Irom Sharmila, also known as the iron lady of Manipur holds the record for the longest hunger strike. What for ? She demands the removal of Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA). Let us first tell you what AFSPA is. Basically under this act, the government grants impunity to the armed forces to do whatever is required to maintain peace and order in some "disturbed areas". This act has a lot of collateral damage in the form of various human right violations including harassment ,torture ,rape ,kidnapping ,murders ,etc.

Lots of cases of missings ,kidnappings ,murders have been reported in those areas. Under this act, all the army men are provided with unrestrained powers to arrest or to shoot or to kill anyone just on the basis of mere suspicion that the person is acting against the state or might be linked to some terrorist groups.

Irom Sharmila is a civil rights as well as political activist. She began a hunger strike on November, 2000, after the Malom Massacre, when 10 civilians were shot allegedly by the Assam Rifles, one of the Indian Paramilitary forces operating in the state. Later the encounters were alleged to be fake and Manipur High Court ordered 5 lakh compensation for each of the families of the 10 people who were killed.

Irom has been forcibly kept alive by nasogastric tubation. She had been arrested several times on the charges of ‘attempt to suicide’ .But why doesn't the army or the government oppose the AFSPA..? The army gets unrestricted powers due to this act whereas the state government gets special funds from the centre. This issue also never got much media coverage maybe because she comes from a north-eastern state. Irom Sharmila, in this era of rising intolerance has faith in democracy and continues to fight for the rights of people. We hope all other Indian women take inspiration from her and someday, people are able to get rid of the AFSPA.