No Solution in Sight
By Narendra Ch
The indefinite hunger strike by Manipuri poetess Irom Sharmila Chanu will complete a decade on November 2. The entire nation should be ashamed of the unpardonable negligence shown towards the conditions that prevail in the culturally-rich north east, particularly in the tiny state of Manipur.
Chanu is demanding repeal of the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act, 2958 (AFSPA). She is leading an unprecedented and extraordinary struggle, in a true Gandhian (non-violent) way. She started her fast after gruesome Malom massacre, where ten innocent civilians were gunned down by the security forces on 2nd November, 2000.
AFSPA provides special powers to arrest detain and even kill civilians on suspicion. The armed forced are empowered to search and destroy properties on mere suspicion in the ‘disturbed areas’ of the North East and subsequently in Kashmir.
Wherever AFSPA is operational, sudden disappearances of people, extra-judicial killings, tortures, rapes and arbitrary detentions are a routine affair.
The gross human rights violations are even severe in Manipur as compared to the Kashmir valley. But the national media, political parties and intellectuals, including high-profile human rights activists react sharply even if a single incident of police firing or curfew is reported in the Kashmir valley. But, when hundreds of innocent people suffer in north east, not much is said on it.
Even the unwavering courage showed by Chanu for standing up as a voice for thousands of voiceless people demanding to repeal AFSPA is not much known outside the region. Her 10-year fasting symbolises the-as of now unending-journey of the people of Manipur and other areas of North-east for peace, freedom and stability from violence, oppression and fear.
She has taken an indomitable stand that her fast will end only when the Government of India repeals the AFSPA. Ironically, the Government of India responded by arresting her several times on charges of attempted suicide under Section 309 of the Indian Penal Code. The cycle of arrests of Chanu has continued for the past ten years.
When the Union Home Minister introduced the law in the Parliament in 1958, he assured that the Act will just be a temporary measure. Sadly, it has dragged on for more than 52 years now.
The people of Manipur have done whatever is humanely possible to register their protest against AFSPA. That includes naked protest by mothers, self-immolation by student leaders, mass demonstrations, petition to the Supreme Court, complaints to the United Nation bodies. But the Government of India, in fact the nation as a whole, remains completely indifferent on issues of right to life and dignity.
Today, her persistent protest has become unprecedented in the history of resilience. Her struggle lies not only in defending the most basic and fundamental human rights of her people, but also in questioning the very foundations of Indian democracy, which venerates Mahatma Gandhi and his principles of ahimsa (non-violence).
Irom Sharmila has been recognized internationally for her work on the issues of women’s empowerment, peace and human rights and her non-violent means of fighting for human rights. In 2007, she has been awarded the Gwangju Prize for Human Rights and in 2010 the Rabindranath Tagore Peace Prize was bestowed upon her.
As the international community recognizes her work and struggle, the Indian government suffices its duty by keeping her under judicial custody in the Security Ward of the Jawaharlal Nehru Hospital in Imphal and forcibly feeding her through naso-gastric intubations.
On November 2, 2010 Irom Sharmila as well as the people of the North-east India will mark a decade of the hunger strike not only for fundamental human rights, but also for truth in the foundation of Indian Democracy.
We do not want another year of celebration of Irom Sharmila’s hunger strike and we do not want another year of the AFSPA’s enforcement in India. The human rights defenders and women human rights defenders in Asia, stand as one demanding that the AFSPA should be repealed immediately and that the hunger strike of Irom Sharmila must end NOW.
1 comments:
Shame on you India...
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