She had been fed through a tube in her nose and held by police since 2000, when she began her fast to protest against a draconian security law – the Armed Forces Special Powers Act – that gives vast power to security forces in the north-eastern state of Manipur.
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Ms. Sharmila started her fast at the age of 28 following a massacre in Imphal in which 10 persons were killed.
Sharmila was on a hunger strike for 5757 days and was being force-fed through a nasal tube to keep her alive at a prison-turned-hospital in Imphal.
Even after breaking her hunger strike, Sharmila is maintaining her resolve not to clip her nails, comb her hair, go to her house and meet her mother till AFSPA is repealed. She had been in judicial custody at a hospital, following 14 arrests on the grounds that she was illegally trying to kill herself through the hunger strike. I want to try a different agitation now.
Amnesty International in 2013 declared her a Prisoner of Conscience and she has received several prestigious international prizes, including a lifetime achievement award from the Asian Human Rights Commission.
The Hindustan Times reported that the court has agreed to release her upon the submission of a bond and the judge wished her luck.
The court in northeastern Manipur state granted her bail on Tuesday and asked her to reappear on 23 June.
Authorities said police would maintain an escort for Sharmila because radical groups and rebels were angry with her and had threatened her for ending the strike, seeing it as weakening the fight against the military law.
She urged Prime Minister Modi to follow the path of non-violence and rid India of draconian laws and give fatherly affection to all.
The maximum sentence for attempted suicide is one year.
Last month, Irom Sharmila, 44, announced she would resume eating Tuesday and plans to run for state elected office next year.
The world’s longest hunger strike has ended after 16 years. But I don’t see her playing a really big role as a politician.
AFSPA is usually applied to militancy-affected regions and gives Indian armed forces sweeping powers of search and seizure without warrants, allowing them to shoot to kill in some situations.
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Sharmila insisted that her intention was to enter politics to ensure that AFSPA is repealed.
