Satyagraha, Gandhi-style, is in vogue! Every Tom, Dick and Hazare wants to emulate the Mahatma. Is it wow or is it not? That is for the civil society to decide.
A few days ago, a news channel showed a piece on two Satyagrahis, Anna Hazare, the diminutive social activist from Ralegan-Siddhi in Maharashtra, who after giving sleepless nights to politicians of the state is out to give the politicos in Delhi (New) a piece of his mind and a lesser known activist called Irom Sharmila.
For the uninformed, Irom Chanu Sharmila (also known as the Iron Lady of Manipur) has been fasting for not ten days or ten weeks or even ten months but for the past ten years! Believe it or faint! She is asking the Government to repeal the draconian Armed Forces Special Protection Act (AFSPA) from her state.
Now you may ask what the f*** is this AFSPA?
The Act was passed on September 11, 1958 by the Parliament of India which conferred special powers to the armed forces in “disturbed areas” like the state of J&K and the north-eastern states. The state administration can call for Central help in cases of emergency situations like militancy. The Centre can send in the Armed Forces whose presence is legitimized by the AFSPA. With the AFSPA in place, the Armed Forces can take over from the local law-enforcement agencies like the police force.
Under the Act, an officer of the Armed Forces can, in short, kill any person he sees as a potential threat, arrest any person without a warrant and search any person’s home or other premises without a search warrant. It also gives the officers of the Armed Forces immunity for their actions. They cannot be dragged to a court of law for the actions committed while serving in a place where the AFSPA is in force. As common sense suggests, it creates autocratic tyrants out of officers of the Armed Forces, since they are always on the edge in emergency situations. Violence has, in fact, increased since the Act was enforced. There have been protests against the Act wherein civilians have blamed the Armed Forces for wrongfully killing, abducting perfectly harmless civilians in the name of curbing militancy and rebellious tendencies.
On 2 November 2000, ten civilians were (allegedly) shot and killed by the Assam Rifles in Malom, a small town in the Imphal valley in Manipur. Out of the dead was a 62 year old woman and 18 year old Sinam Chandramani, a 1988 National Child Bravery Award winner; hardly candidates with militant tendencies. This came to be known as the “Malom Massacre.” This is when Sharmila, the daughter of a Grade 4 veterinary worker began to fast in protest of the killings. Her satyagraha is against the law which she wants to be repealed. In 2004, the Government had set up the Jeevan Reddy Commission, which recommended that the Act be repealed. But the Government failed to act upon the recommendations of the Committee’s report arguing that it would be nigh impossible for the Armed Forces to function in “disturbed areas” without the Act.
There have been gross violations of human rights by the Armed Forces in areas where the AFSPA is in force, a fact to which many government officials agree.
Irom Chanu Sharmila has become an icon of public resistance for people who know about her fight. She may be a heroine in her land, but in this part of the country, where we still struggle to remember the names of all the north eastern states (and their capitals), hardly anybody knows about her or the law she is fighting against. An interesting fact is that only three days into her huger strike, she was arrested by the police and charged with “attempt to commit suicide.” One wonders why the Government did not arrest Anna Hazare on the same pretext.
Despite the odds, Irom Sharmila continues her struggle. Time the Government paid heed to her demands and we as Indians understood what the lady stands for.
Jai Hind!
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