FAST-UNTO-DEATH IN A CORNER OF INDIA | |||
By:- Kavita Joshi * |
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Furthermore, there is little scope for judicial remedy. The whole of Sharmila’s state — Manipur — has continuously been under this law since 1980 (with minor exceptions in recent times). It’s been five years since that day which changed her life. November 2, 2000 was just another Thursday. Till, that is, a convoy of Assam Rifles was bombed by insurgents near Malom in Manipur. In retaliation the men in uniform went berserk: 10 civilians were shot dead. You could say that neither the killings nor the brutal combing operation that followed were new to the people. Manipur had been ravaged by umpteen number of such incidents in the past. But for Sharmila, Malom was the proverbial straw that broke the camel’s back. “There was no means to stop further violations by the armed forces,” she says. She began her epic fast. From then to now, Sharmila’s frail body has become a battlefield. Within days of her fast, she was arrested on charges of ‘attempted suicide’ and put in jail. She refused bail; she refused to break her fast. For five years now, she has been in custody, being forcibly nose-fed. Time and again, the courts have — rightly — released her. But she resumes her fast and is invariably re-arrested each time. |
Kavita: Why did you start upon this fast? |
* Kavita Joshi is an independent documentary filmmaker and TV Producer based in Delhi. Her work has spanned diverse subjects such as conflict, the arts, people, environment, gender... and has been broadcasted by NRK of Norway, BBC World, SBS Australia, Star and Doordarshan and screened at several international film festivals. Apart from filmmaking, she also conducts workshops on video / film making, documentary, and participatory camera practices. This article was webcasted on Tehelka on 25th March 2006 and at E-Pao.net on 8th April 2006. She can be contacted at kj.impulse(at)gmail.com Team E-Pao is thankful to Ms Kavita & Tehelka for the permissions to reproduce the same. |
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