irom sharmila's eleven year long fast

Irom Sharmila
A lone woman is on a hunger strike for eleven years! It makes my mind boggle just at the thought. She lives because she is being forcibly fed through a nasal drip at a hospital in Imphal, Manipur. Irom Sharmila uses her body as a political tool in the footsteps of Mahatma Gandhi.  By depriving her body  of food she makes her body a political site, inviting us to visit the torment so many mothers are going through in Manipur. Her non-violent cry is to repeal the Armed Forces Security Act that allows the security forces to take anyone away for questioning on grounds of mere suspicion. She says it is behind the killing and disappearance of several young men in Manipur.
I have never met Irom Sharmila, but her hunger fast strikes me as something that goes beyond what Mahatma Gandhi did, whose fast lasted an incredible 21 days, when imprisoned in Agha Khan palace and elsewhere - these fasts demanded attention and received it in the days of the British Raj. However, Empires seem to be replaced by other Empires and Irom Sharmila's eleven year-long fast does not seem to be getting the national and international attention it deserves. She is even denied visitors in hospital, according to Kuldip Nayar, who spoke at a recent meeting at Jantar Mantar, in soldiarity with Irom Sharmila. Releasing red balloons as a symbol of freedom, he asked that we write letters of solidarity to her. Deepti Priya Mehrotra who has written a book on her, said 'Sharmila sits in her hospital bed, facing a blank wall, with a just few photographs pinned up for comfort'.  Let's visit this brave young woman who in a world full of violence gives us hope and courage that non-violence exists and can provide a scared space to negotiate  within.
Irom sharmila is a frail woman whose iron courage, determination and refusal to accept violence provides hope and succour to all of us. Her very existence makes our universe, a beautiful one; full of hope!
Sagari Chhabra
13 December 2011