An Indian lady activist Irom Sharmila Chanu has decided to finally put an end to her 16 years of hunger strike against a government law. The announcement came yesterday where declared that she will be ending the hunger strike 9th of the coming August. She will then be campaigning for local elections as an independent candidate.
“Ms Chanu had been protesting the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) which gives soldiers sweeping powers to arrest without warrants and even shoot to kill in certain situations.” says a report in the BBC and she has been through this protest since year 2000 when 10 civilians were killed by the Indian soldiers.
She has been surviving through force feeding done with the help of a tube through her nose for more a decade now. AFSPA is still in practice in several Indian state such as Jammu and Kashmir as well as Sharmila’s home state, Manipur and Ms. Chanu vowed to fight the issue on a political platform now.