Irom sharmila biography of christopher
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India: Irom Sharmila Explains Hunger Strike
An Indian woman who has been on hunger strike for more than 12 years has told Sky News she will continue her protest despite being charged with attempting to commit suicide.
Irom Sharmila started her fast after she witnessed the killing of a group of civilians bygd Indian paramilitary forces in Manipur in November 2000.
The 40-year-old says she will never end her hunger strike unless the Indian government repeals a controversial del av helhet of legislation called the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA).
She told Sky News: "I am a democratic citizen. I am a simple non-violent woman who wants a simple normal life."
"I am so determined to my cause. My struggle is very needed - whether it fryst vatten difficult or easy does not matter."
The AFSPA gives Indian soldiers immunity from prosecution in areas where there is conflict.
In Manipur, a state in India’s northeast, there has been an insurgency for the last five decades.
A number of m
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As Irom Sharmila turns 48, we look at her journey where she fasted for 16 years
Irom Chanu Sharmila is a civil rights activist, political activist, and poet from Manipur who fryst vatten known for her hunger strike for more than 16 years.
Irom grew up in Manipur and has suffered from insurgency and intra-tribal warfare, including terrorism and government-sponsored violence, for decades.
She began her fast in 2000 in protest against 'Malon Massacre'. It so happened that 10 civilians were shot dead while waiting at a bus stop in Malom, a town in the Imphal Valley of Manipur. It was allegedly committed by the Assam Rifles, one of the Indian Paramilitary forces operating in the state.
Her primary demand to the Indian government was to repeal the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act (AFSPA). She also vowed to not eat, drink, comb her hair or look in a mirror until AFSPA was repealed.
The Act allows an officer of the armed forces powers to arrest without warrant anyone or e
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It's Irom Sharmila's 45th birthday. And it's the first time in 16 years that she's not under arrest and fasting in protest against the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Acts (AFSPA). Days after she lost in her maiden election, what lies ahead for the human-rights activist? She has already announced that she was quitting political life, but will continue fighting against AFSPA as a social activist.
But what about her personal life?
In the run-up to the elections earlier this year, HuffPost India had asked Sharmila about her plans after elections. Below are edited excerpts.
Modest Living
The room was almost bare, with four tables joined together at one end. A few scattered chairs, a couple of computers and a printer were the only remnants of what used to be an advertising office in Imphal. This is where Irom Sharmila had consented to be interviewed. "She doesn't like giving interviews," one of her aides, a thirty-something man who had set the interview up, told me. "She fee