Indian campaigner to end 16-year hunger strike

Almost sixteen years after she started a hunger strike, India’s ‘Iron Lady’ Irom Chanu Sharmila, is expected to eat her first meal on Tuesday.

The 44-year old campaigner, who has become a symbol of resistance against state violence in the conflict-torn northeastern state of Manipur, is set to break her fast as she appears before a court charged with attempted suicide.

Irom has been fed through a nasal tube at the Jawaharlal Nehru Institute of Medical Sciences, where she is currently being held by police.

As part of judicial proceedings she has to appear in court every fortnight. At her last hearing she announced that her struggle against the armed forces special powers act was not working and that it was time to try another route.

Irom’s journey from prison to politics has led to comparisons with icons such as Aung San Suu Kyi and Nelson Mandela.

The end of the hunger strike coincides with the 70th anniversary of the Quit India movement, a symbolic day of remembrance for India’s struggle for freedom against British colonisers.

Choosing to end the fast on the same day has been interpreted by some as a sign of her disillusionment with India’s democratic process.

Irom started the hunger strike in November 2000 after the Malom massacre in a small village on the outskirts of Imphal, in which 10 people were reportedly killed by a government-controlled paramilitary force, the Assam Rifles.

She said at the time that she would continue her fast until the government stopped using the controversial Armed Forces Special Powers act, which grants the military unchecked power to use force in “disturbed areas” to quash insurgency.

It is thought that Irom’s decision to end her strike now was influenced by a British-Indian boyfriend, Desmond Coutinho. Irom has been released from custody sporadically over the last decade and a half, but only a handful of people have been allowed to visit her in recent months.

Her family members and closest aides were not aware of her decision to break the fast before she announced it.

Television news crews, journalists and human rights activists have gathered en masse in the small town of Imphal to witness the end of the fast.

“I have got at least 60-70 calls from journalists today,” said Irom Singhjit Singh, her brother.

“All the news stations have been here. I’ve told them all the same thing, I don’t want to say anything until I talk to Sharmila first. I am a farmer, not a human rights activist.”

Her mother, an 84-year old, who has not seen her daughter since she started her strike said, “I give her my blessing.”

Sharmila vowed not to set foot in her own home until the special powers act was lifted, and her mother too has said she won’t see her daughter until her mission is achieved. She is not attending court today where Irom is expected to break her fast.

Irom’s announcement that she will enter politics has already garnered interest from opposition parties in Imphal.

Her fast has made her synonymous with the resistance movement in Manipur, and she could control huge swathes of votes throughout Manipur.