IMPHAL, August 27: Finally Irom Chanu Sharmila, who ended her 16-year-long fast against the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act a fortnight ago, begins her life outside hospital on Saturday.
The 44-year-old human rights crusader, who broke her fast with a dab of honey on August 9, said that she would fight elections to continue her campaign against the AFSPA that gives virtual immunity to security personnel to raid, arrest and kill people, and is seen as a cover for human rights abuse by critics.
Now she is staying at the picturesque Yoga and Naturopathy spa centre at the foothill of Langol hill range, about 6 km west of JNIMS hospital where she was kept for health reasons since the day (August 9) she broke her fast as doctors are monitoring her diet since her digestive system had been inactive for 16 years.
“The hospital authority officially discharged her this morning. But we do not know how long she will be staying here,” says a friend and supporter of Sharmila.
In an earlier interview, Sharmila told the reporters that she will be staying at the centre for about 3-4 days before moving to Ukhrul(Manipur),a hill town,about 84 km north east of Imphal for the public campaign against AFSPA.
On her way to the Nature cure centre, 44 year old ‘Iron Lady of Manipur’ accompanied by her supporters mostly youths drove straight to the historic Kangla fort in Imphal for a brief prayer session and attended a reception session at Keishamthong area where she was once turned away by the residents of the said area a fortnight ago due to “some misunderstanding” when she was first granted bail by the Court.
Responding to the day’s warm welcome by the residents mostly womenfolks and women voluntary organization functionaries, Sharmila said, “I think one should start changing first, if we really want to bring a change. So I hope the people will understand and extend and cooperation as I already extended my hands for the joint movement.” Meanwhile some of her supporters are busy for applying Sharmila’s legal documents such as Voters or Aadhar cards besides PAN (Personal Account Number) cards so that she can respond to the invitations from various quarters for public campaigns.
“Some of us are going for Voters ID first followed by Aadhar. But the authority here assured a voter’s ID by January next year,” a young supporter said.
