Kolkata: Human rights activist Irom Sharmila, who has been on a hunger strike for 16 years against the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA), feels that the incident of civilian casualties in the firing by security forces in Nagaland should prove to be an eye-opener that the removal of the controversial security law from the Northeast. The time has come. Sharmila said that AFSPA is not only a repressive law but it amounts to gross violation of basic human rights.
AFSPA empowers security forces to conduct operations anywhere and arrest anyone without any prior warrant. In the Northeast, it is applicable in some districts of Assam, Nagaland, Manipur (except Imphal Municipal Council area) and Arunachal Pradesh bordering Assam.
Sharmila, who ended her long hunger strike in 2016, told PTI in a telephonic interview, “The Nagaland incident has once again shown why the harsh AFSPA should be withdrawn from the Northeast. This event should be an eye-opener. Human life is not that cheap.” He said, “How long will the people of this region suffer because of this? In the name of fighting extremism, you cannot take away the basic rights of the people. There are other ways to deal with this.”
At least 14 civilians and a soldier were killed in anti-insurgency operations and counter-violence in Nagaland’s Mon district on December 4 and the day after. Sharmila said, “After the passage of the Act in 1958 and subsequent enforcement in the North-East, did it achieve the desired objective? If not, what is the use of imposing it on the public? It is high time that the central and state governments should sit together and consider this. AFSPA should be reconsidered.
Critics say that despite empowering the armed forces to act impunity, AFSPA has failed to control extremism, which sometimes leads to human rights violations. Nagaland Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio and Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad Sangma have also demanded repeal of this law.
When asked whether its withdrawal from the Northeast would worsen the law and order situation in the region, Sharmila replied, “No.” “There are other ways of dealing with extremism. In Chhattisgarh, there have been many Maoist incidents, so did the government impose AFSPA there? The answer is no. Security forces are dealing with it in that state, and they have been successful. The same can be done in the Northeast.”
Claiming that people from the Northeast face discriminatory treatment in other parts of the country, Sharmila said that “large-scale violation of human rights in the name of AFSPA stems from that discrimination.” Sharmila had contested the Manipur Assembly elections in 2017 though she was unsuccessful in that. “We are harassed and humiliated… you have to change your mindset and treat the people of this part of India with respect,” he said.
The ‘Iron Lady of Manipur’ also said that she felt that her long hunger strike did not serve her purpose. She said, “All my life, I believed in the Gandhian principles of non-violence. My fast was a non-violent way of registering my protest and pressure for the demands of the people. But 16 years later, when I ended my hunger strike, a lot of people misunderstood me. It failed to serve any purpose.”
Sharmila said that she has nothing against the armed forces, but politics and political parties have disappointed the people of the Northeast. Condoling the death of Chief of Defense Staff General Bipin Rawat, he said that his death is a loss for the entire country. Irom, 49, married in 2017 and is now settled in the southern part of the country with her family. The human rights activist also said that he has no intention of trying his luck in politics again.(Agency)