Hunger strike in support of Irom Sanu Sharmila
Assam’s various indigenous tribes and communities unified under Assam Sanmilita MahaSangha (ASM) sat for an 11 hour long sit in hunger strike demonstration outside the Dispur Secretariat today to commiserate with Manipur’s Birangana Irom Sanu Sharmila’s demand to scrap the Armed Forces Special Powers Act 1958. Iron Lady Sharmila is on indefinite hunger strike since the year 2000 completing 11 years almost to do away with the Black Act.
In a Press Release the MahaSangha stated that the AFSPA 1958 is a direct copy of the British Empire’s 1942 Special Military Power Act. The colonial Britons imposed this Act to suppress India’s Mass Movement of 1942. After the Britons, the Government of free India first imposed this Black Act in the year 1958 to suppress the Naga Retaliation. Currently, this Black Act is in use in the states of Assam, Manipur, Nagaland, Tripura and Jammu & Kashmir. According to this act an ordinary constable can shoot down anyone he concludes to be an enemy of the state. Inhuman unhindered murders perpetrated under AFPSA 1958 are still in continuation by a free country’s Police and Armed Forces.
The Government of India under pressure from different Human Rights bodies constituted the Justice Jeevan Reddy Commission and ordered a study report. The Justice Reddy Commission in 147 pages suggested the Government of India to scrap this act. However, the Government of India’s blind eye to the Reddy Commission’s suggestion appears very much ill-fated and condemnable.
Birangana Irom Sanu Sharmila was born on 14th March 1972 in Uripak, Manipur. Her Father Irom Nanda Singh is a fourth grade employee with the State Veterinary Department. Her mother is Irom Angbi Sakhi Devi. Sharmila passed her intermediate from Ibotonsama Higher Secondary School.
On 2nd November 2000 Assam Rifles Jawans in Malam village indiscriminately fired and killed 10 Manipuri youths. Seeing all this 39 year old Sharmila on 5th November 2000 resorted to an indefinite hunger strike at the same spot where the Assam Rifles Jawans killed the 10 youths; her demand, scrapping off of the AFPSA 1958. The very next day on 6th November 2000 the Manipur Government arrested her under 309 IPC but released her finally. Once free, Sharmila continued her hunger strike again. After a decade of repeated arrests and releases, fasting Sharmila at present is under arrest at the Manipur Jawaharlal Nehru Hospital and is being forcibly fed through nozzle drips by the authorities.
ASM Working President said that the Assam Sanmilita MahaSangha (ASM) has been demanding the scrapping off of this act since 2007. 14th March being Sharmila’s birthday the ASM wished her revolutionary greetings and at the same time showing solidarity the ASM along with its members and representatives of the Nikihl Rabha Jatiya Parishad, the All Assam Goriya Moriya Desi Jatiya Parishad, the Kamrup District Manipuri Sahitya Sabha, Meira Paiba to name a few sat in for an 11 hour long hunger strike at Last Gate grounds outside the Dispur Secretariat.
With its 11 hour long sit in hunger strike demo the Assam Sanmilita MahaSangha have communicated its demand-appellate for the repeal of AFPSA 1958 through Assam Chief Minister Shri Tarun Gogoi to the President of India Smt. Pratibha Devi Singh Patil, Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh and Minister for Home Shri. P Chidambaram.
Random Stories
21 Sep 2010 - 4:15pm |
editor
After months of politcal confabulation, the opposition AGP formally has decided to snap its poll pact with BJP. The decision was cleared on Monday as the party was holding its general council meet in...
31 Jul 2017 - 7:18pm |
AT Kokrajhar Bureau
Kuhili Saha of Guwahati won the second edition of the Bodoland Dancing Star contest-2017 grand finale that was held on Sunday eveninh at Bodofa Cultural Complex in Kokrajhar. The Bodoland...
5 Dec 2009 - 6:01pm |
Nanda Kirati Dewan
United Liberation Front of Assam (ULFA) chairman Arabinda Rajkhowa, Deputy C-in-C Raju Baruah, personnel security to Rajkhowa Raj Borah were produced before the Magistrate at the court of Chief...
8 May 2014 - 11:47am |
Pankaj Chauhan
The Lok Sabha polls in Assam are over in three Phases. The Election Commission has partially relaxed the Model Code of Conduct on regular administrative and development functionings in all districts...
Other Contents by Author
Union Minister for Youth Affairs and Sports, Sarbananda Sonowal,Saturdayvisited the 12thSouth Asian Games Guwahati Secretariatat Nidhi Bhawan and took stock of the preparationsfor the upcoming Games.The 12th South Asian Games arescheduledto be held from February 5 to 16, 2016 in the stadia across Guwahati and Shillong respectively. This is the first international multidiscipline sportingevent to be conducted in North East India by the Organizing Committee of the South Asian Games (OC-SAG). The Minister during his visit met all the 16 Functional Area (FA) heads involved in the run up for the Games. Injeti Srinivas, CEOof theGuwahati Games Secretariat briefed Sonowal the developments in...
