Irom Sharmila, who has been on a hunger strike in Manipur for 14 years, walked free with tears in her eyes and without the feeding tube that an entire generation has seen her with.
“The fresh air is refreshing,” she said in her first words after being released from a hospital room in Imphal, a day after a local court said she cannot be charged with attempted suicide.
But she vowed to continue her fast against a law that gives the army sweeping emergency powers in the northeastern state. Her release means she will not be force-fed by tubes through her nose – as she has been throughout her custody – unless she is arrested again.
“I am crying because I am emotional,” she told a battery of reporters, adding, “My struggle proves that I am right, justice must be served.”
Irom Chanu Sharmila, 42, has been on a hunger strike since November 2000, in protest against the Armed Forces Special Powers Act or AFSPA. She began her fast days after 14 people were shot in Imphal, allegedly by personnel of the Assam Rifles.
Three days later, she was charged with attempt to suicide and arrested. She was 27.
The AFSPA, described by critics as draconian, allows soldiers legal immunity when they are operating in “disturbed areas” – states dealing with separatists or insurgents. Soldiers are allowed to make arrests without warrants or raid any location.
Activists allege the law has been misused and has led to gross human rights violations.
Irom Sharmila was not allowed to vote in this year’s election because the law does not allow any citizen in custody to cast a vote.
