The ninth day of August should be a joyous occasion.
Today, Irom Sharmila, a symbol of peaceful resistance unlike any in contemporary India, will end her hunger strike, which has been in effect for the last 16 years. For this better part of two decades (where she was kept alive via official force-feeding through a tube), she has sacrificed no less than her entire being to the cause of repealing the brutal Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act (Afspa), 1958 from her state, Manipur. This has been to no avail, and realising the practical futility of her protest, she will now enter politics.
Nation-states are not known to bend to the will of one individual’s personal activism. It is unsurprising that, after 16 years, Afspa remains in effect; even if it had been dispensed with, it would not have been due to a sole fast. However, civil society can always react with empathy to stunning acts of courage, like the one in question. More so in the case of those who can wield influence in their respective fields and command public opinion, namely the middle class-up. This was something around which a movement (passing the boundaries of Manipur) could have been built in a relatively apolitical manner. Sadly, the compassion reserved for the likes of Anna Hazare did not extend from Ramlila Grounds to Imphal.
The attitude or ignorance towards Sharmila is typical of mainland India, which, all said and done, still barely registers the North East. For this overwhelming majority, 9 August will pass like any other day. Sharmila may not even score a faint blip on the radar of civil society.
Source:-firstpost
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