Sharmila completes 12 year of fast

Imphal, Nov 6: Irom Sharmila, Manipur's 'Iron Lady', on Monday completed 12 years of indefinite fast demanding repeal of the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA).

Sharmila, who is force-fed through the nose to keep her alive began her fast till death after ten persons, including a boy who received the national bravery award, were shot dead in an alleged encounter with Assam Rifles personnel at Malom near Imphal airport on November 2, 2000.

A newspaper columnist and social worker then, Sharmila, went on fast on November 5 that year demanding repeal of AFSPA. She was arrested a day later and charged with attempt to commit suicide. Since then she has been produced in court from time to time, rearrested and produced again in court.

She is force fed at a government hospital at Porompat in Imphal where the ward she is in has been converted into a jail.

Sharmila has received several global awards and several prominent personalities from different parts of the country have visited her in support of her demands.

Her brother and spokesman Irom Singhajit said social organisations including Just Peace Foundation would hold candlelight demonstrations in Imphal while public discussions would be held during the day.

Official sources said security and police forces would be deployed in various parts of the city as a precautionary measure.

At various venues close to the state-run Jawaharlal Nehru Institute of Medical Sciences in Imphal, where the 39-year-old Sharmila is held, a group of women under the forum of 'Apunba Lup' sat on a day-long fast to express solidarity with her.

Two writers' groups of Imphal also sat on protest in the city as hundreds of people from all walks of life joined the demonstrations.

In the districts, members of the Save Sharmila campaign said, they organised peaceful protests and demonstrations.

"To mark this occasion, our protests have been going on since November 2 and will run till tomorrow when family members of those killed in extra-judicial cases will observe a fast," Kshetrimayum Onil of Just Peace Foundation formed by Sharmila supporters told a news agency.

Manipur's Director General of Police Y Joykumar Singh said the protests were peaceful. Irom Singhajit said his sister would be taken to Patiala court in New Delhi on November 11, where an old case was pending against her for attempt to suicide.