Today Anna Hazare is the face of TV - thanks to his very successful promotion at the beginning stages of his movement and mobilising of huge crowds. There are multiple views on him which have come out into the open and it is anybody;s guess how things are going to take a turn. But another person who has been on a fast for nearly eleven years now - Irom Sharmila Chanu, a manipuri girl, daughter of a Class IV employee of an Imphal Veterinary Hospital was only twenty-eight when she began a fast to end the draconian Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act of 1958.
It was 2 November 2000, when after a bout of insurgency the army shot down ten civilians including a 62-year-old woman and 18-year-old Sinam Chandramani, winner of the National Bravery Award of 1988. It was a thursday and Irom Sharmila was on a fast as was usual and seeing the brutality she was moved to take this drastic step. The next day, she ate some pastries and sweets, that was her last meal and her Fast commenced on 4 November 2000. Now it is set to enter its 11th year. After the initial few days, she was accused of attempting suicide and arrested by the government, since which time, she is being force fed by means of a tube through her nose.
Described as delicate and fair skinned with curly hair and not what you would expect if you were looking for charismatic rhetoric or cliched heat of heroism (Tehelka - 5 Dec 2009), she is a quiet but phenomenally determined person. 4 November 2000 when she took her mother's blessing was the last time she saw her face to face. The reson being not to lose her determination to go on.
Now, over ten years later, Irom Sharmila's health has deteriorated, her menstrual cycles have stopped and she is depressed yet steady in her resolve to go on. Her fast has received a bit of media attention, she has been given many awards yet teh reason for her protest remains...
Will the government take another look at her in this situation?
Even as I write this post protestors are gathering around three women who are going on a fast to protest the death penalty been awarded to Three people Santhan Perarivalan and Murugan in Rajiv Gandhi's murder case. They have been awarded 21 years in jail and should they be awarded death too after that, is the question in everyone's minds. Human rights activists are pushing for abolition of death penalty at all as a punishment, as it is inhuman to put a person through that particular brand of torture. Will they win the government's sympathy?
