And on Tuesday morning, she finally broke her fast, which ended up being the longest hunger strike in history.
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Demanding the repeal of AFSPA, Sharmila began her fast on November 5, 2000, two days after Assam Rifles personnel shot dead 10 civilians, including a national child bravery award victor, in Malom, Imphal West.
Amnesty has stressed that the Armed Forces Special Powers Act is inconsistent with India’s obligations under global human rights law.
She launched her hunger strike in 2000 after security forces killed 10 people near her home following a rebel attack on a military convoy. She was released by the court earlier in the day.
She told reporters she had chose to “try a different [form of] agitation” because “I have been fasting for 16 years and I have not got anything from it yet”.
She was charged with attempting suicide, which is a crime in India.
Sharmila has spent most of her time in a hospital in Imphal, India, being force-fed through a nasal tube, in judicial custody. The court also asked her to appear in the court on August 23 and issued a release order, legal sources said. “The foremost thing will be the removal of this draconian law”.
Sharmila also plans to get married, she told supporters this year.
L. Tonsing, the chief judicial magistrate in Imphal, told Sharmila in court that she was free to do whatever she wanted after she signs a bail bond.
Indian activist Irom Sharmila Chanu is ending her hunger strike against a controversial law after 16 years.
She began hunger strike in Nov 2000, demanding repeal of AFSPA.
Human Rights Watch has called India to repeal the immunity law because “soldiers have killed innocents, creating a climate of rage among ordinary people”, Meenakshi Ganguly, the group’s South Asia director wrote.
Sharmila has not eaten any food voluntarily since November 5, 2000, when she began her protest against an Indian law that suspends many human rights protections in areas of conflict. But I don’t see her playing a really big role as a politician. “But this is my decision”, she said.
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Talking to reporters at the crowded room of legal aid clinic in Chirap court complex after the hearing, she reiterated her stand that she would want to contest the Assembly elections. They met after she started fasting.
