Irom Sharmila Writes Back to Anna, Seeks Help For Her Freedom

Irom Sharmila turns down Anna's invite

Meanwhile, Irom Sharmila has expressed solidarity with Anna Hazare, but has nonetheless expressed her inability to attend the campaign in Delhi. The Sangai Express says that responding to the invitation sent to her to participate in the anti-corruption fast at New Delhi and for a strong Lokpal bill, Sharmila asked Hazare to either get her released from custody or to come to Manipur and join her in Manipur.

Irom Sharmila writes back to Anna, seeks help for her freedom

Only then can she join him in his "amazing crusade to root out corruption”

Kunal Majumder
New Delhi

Manipuri activist Irom Sharmila has requested Anna Hazare to speak to the concerned authorities for her freedom so that she could join him in his "amazing crusade to root out corruption which is the root of all evils". Yesterday, close aides of Sharmila had ruled out an unconditional support and spoken about the need for reciprocity from Team Anna towards her cause. She has been demanding a repeal of Armed Forces Special Power Act (AFSPA) from North East and has been on fast since last ten years.

In a written reply to Anna, 38-year-old Sharmila welcomed his invitation, but said that she is unable to exercise her right to protest as an Indian citizen. She has been under house arrest at Jawaharlal Nehru Medical College in Imphal since she began her fast. She also invited Anna to Manipur, a state she describes as “most corrupt affected region in the world”.

Many observers doubt if Anna, a former soldier, would support her cause which is against an act that ensures protection of armed forces from civilian litigations. Her own aides accept that though the method of protest in both cases is Gandhian, the causes are entirely different. For Team Anna to get Sharmila on board would mean a wider acceptance of his movement.

Perhaps if Anna’s protest had been here in Manipur, the response would not have been so vigorous: Irom Sharmila

As thousands back Anna Hazare’s protest against the Jan Lokpal Bill draft, the theatre of action remains the national Capital. In the periphery of this vast country, another Gandhian has been on fast for 10 years. Irom Sharmila continues her fast to compel the Centre to withdraw Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA). In this exclusive interview to Ratnadip Choudhury, she speaks her heart out on how the protest against AFSPA needs the support of the entire nation.

Irom Sharmila

Manipur newspapers trash invite to Sharmila

Manipur does not seem to be amused over Team Anna’s invite to Irom Chanu Sharmila - who has been on a fast for nearly 11 years now — to join the campaign against corruption and in favour of the Jan Lokpal Bill in the national capital.

“We have sent a letter to Irom Chanu Sharmila, through which we have not only expressed our solidarity with her but have also invited her to join this campaign against corruption,” said Akhil Gogoi, a member of Team Anna, on Tuesday.

In Manipur, however, a section feels that while Hazare is news, Sharmila has remained a non-entity. “Both are activists in their own rights and while Hazare has managed to fire the imagination of a large number of Indians with his take on corruption, Sharmila has been waging a quiet struggle away from the spotlight in a heavily fortified room at the security ward of JNIMS Hospital. While Hazare is News, Sharmila is a Non-entity,” said Sangai Express, a leading English daily from Imphal in its editorial Tuesday.

The newspaper also goes on to say that it is the issue — her demand for repeal of the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act — that has kept her out of “national focus”.

Another Imphal newspaper, Hueiyen Lanpao, said: “It (the invite) can be interpreted as mischievous, callous and patronizing, which smacks of insincerity and total lack of knowledge of the ground reality of Sharmila’s struggle in Manipur.”