Irom Sharmila's Struggle for Justice and Peace

By:- Usham Rojio *

Two weeks after the release of her sixth book Burning Bright: Irom Sharmila and the Struggle for Peace in Manipur, Dr. Deepti Priya Mehrotra a political scientist, journalist and activist passionately recounted her days with the living legend.

Dr. Merhotra spoke about the private and public struggle of Irom Sharmila at the School of Social Sciences – 1, Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) on the 26th of September, 2009. The special lecture was organised by Manipur Research Forum.

Irom Sharmila is a "sister and daughter of the world", a peace loving activist and a friend who is now close to her heart. Dr. Mehrotra was one of the many who became a friend of Irom Sharmila while she brought her struggle to Delhi.

She met Sharmila at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), New Delhi during the winter of 2006-07. Dr. Mehrotra recalls there were a dozen policemen and intelligence personnel guarding the hospital room.

"Inside the room, I found Irom Chanu Sharmila with books on Japanese folk tales, yoga, Nelson Mandela, Che Guevera and Gandhi. Friends had been coming and she looked forward eagerly to other visiting friends, her personal life being intensely stoic and simple, felt happy to make friends", said Dr. Mehrotra.

Dr. Deepti Priya Mehrotra speaking in Imphal on November 1 2009

Profiling the woman of substance, she says that for most of us, this youngest daughter of Irom Nanda and Irom Sakhi Devi has many identities. First she is a Manipuri. For brother Singhajit, she is their dearest sister who had the 'never say die' spirit ingrained in her since childhood.

To the literary critics and connoisseurs, she is a poet par excellent and has written hundreds of poems. And for the vast majority of Manipuris, she is not just Irom Chanu Sharmila but also the undisputed 'Iron Lady of Manipur'. Sharmila has resisted and challenged the insensitive governments at the state and the centre against the imposition of a draconian law with her unique method of struggle with no parallel.

According to Dr. Mehrotra, Sharmila is philosophically Gandhian for her struggle equates Mahatma Gandhi's "non-violence with love".

An iconic and living legend, her fast is perhaps the longest political protest of its kind in history in any part of the world. She is a living history. She symbolizes the steadfast scaffolding of the movement against injustice committed under the Armed Forces Special Powers Act, 1958 (AFSPA).

Sharmila's support for the prolonged struggle against injustice, human rights violations and political instability, particularly in Manipur and the Northeast in general. Her interest in people's and women's movement can be best judged from the fact that there is the Sharmila Kanba Lup in support of her and the struggle she stands for.

As one had also witnessed many civil societies representatives extending solidarity when she came to Delhi. Sharmila wants negotiation and dialogues from both the ends - state and non-state.

Dr. Mehrotra said the "Malom Massacre" was the event that triggered Sharmila's struggle. There was a firing by security forces at Malom bus stand, which is nearly 15-16 kilometers from Imphal, on the 2nd of November, 2000. Security forces killed ten people on the road.

Though, Sharmila and others in Manipur knew that this was not the first time such killing of ordinary citizens by security forces took place, she could not bear the sight of the blood spilled on the road. That single event changed her life. "By now she had already taken a decision.

She went to her mother on the evening of November four and took her blessings - "to do something better for the people".

When she began her fast on the 4th of November, 2000, most people had little inkling of her resolve. Some of them shrugged it off, others did not take it seriously and a handful ridiculed the decision. But for Sharmila, life had taken a different turn, a tough long-distance journey with a clear destination, a U-turn with no return ticket.

Dr. Mehrotra describes in her book, Sharmila's struggle is like a serpentine movement in Lai Haraoba symbolizing Pakhangba called lairam thekpa, where one cannot escape or leave midway. "We cannot leave. Not yet ... not just yet."

Dr. Mehrotra's lecture on Sharmila had profound impact on those who came to listen. There was reflective silence for a while and not many were willing to raise questions after the house was open to all by MRF Seminar Convenor Atom Sunil.

One Research scholar from JNU gave an insightful comment on AFSPA, saying that repealing of AFSPA is not only the question that whose present there should be concerned with. He said that "we should also address the deeper politics of the act. It is the politics of discrimination and politics of hatred that made the draconian act like AFSPA still remain where it is now. Dr. Mehrotra seemed to agree on this note.

Another woman scholar asked Dr. Mehrotra whether Sharmila's movement is a part of the Women's Movement in general or a Human Rights Movement. Deepti tactfully answered that it is a part and partial of both and both goes together hand in hand.

Little seems to be diverted from the topic at the very outset a young scholar speaking much about violence incidents in Manipur and giving instance from the present scenario, this young scholar felt that violence is also a part of the struggle or rather people are forced to resort to violence as the state has always responded violently to any non-violent protests in the state.

Dr. Mehrotra, however said that a non-violent movement is much more powerful than any violent movement. She said the state's inhuman response is quite regrettable.

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* Usham Rojio is a regular contributor to e-pao.net. The writer can be contacted at urojio(at)gmail(dot)com
You can read the Usham Rojio's poem here.
This article was webcasted at e-pao.net on 04th November 2009.

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