Indian activist Irom Sharmila ends hunger strike after 16 years

A civil rights activist in India Irom Chanu Sharmila Tuesday ended her 16-year-long hunger strike against a controversial security law in the country.

Sharmila burst into tears in front of media before licking honey from her palm to end her fast.

"There is no democracy in Manipur and politics is so dirty," Sharmila said.

Sharmila told reporters her sixteen years of fasting have not got anything for her and she wants to try a different agitation.

"I want to be the chief minister of Manipur," she said.

A local court in Imphal city, the capital of northeastern state of Manipur, granted bail to Sharmila after she stated she would break her fast.

The 44-year-old activist began her hunger strike in 2000 after the killing of 10 people in Manipur allegedly by the paramilitary Assam Rifles. Since then she has been demanding revocation of the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) from her state. AFSPA gives Indian armed forces extraordinary powers to arrest without warrants and even shoot a person on mere suspicion.

For her prolonged campaign, so far Indian government has responded by arresting her under charges of attempting to suicide and at times subjected her to force feeding.

She was confined to a room at a government hospital in Imphal and force-fed through a nasal tube for 14 years. However, in 2014, she pulled off the tube after being released on orders from a local court, which stated there was no evidence that she was trying to commit suicide by refusing food - the main criminal charge against Sharmila.

The iconic activist last month announced she would end her protest and contest local elections as an independent candidate in her home state of Manipur. According to Sharmila, she needs power to remove AFSPA from her state.

Apart from Sharmila's home state Manipur, AFSPA is in force in several northeastern sates of India besides Indian-controlled Kashmir.

Assembly elections in Manipur are scheduled early next year.

The activist has also expressed her desire to get married. Reports said for years, she has exchanged letters with a British citizen Desmond Coutinho.

Known as the "Iron Lady of Manipur", Sharmila had won worldwide recognition for her persistence in demanding scrapping of AFSPA. Her hunger strike is considered to be the longest in world.

A leading human rights watchdog - Amnesty International Tuesday called on the Indian authorities to drop all charges against the prisoner of conscience and take steps to repeal AFSPA.

"The government arrested her, confined her to a hospital room and force fed her for 16 years, seemingly to break her will. There was zero dialogue. A peaceful protest was criminalized," a statement issued by Amnesty said. "Irom Sharmila's decision to break her hunger strike gives India another chance to start a dialogue and recognize how the AFSPA has alienated Manipur for over 35 years."

Source : XINHUA