TODAY -
Human rights leader Irom Sharmila brings impact to cause through hunger
Women News Network | (WNN) Manipur, INDIA:
Irom Sharmila Chanu was 28 years old when she started a hunger strike as a protest against the injustices she saw meted out to her people. Manipur, in India’s remote north east, is far from the radar of the average Indian, and it hardly makes the news except when some new atrocity comes to light.
Women went naked to protest
In 2009 Indians drew a collective shocked breath at the sight of Manipuri women marching naked holding a sign saying “Indian Army Rape Us” – they were protesting the alleged rapes and murders of Manipuri women that had to date gone unpunished.
An icon to her people
But there are several insurgent groups claiming the right to speak for Manipuris, and their often contradictory demands don’t make for a quick or easy solution. But Irom Sharmila has sworn to keep fasting till the withdrawal of the AFSPA and the Indian military presence in Manipur. And her singular determination has made her something of an icon to her people.
Detained for attempted suicide
Sharmila has been released regularly, but because Indian law makes suicide a crime under Section 309 for the Indian Penal Code, and because she refuses to quit the fast, she’s always rearrested and sent back to the hospital and the feeding tube.
IT TOO HAS AN INTERVIEW BY ALETTA ANDRE (Aletta Andre is a Dutch journalist based in India. She is working for SOUTH ASIA WIRED at RNW – Radio Netherlands Worldwide.)
Follow the link to read the entire news here
* This Post is uploaded on November 23 2011
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