Irom Sharmila ends 16-year-long fast

The Iron Lady of Manipur Irom Chanu Sharmila (44) ended her 16-year-long hunger strike for repealing of the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act (AFSPA) of 1958 from Manipur.
After ending her16-year-long hunger strike, she announced that she wants bring some positive changes in the state by actively participating in politics and contesting elections.

About Irom Chanu Sharmila

• Born on 14 March 1972 in Imphal, Manipur. She is a civil rights activist, political activist, and poet.
• She is famously known as the Iron Lady of Manipur and also as Mengoubi (the fair one).
• She had started hunger-strike at the age of 28 following a massacre in Malom, Imphal in which innocent 10 persons were killed by the Assam Rifles in November 2000.
• Her main demand was for repealing Armed AFSPA, 1958 from her state which provided immunity to armed forces with regard to their actions.
• Since November 2000, Sharmila was forcefully fed through nasal tube. She is the world’s longest hunger striker, as she had refused food and water for more than 500 weeks.
• Awards and Honours: Gwangju Prize for Human Rights (2007), Mayillama Award (2009), lifetime achievement award (2010) from the Asian Human Rights Commission, Rabindranath Tagore Peace Prize (2010) etc.

For more details: AFSPA

Month: Current Affairs - August, 2016