong joint family that she grew up with.[4]
She completed high school studies in 1991. She took short-term courses in shorthand, typing, tailoring, and journalism. Interested in human rights, she worked with different organisations and groups to gain field exposure and grounded understanding of abuse in Manipur.[2]
Activism
In September 2000, she applied for a month-long internship with Human Rights Alert (HRA), a non-governmental organisation working in Manipur, documenting human rights violations for legal advocacy and international mobilisation. On 2 October, she joined the organisation at the age of 28 and assisted Babloo Loitongbam, lawyer and founder of the organisation.[2]
After attending an orientation workshop and reading international protocols and conventions on human rights and India's commitments to these, she proceeded to documenting human rights abuse in Manipur. She became part of HRA's preparatory committee for a citizen's inquiry on the impact of AFSPA. The inquiry was headed by Hosbet Suresh, former judge of the Bombay High Court.[2] During the process, Sharmila spoke to survivors of gang rapes, and parents and children of people killed by the Indian armed and paramilitary forces.[3] These cases received protection against prosecution through Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act.
The "Malom massacre" inspired her decision to go on a hunger strike. On 2 November 2000, in Malom, a town in the Imphal Valley of Manipur, ten civilians were shot and killed while waiting at a bus stop.[3][5][6] It was allegedly committed by the Assam Rifles, one of the Indian Paramilitary forces operating in the state.[7][8] The victims included Leisangbam Ibetombi, a 62-year-old woman, and 18-year-old Sinam Chandramani, a 1998 National Bravery Award winner. On 5 November, Sharmila sat under a shelter near the site of the killings with a placard, announcing she was fasting until Afspa was repealed. A crowd quickly formed around her. “Before sunset, people were sitting with me,” she recalls. “But a little later, they all, one after another, excused themselves and left me behind.”
Charcoal portrait of Irom Sharmila with her nasogastric tube by Amitabh Mitra
Fast
Sharmila, who was 28 at the time of Malom Massacre, began to fast in protest.[3] Her primary demand to the Indian government has been the repeal of the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act (AFSPA).[9][3][10] She began her fast in Malom on 5 November 2000, and vowed not to eat, drink, comb her hair or look in a mirror until AFSPA was repealed.[11]
Three days after she began her strike, she was arrested by the police and charged with an "attempt to commit suicide",[9] which was unlawful under the Indian Penal Code (IPC) at that time, and was later transferred to judicial custody. Her health deteriorated rapidly, and nasogastric intubation was forced on her from 21 November in order to keep her alive while under arrest.[12][11]
Sharmila has been regularly released and re-arrested every year since her hunger strike began.[10]
By 2004, Sharmila had become an "icon of public resistance."[7] Following her procedural release on 2 October 2006 Sharmila went to Raj Ghat, New Delhi, which she said was "to pay floral tribute to my idol, Mahatma Gandhi." Later that evening, Sharmila headed for Jantar Mantar for a protest demonstration where she was joined by students, human rights activists and other concerned citizens.
On 6 October, she was re-arrested by the Delhi police for attempting suicide and was taken to the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, where she wrote letters to the Prime Minister, the President, and the Home Minister.[3] At this time, she met and won the support of Nobel-laureate Shirin Ebadi, the Nobel Laureate and human rights activist, who promised to take up Sharmila's cause at the United Nations Human Rights Council.[3]
In 2011, she invited anti-corruption activist Anna Hazare to visit Manipur,[13] and Hazare sent two representatives to meet with her.[14]
Following that in October 2011, the Manipur Pradesh All India Trinamool Congress announced their support for Sharmila and called on party chief Mamata Banerjee to help repeal the AFSPA.[16] Then in November, at the end of the eleventh year of her fast, Sharmila again called on Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to repeal the law.[17] On 3 November 100 women formed a human chain in Ambari to show support for Sharmila, while other civil society groups staged a 24-hour fast in a show of solidarity.[18]
In 2011 the Save Sharmila Solidarity Campaign (SSSC) was launched to highlight Sharmila's struggle[19] and in December 2011, Pune University announced a scholarship program for 39 female Manipuri students to take degree courses in honour of Irom Sharmila Chanu's 39 years of age.[20]
She only met her mother once during the fast, as she believed that seeing her mother's anguish might have broken her resolve. She said "The day AFSPA is repealed I will eat rice from my mother's hand."[21][22]
On 28 March 2016, she was released from judicial custody as charges against her were rejected by a local court in Imphal.[23] Sharmila kept her vow of neither entering her house nor meeting her mother until the government repeals AFSPA and went to continue her fast at Shahid Minar, Imphal on the same day of her release.[24] She was again arrested by the police under the same charge of attempt to commit suicide by means of indefinite fast.
End of the fast
On 26 July 2016, Irom Sharmila, who had been on a hunger strike since 2000, announced that she would end her fast on 9 August 2017. She also announced that she would contest the next state elections in Manipur.[25][26]
The objective of her fast and entering politics is to fight for the removal of AFSPA as she has asserted "I will join politics and my fight will continue."[27]
In 2013, Amnesty International declared her a Prisoner of conscience, and said she "is being held solely for a peaceful expression of her beliefs."[33] The influence made by Irom Sharmila is often considered as powerful as the influences by personalities in the past and present.[34]
In 2019, after the death of Gauri Lankesh, Sharmila criticized the NDA government, accusing it of disregarding people's sentiments when making policy decisions. In an interview with The Economic Times, she mentioned that she was no more interested in politics as she already experienced electoral politics and the dirtiness involved in the process.[41]
After the MHA tweeted removal of the AFSPA from swathes of the North East the Chief Minister of Manipur called for a day of celebration to which he would invite Irom Sharmila as a guest.[42]
In popular culture
Deepti Priya Mehrotra's Burning Bright: Irom Sharmila and the Struggle for Peace in Manipur details Sharmila's life and the political background of her fast.[43]
IronIrom: Two Journeys : Where the Abnormal is Normal (2012, with Minnie Vaid and Tayenjam Bijoykumar Singh)
Ojas S V, a theater artist from Pune, performed a mono-play titled Le Mashale ("Take the Torch"), based on Irom Sharmila's life and struggle. It is an adaptation of Meira Paibi (Women bearing torches), a drama written by Malayalam playwright Civic Chandran. The play was performed at several venues in several Indian states.[44][45]
Personal life
On Thursday 17 August 2017, Irom Sharmila Chanu married her British partner Desmond Anthony Bellarnine Coutinho in Kodaikanal, a hill station in Tamil Nadu.[46] On Sunday 12 May 2019, at the age of 47, she gave birth to twin daughters in Bengaluru, Karnataka, named Nix Shakhi and Autumn Tara.[47][48][49]
^ abcdMehrotra, Deepti Priya (2012). "The Making of an Activist". Burning Bright: Irom Sharmila and the Struggle for Peace in Manipur. New Delhi: Penguin Books India. ISBN9788184751536.
^ abBagchi, Suvojit (19 September 2006). "Manipur woman's marathon fast". BBC News, Manipur. Archived from the original on 12 November 2013. Retrieved 11 November 2013.
^ abMehrotra, Deepti Priya (2009). Burning bright : Irom Sharmila and the struggle for peace in Manipur (2009 ed.). New Delhi: Penguin Books India. ISBN9780143103691.
