A human rights activist in India ended her almost 16-year hunger strike on Tuesday.
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On November 2, 2000, Irom Sharmila had declared that she would fast unto death, when ten civilians were gunned down by the Assam Rifles at a bus stop near Imphal airport.
Sharmila has spent most of her time in a hospital in Imphal, India, being force-fed through a nasal tube, in judicial custody.
Irom Sharmila ended her 16-year hunger strike.
Her campaign, described as the world’s longest hunger strike, had led to her being detained, and forced fed through a tube in her nose for over a decade.
Irom Sharmila told a court in the northeastern state of Manipur that she’ll give up her fast on August 9 and stand as an independent candidate in elections early next year.
Authorities had detained Sharmila at a hospital in the Indian state of Manipur on the grounds that her strike counted as attempted suicide, which is illegal by federal law.
Earlier in the day, Sharmila had said that she wants to become the chief minister of Manipur so that the AFSPA can be removed from the state.
“Without this draconian law, you can connect with us, you can govern us with fatherly affection, without discrimination”.
“I don’t understand why some radical groups are against me wanting to get into politics?” she said.
The act, which covers large parts of the north-east and the restive state of Kashmir, gives Indian forces sweeping powers to search, enter property and shoot on sight, and has been criticised as a cover for human rights abuses.
Sharmila was granted bail on Tuesday, after she promised that she would end her fast.
Irom Sharmila after breaking her fast yesterday.
The legislation allows the security forces to arrest people without a warrant and use deadly force, while giving soldiers immunity from prosecution. Such prosecutions are rare.
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One of India’s most-prominent political activists has ended her 16-year hunger strike. Others see her decision as a considered shift in strategy, after 16 years without change. She is also required to report to a local court every 15 days. The 44-year-old is called the “Iron Lady”, and her means of peaceful protest has led her to be compared to Nelson Mandela.
