Freedom:Not yet

Irom Chanu Sharmila, a figure of resolute determination, has once again been arrested for alleged attempt to suicide. Her indefinite hunger strike has become a mocking ode to free will for most of the concerned officials. Every year the same story repeats itself. The Iron Lady of Manipur refuses to break her hunger strike and in retaliation, she gets arrested for trying to commit suicide which is punishable as per Indian Penal Code (IPC) section 309. After serving the maximum sentence of imprisonment for a year, she gets released momentarily before she is indicted again for the same offense. This time, however, the twist in the story was that the local sessions court had acquitted her of all charges by acknowledging that her hunger strike was not with an objective to end her life. But since she refused to break her 14 year long fast even after her release, she has once again been taken into custody.

“I am bidding farewell Yet longing for life Though birth is followed by death So fond of to accomplice My desired mission”

Manipur has always been a ‘disturbed state’ ever since its accession to the Indian Territory. Prior to independence, Manipur had been an independent sovereign state under the crown. In 1949, the Maharaja signed a Treaty of Accession merging the kingdom into India. This did not go down too well with some factions of society and they engaged in guerilla warfare to reclaim the sovereign status of Manipur. This armed conflict is usually looked upon as an internal disturbance or as a disturbance in law and order. The problem however runs much deeper. This insurgency is essentially a movement for liberation.

Megha Jhunjhunwala

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