People are only upset, not really angry with you, Sharmila
- Imphal Times Editorial :: August 11 2016 -

It takes decades to make people understand the good work you are doing, but it only takes a day to sabotage the year long earning with a single mistake.

Its human nature that people are judged not with the number of good work one rendered but a single mistake committed knowingly or unknowingly.

And it’s nobody’s fault when someone get blamed for one decision whom the people think it’s against their interest.

Such thinking process are applicable to real leaders and if the leader failed to understand the sentiment of the people then it obviously showed that he or she is no longer capable of being in the position.

This is about people’s immediate response to Irom Chanu Sharmila.

Soon after her announcement to contest assembly election at Chief Minister’s assembly constituency, some people cross their anger beyond limit that they even drive her out of their locality.

The same was reported at Khwairamband Keithel too.

Even our Imphal Times too was in state of total embarrassment that we even left our editorial blank as we have no words to say to her decision.

For nearly 16 years she was on fast-unto-death protest demanding repeal of AFSPA. That was the world’s longest hunger strike protest on political cause.

But it is also true that she was on force fed through a nasal tube by detaining under judicial custody on charge of attempt to commit suicide.

For nearly 16 years she has been kept in solitary confinement and was in the custody of State government and there is no reason for we in the Manipur believes that there could have been serious impact to her mental status or either some unseen pressure had made her mental status abnormal.

It was okay to change the strategy of her protest, contesting the election and that too from the constituency of Chief Minister is very political but some words that she talks to media seems not right.

For around 3 decades, people of Manipur had suffered the impact of draconian act AFSPA and people consider Sharmila who had taken up the cause as the only hope.

No one is a fool here, everybody loves Sharmila, but the kind of response that she received yesterday from various people in the state was to make her realized that she had been brainwashed.

Somebody, someone is deliberately attempting to make fun of her historic protest. ‘This’, people knows and nobody want to defame her.

At this point of time, it worth mentioning the Desmond Cotinho factor who had started the trouble with Sharmila and her protest.

But where is he now, he is seen nowhere, neither he said anything to support the lady whom he called his fiancé, at time of need.

The rumour about him as an agent sent by the Indian authority to sabotage her protest is emerging to be true.

Now, as the series of happenings are prima facie evidences to prove that Sharmila’s mental state has been deliberately made abnormal, its time that she be treated at a world class mental hospital and following that an autonomous body under the supervision of the United Nation commission an enquiry to find out what had been injected to Irom Sharmila while she was in Manipur government custody.

It is now time that the people of Manipur stands united to bring justice to Irom Sharmila.