Fire breaks out in Guwahati's economic hub at New Market in Fancy Bazaar creating utter havoc and fear. A towering inferno gutted the area and as many as 30 LPG cylinders have gone up in flames so far. Though some 10 Fire Brigades have been pressed into service, it is not being possible to bring the fire under control that has engulfed several shops damaging properties worth in crores. The fire broke out behind Hotel Kuber. Many have expressed fear that the fire could damage Shopper's Point with its walls becoming very hot by the minute.
Street plays were staged at many places in Laukhuwa-Burhasapori area alongwith documentary film screenings to drive in interest and educate people on rhino conservation. This was organsied to celebrate the 61st Wildlife Week by Aaranyak, Laukhowa-Burhasapori wildlife authorities and Laukhowa-Burhasapori Conservation Society.The campaign which began on October 1st continued till October 3rd with awareness activities carried out among school children of the area. The children and teachers participated in audio visual presentations on rhino conservation in addition to a special quiz competition.“This is only the first phase. Aaranyak is gearing up to carry out many more such awareness...
Guwahati, growing by leaps and bounds in every sphere is home to a number of acclaimed writers. In fact some of the finest and decorated writers India can boast of are from the North East leaving no exception to the state of Assam. Writing in English from the region is well accepted by the prevailing current of thought. It stands tall for its richness and is identifiable as literature from the frontier region of India across genres.Set up in 2005 city based publishing house WordSmith Publishers Sunday launched Anthology of Young Authors, by-far the first English compendium of short fiction produced by young writers of the city schools in Guwahati at the NEDFi House Auditorium, Dispur. The...
In an effort to boost and encourage community participation in protecting the World Heritage Site, a mass rally was organsied on Sunday at Kahitema, adjacent to Manas National Park Environment by Aaranyak in association with the Manas National Park administration and United Social Welfare Society. Over 400 people participated in the mass rally in addition to school children. Among them were Hiranya Kumar Sarma, Director, Manas National Park, Dhoronidhor Boro, Sub Divisional Officer, Saalbari, Dhoronidhor Boro, ACF, Bibhuti Prasad Lahkar, Programme Secretary, Aaranyak and Namita Brahma (Aaranyak).“The efforts of protecting the Manas National Park can never be successful...
The Wild Wisdom Quiz launched by WWF-India in 2008 has emerged as Asia’s largest wildlife related quiz and the only national level wildlife quiz in India. The Assam City level Wild Wisdom Quiz of WWF-India in association with the Ministry of Earth Sciences and Central Board of Secondary Education culiminated at the Royal Global School auditorium. Top two finalists from each school of WWF Wild Wisdom School level quiz represented their schools in the Assam City Level quiz today. Some 36 schools from various parts of Assam participated in today’s City Level quiz. The quiz began with a preliminary round for both the Junior and Middle school. The top 5 scorers of each level were selected for...
In an effort to raise awareness for tiger conservation in the run up for the ‘International Tiger Day' observation on July 29 also known as Global Tiger Day, city based biodiversity organization Aaranyak is presenting a Phone-in Programme in association with All India Radio Guwahati and Dibrugarh on tiger and forest conservation in Assam. The tiger population is suffering from extreme habitat loss, depletion of prey population, poaching, man-tiger conflict and the ravages of climate change. Tigers in due time have been subjected to a loss of 93 per cent of their natural habitats due to unplanned urbanization and agriculture by humans. Humans and tigers are competing each other for...
Camera traps installed in the Rajiv Gandhi Orang National Park in Mangaldoi in Assam helped convict two poachers for illegal entry into the park with arms and killing rhinos. The Mangaldoi Session Court citing the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972 convicted Haren Daimari and Dharmeswar Basumatary with two years of rigorous imprisonment and slapped a fine of INR 25000 each. The judgment was sentenced by Session Judge G Baruah.In January 2011 some 60 camera traps were installed in the park by Aaranyak, a Society for Biodiversity Conservation. A team of researchers during routine examination found images of three poachers when they immediately brought the incident under the notice of the...
Rotary International District 3240 ig going to organize “Light Up North East”, a national conclave for the promotion and focus of the media on the Northeastern region in Guwahati on June 6. Designed as an exclusive programme to promote the Northeast states through the media in a positive note, the one-day event aims to bring together a galaxy of eminent media personalities from across the country as well as the Northeastern region. The objectives of the initiative is to draw up a strategy to overcome the various prevailing negative aspects most of it perceived due to the lack of adequate knowledge and interest that people outside the region have about the region and its people.The...
The North East Youth Festival in Majuli concluded on Sunday after the state government was slammed for lack of cooperation. The Union ministers who graced on the occasion came down heavily on Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi and his government alleging that they did not want the event to take place. “I find it quite strange to have seen that not even a single minister or MLA attended the regional event. It is unfortunate,” said Union minister Babul Supriyo.Other ministers and MPs were disappointed over the lack of state government’s support to the youth event which took place at the initiative of Union sports minister Sarbananda Sonowal who hails from the state.Congress leaders in...
Add new comment