Understanding Sharmila's stand beyond the fast
Prisoner of conscience
- Sangai Express Editorial :: November 07 , 2013 -

Irom Sharmila produced before the Court of CJM Imphal East on August 30 2011 - Pix :: Bullu Raj - Poknapham

Prisoner of conscience.

Iron Lady.

Nura Temshingnabi.

Peace campaigner.

Irom Chanu Sharmila is this and more.

Without uttering a single word, save for the brief period she is produced before the Court, without addressing the people from a pulpit, the frail lady has managed to show to the world what the Armed Forces Special Powers Act is all about and its impact on the lives of the people where it is enacted.

Not surprisingly her 'vocally devoid voice' did not catch the fancy of the media based in the metros and cities initially, but no media can remain a Rip Van Winkle for over 13 years, which is the period, Sharmila has spent fasting, holed up in the security ward of Jawaharlal Nehru Institute of Medical Sciences hospital, far away from the public gaze.

The restrictions placed by the Government on meeting her has only made her campaign all that more heart rending and served as the rallying point.

To fast for 13 years and being kept alive by nose feeding is no mean feat, but to understand Sharmila only through the prism of the more than decade old fast would be missing the trees for the woods.

Her campaign should be seen in the context of an Act which has been in force for more than thirty years in the North East region, an Act where anyone can be a suspect and shot dead without any accountability.

The politics of AFSPA should be seen in its entirety.

An Act, supposedly enacted and to be enforced only during extraordinary situation or circumstances should come within the understanding of a time frame.

How can an extraordinary situation drag on for more than thirty years, is the natural question that follows.

A damning statement that what is happening in Manipur and in other parts of the North East where the infamous Army Act has been enforced is not an extraordinary situation, but a situation created through a series of historical blunders, intrigues and the manifestation of the ugliest side of politics.

More than enough indication to say that the continued imposition of this Act in this part of the country cannot have any degree of legitimacy.

It is against this backdrop that the series of events organized by the Save Sharmila Solidarity Campaign and the Amnesty International, India from November 4 to 6 in different parts of the country should be understood and seen.

Delhi and Kohima have been trumpeting the peace card, ever since the NSCN (IM) signed the peace pact on August 1, 1997 followed by the Khaplang faction some years later, yet the said Act continues to be in force in Nagaland.

What does this say ? An official explanation can come from only the Government of India, but so many things can be read into this.

Why is AFSPA deemed to be applicable only in the North East and Kashmir ? How can an Act be seen to have been enacted for a particular region ? One set of law here and another set of law in other parts of the country and here lies the question of how successful the idea of India as a Nation has been, ever since the British left on August 15, 1947.

Clearly Nehru's Tryst with Destiny has come to mean something different for the people of the North East.

Place this observation alongside the statement made by former Union Home Secretary, GK Pillai that the Prime Minister of the country owes an apology to the people of Manipur and things should not be that difficult to grasp.

It is against this backdrop that the infamous AFSPA continues to be imposed in Manipur and other parts of the North East and Kashmir and the campaign launched by Irom Chanu Sharmila should be seen beyond the context of her fast.

It should be seen in the realm of the politics which AFSPA spawns for increasingly it is becoming clear that it is not merely an Army Act but has political connotations.

And to set the record straight, it would be a misnomer to say that this Act is controversial.

There is no controversy for it is a license to kill without accountability.

No arguments over here.