London, May 10 (Agencies): "The iron lady of Manipur", who has spent nearly 12 years fasting to protest against a law that gives special powers to the armed forces, has been featured in Ripley's Believe It or Not, reports the BBC.
Irom Sharmila Chanu, 40, has been on a hunger strike since 2 November 2000 in the north-eastern state of Manipur. Chanu's hunger strike started after soldiers of the Assam Rifles paramilitary force allegedly killed 10 young Manipuri men in November 2000.She has been arrested many times and taken to hospital where she has been force-fed a liquid diet through her nose, since November 2000, in a bid to keep her alive.
Chanu has repeatedly rejected requests to call off her fast until the government withdraws the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA), which gives sweeping powers to the armed forces when they fight separatist insurgents or leftist radicals.
Kshetrimayum Onil, a trustee of Just Peace Foundation, a non-governmental organisation based in the state capital, Imphal, told the BBC he sent an e-mail to Ripley's site about Chanu's struggle in mid-March.
"Lucas Stram, one of the researchers from the Ripley's team, sent me a link to the cartoon page a few days back," Onil said.
Ripley's site features a cartoon on the activist and describes her as "The iron lady of Manipur". Chanu's years of fasting have made her an iconic figure in Manipur.
0 comments:
Post a Comment