Civil Liberties Monitoring Committee. India

By Kaneez Fathima

Hunger strike is the most useful and important political weapon of protest for democratic demands. This has been proved by the history repeatedly. There are number of people who have taken up this peaceful step and achieved success. Immediate name that comes to our minds is Gandhi. Not only during the independence struggle but also after the independence, he took up this protest for fifteen times. The other prominent names, which come to our minds in the list of people on Hunger strike, are Jatin Das, Bhagat Singh, Sukhdev, Potti Sriramulu, Darshan Singh, Sunder Lal Bahuguna, Karunanidhi, Mamata Banerjee, K. Chandra Sekhar Rao, Irom Sharmila Chanu…………..

Each and every person protested in this peaceful manner for one or the other cause. However, Irom Sharmila is a person who has been on fast unto death or Hunger strike since 2nd November 2000. What is her demand for, why has she to suffer in this manner, for whose sake? These are the questions which one thinks about, when one hears that she is on Hunger strike since ten years.

Before knowing the answers for the above queries, let us first examine the situation at Manipur. Among the ten organizations in India that come under POTA, six are of Manipur itself. These organizations claim that they are fighting for their nationality, identity and self-rule of their people; they are striving for wanting of freedom to decide their own future.

According to the article 2 of the constitution, there is an opportunity to expand Indian territory. Foreign areas can be merged but the Indian territory cannot be divided as a separate state. United Nations recognized a nations self-rule within a country. Under the first article of Universal Declaration of Human Rights, it is declared that, ‘self-rule is the democratic right’. It further explains this as, ‘right to independence of deciding their own political status, their right to explore social, economic and cultural identity’, such kind of opportunity is not available in our constitution. For any political aspiration, there should be some space of expression in the constitution, if a political aspiration has to live peacefully, even if it is not achieved, there should be atleast some space of expression in the constitution. Let us examine Sharmila’s struggle under the oppression by the Indian government through Military forces.

Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) is one of the world’s most draconian Act operating in North East since 1958 and Jammu & Kashmir since 1991. This act gives special powers to Indian military to arrest citizens, search homes without warrant, shoot and kill anyone anywhere on mere suspicion and enjoy immunity against legal action. Under this act the Indian armed forces have resorted to killing, torture, rape, disappearances etc to the people.

What is this act about? This act is a modified version of a British Colonial Act. During the British period, an act was made and imposed to control a nationwide struggle by Indian Nationalists for independence. The same act is modified by the Indian government and named AFSPA (Armed Forces Special Powers Act) and enacted in the year 1958 to control Naga insurgent movement for independence from India. But later in the year 1972 it was amended to be applicable to all the seven provinces in the Northeastern region of India. The seven provinces are Assam, Manipur, Tripura, Meghalaya, Arunachal Pradesh, Mizoram and Nagaland that are also known as ‘Seven Sisters’. These seven sisters are the most neglected parts of India.

This bill was introduced in the Indian Parliament in the year 1958 even after the resistance from many members of Parliament. However, the then Home Minister Mr. G.P.Pant assured that this act would be lifted once the situation in the Naga Hills comes under control and thus the bill was passed by the Parliament. Fifty-two years have passed down and the act continues to be stayed back not only in Naga Hills but has spread all over the North East India and also extended to Jammu and Kashmir since 1991.

The population of Indian Notheast is largely of Tibeto-Burman ethnic origins. The languages that belong to Tibeto-Chinese were not recognized as Indian languages until the eight schedule of the Indian Constitution. Even though the territory and resources belong to India but the people, do not. Many tribes apart form the general people have expressed desire for self-determination because the people of North East have only starved and bled and robbed from the colonial times to the present. All the successive Indian governments have been treating the country’s northeast regions as mere property but do not have any value and respect for its people, their culture, demands and aspirations. If the people revolt to such treatment, which is also violation of Human and Civil rights, the Indian elites who are ruling the country think that military pressure is the only solution to such revolts. These elites who belong to upper castes work with brahminical notions of cultural and racial superiority and plunder happily over these lesser people.

The attitude of ruling class of Indian government is not different with the people other than the northeast; it may be Dalits, Tribals or Minorities living in different parts of the country. They are deprived and cheated of their resources, culture, dignity, and language under the dignity of the Indian State. But the people of northeast as well as J&K are not willing to tolerate such brutality and colonialism and are continuously rising up for their rights. This is the reason why this act has been stayed on for these many years.

In the year 2000, independent People’s Commission of inquiry was instituted to inquire about the human rights impact from the time of imposition of AFSPA. This commission was headed by Justice Suresh, a former Judge of the Bombay High Court. According to the sources, exactly after one week of the conclusion of this commission, the Indian army massacred ten civilians in Malom, Manipur. Immediately, Irom Sharmila, a volunteer of the commission decided to go on hunger strike on 2nd November 2000. After four days she was arrested on the charges of attempt to commit suicide under section 307 of the Indian Penal Code. The maximum punishment under this section is not more than a year. Therefore every year she is released and re-arrested which is continuing as a rountine for the past ten years. She has not taken a single morsel of food nor a drop of water. Therefore, she is forcefully inserted a plastic tube into her nose and liquid nutrients are inserted into her body. Even though her health condition is deteriorating gradually, it is her strong will and power that keeps her alive.

Sharmila is a poet, and an activist. According to Sandeep Pandey, to meet her one needs the permission of Chief Minister and four other senior administrative, police and jail officials of the state. She has been kept in a very tight security. Even Mahashweta Devi was denied permission to meet her. Sharmila is a strong believer and has chosen to silently suffer in the hope that the sufferings of her brothers, sisters and mothers would come to an end. The government has been a mute spectator; they have not moved an inch and are justifying the continuation of AFSPA to stop the Northeast provinces from seceding from Indian Union. According to the government appointed Justice Jeevan Reddy Commission, ‘the act has become a symbol of oppression, an object of hate and an instrument of discrimination and high-handedness’.

Therefore, there is a need to fasten the struggle, fulfill Sharmila’s desire and pressure the Indian government to repeal the draconian act from the northeastern provinces. To have peace in the country there has to be justice done to its citizens. Unless and until justice is not prevailed, peace cannot be achieved. Therefore, the first step towards justice would be to return normalcy to the people’s lives. Hence, AFSPA should be repealed or else withdrawn from those regions to achieve the first step. It is worth to mention the rape and killing of two Shopian women in Jammu and Kashmir, which indicates the scale of immunity that the security personnel enjoy under the draconian law. Irom Sharmila a brave woman is the Iron lady of Manipur; through her lots of activists draw inspiration. Therefore Sharmila is the voice of our conscience, we have to respond to her. Come let us all together bring a difference in the world through our constant struggle against the violations of Human and Civil Rights.

Kaneez Fatma , Joint Secretary
Civil Liberties Monitoring Committee,India