The Iron Lady of Manipur - Thoughts

Irom Sharmila Chanu… A woman of Extraordinary will and courage… The Iron Lady of Manipur.

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Since November 4, 2000, she’s been on a fast demanding the repeal of the AFSPA [Armed Forces Special Powers Act] from Manipur. She’s been fed forcefully through the nose for a whole decade and has been imprisoned on account of attempted suicide.
For more about AFSPA: Click Here

In that post, I simply copied and pasted info from the website mentioned there. But this post is about what I feel about the situation [which is totally different, if you think about it].

The AFSPA horrifically reminds me of the Rowlatt Act of 1919 passed by the British Government. At that time, all the famous leaders, including Mahatma Gandhi, strongly opposed it.

This act effectively authorized the government to imprison for a maximum period of two years, without trial, any person suspected of terrorism living in the Raj. The Rowlatt Act gave British imperial authorities power to deal with revolutionary activities. Mohandas Gandhi, among other Indian leaders, was extremely critical of the Act and argued that not everyone should be punished in response to isolated political crimes. The Act led to indignation from Indian leaders and the public, which caused the government to implement repressive measures. Gandhi and others found that constitutional opposition to the measure was fruitless, so on April 6, a "hartal" was organized where Indians would suspend all business and fast as a sign of their hatred for the legislation. This event is known as the Rowlatt satyagraha.
 [Wikipedia]

The AFSPA adds to the Rowlatt Act one more power: The right of the Indian Army to kill anyone based on suspicion. Now the justification is that it’s essential for the control of insurgency in the states of North-East. But, common sense seems to be missing somewhere here… An Act is in action for 50 years and produces no results, but simply adds to the list of Human Rights violations in India.

A video from Youtube [My Body My Weapon]:

“Is this the India we are supposed to be proud of?” A mother asked bluntly, when New Delhi took a whole month to deal with the Manipur blockade. The North-Eastern states are least developed, with restricted freedom for half a century, with schooling disrupted every now and then and the Government too busy to pay any attention to the demands of the people there. I’m confused. My first question would be, ‘Are these things real?’ and my next question would be, ‘Is this India?’ I would also be naïve enough to ask another question… Is there a reason why Manipur would want to remain in India?

I can understand the disaster that would occur if the AFSPA was immediately repealed. But honestly, if a law is observed to have produced little result after 50 years, shouldn’t it be at least amended? They are talking about repealing it in Kashmir. This is one aspect of the matter I can hardly ignore. New Delhi panics for every little skirmish in Jammu & Kashmir, but remains very quiet even when the North East is bursting in flames. Why? Because the media isn’t covering those places enough, to incite strong feelings in people and thereby create trouble for the Government?

I don’t know what we can do about it, but simply sit and pray that everything turns out fine in another ten years or so, because if changes are going to happen in India, they aren’t really gonna happen anytime soon without the protests of the people as a whole. All I know is, it’s time someone paid attention to the tears of the Seven Sisters.

We can only hope it's True

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