TODAY -
Social Commentator Santosh Desai claims Irom Sharmila's issue doesn't have 'Legitimacy'
- TimesOfIndia.com -
TNN[ Nandita Sengupta ] - Apr 10, 2011, 03.23am IST
Sacrifice is not a term in modern India's lexicon. It is this idea of "going without" that gave Hazare's form of protest its edginess, say observers. "His whole action was so out of place in today's India that it immediately caught attention. It runs counter to current reality," says social commentator Santosh Desai.
While the campaign received clamorous popular support, it is unlikely to set a precedent. There are murmurs of "blackmail" and "arm-twisting", but fears of the fast-unto-death protest being repeated are misplaced. "It was of a self-limiting nature. For one, a set of conditions, a degree of legitimacy is required for a fast-unto-death type of protest.
Adding to that, Desai points to the case of Manipurs Irom Sharmila. At age 27, in year 2000, Irom Sharmila undertook to fast unto death against human rights abuse in Manipur, calling for the Armed Forces Special Powers Act to be removed. Taken into custody, she has been force-fed with a tube for a full ten years now. "The state can forcefully feed if the issue doesn’t have certain legitimacy," says Desai. To that end, it is not a replicable model.
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** This Post is uploaded on April 14, 2011.
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