Irom Sharmila, the Iron Lady of Manipur completed 12 Years of Fast

Iron Lady from Manipur, Irom Sharmila on 5 November 2012 completed 12 years of her fast demanding cancellation of the Armed Forces Special Powers Act, 1958  (AFSPA). She blames AFPSA as the main cause for violence in the state of Manipur and other parts of Northeastern India.

Irom Sharmila started her fast till death on 5 November 2000, after 10 people that included a boy who received National Bravery Award was shot dead by the Assam Rifles personnel at Malom near Imphal Airport on 2 November 2012 in an alleged encounter.

Sharmila began her fast till death after ten persons, including a boy who received the National Bravery Award, were shot dead in an alleged encounter with Assam Rifles personnel at Malom near Imphal Airport on November 2, 2000. She has been force-fed through the nose to keep her alive since then. On the second day of her fast she was arrested and charged with attempt of committing suicide. To keep her alive, she is fed forcefully at a Government hospital at Porompat and the ward where she is admitted is converted into a jail.

About Irom Sharmila

Irom Sharmila nicknamed as the Iron Lady of Manipur is a civil rights activist, political activist, and poet and holds the record of longest hunger strike of the world after refusing food and water for more than 500 weeks.

Achievements of her life

•    In the year 2007 she was awarded with Gwangju Prize for Human Rights (Gwangju is the award that is given to any person for his/her outstanding person or group that has remained active in promotion of peace and advocated for the same along with democracy and human rights)
•    In the year 2009, she was awarded with the first Mayillama Award of the Mayilamma Foundation for the non-violent struggle carried by her in Manipur
•    The Asian Human Rights Commission awarded her with the Lifetime Achievement Award in the year 2010
•    She was also awarded with Rabindranath Tagore Peace Prize of the Indian Institute of Planning and Management in the year 2010, the award came with a prize amount of fifty-one lakh rupees
•    In 2010, she was also awarded with the Sarva Gunah Sampannah "Award for Peace and Harmony" from the Signature Training Centre