Another India, another protest

Kalpana Sharma (The Hindu) *

Irom Sharmila released for a day and re-arrested again on 11 March 2011

While the farcical drama around Anna Hazare's protest and arrest has hogged the limelight, Irom Sharmila's indefinite fast since 2000 to get the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) repealed continues to be ignored by the nation and the media... - Kalpana Sharma

In an article by Kalpana Sharma, "The Other Half – Another India, another protest" published on The Hindu speaks of the lives of the other Indian Citizens in a small hilly state called Manipur who has almost forgotten how Independence Days are celebrated.

She spoke of the much media hyped protest in India and the long ignored and kept unnoticed protest of Irom Sharmila. She writes, "Yet even as Hazare's anti-corruption crusade gained momentum with hundreds courting voluntary arrest, in another part of India, a protestor who has used a similar tactic, of going on an indefinite fast, continues to be ignored by the rest of the country and by the political leadership".

She quotes Pradip Phanjoubam's (Editor of the Imphal Free Press) article "State of Independence" where he writes, "On the eve of the India's Independence Day, Imphal is acquiring the look of a war front. The scenario is not too different in other townships in Manipur as indeed in much of the Northeast. It has almost become a ritual every year.

Various militant organizations would call for a boycott of the celebration of what is arguably the biggest and most important day in the country's history and in response the provincial governments would virtually stage flag marches to demonstrate the power of the establishment and push its way without being deterred by any threat whatsoever.

Uniformed gun totting security personnel are on every corner of the streets frisking people, stopping motorists, checking their vehicles, questioning them etc. As expected, even a week before the big day approached, Imphal already began wearing a deserted look, especially after sunset. People return home early so as not to be accosted by security men and go through the humiliation of being made to stand on the side of the roads to be frisked and questioned like potential trouble makers.

The ordinary people are supposed to be mere bystanders in this war game, but every time tensions escalate in moments like this, they have no choice than to be prepared to be the undeserved casualties, and sometimes become statistics of 'collateral damage', the well known sugar-coating aimed at making civilian killing and harassment seem like necessary and pardonable fallout of a conflict."

Reading it makes us realize again that Independence Day is never about running around with the tricolor in hand or flying kites with friend in a park. It's a general strike where no one can go out of their house. She rightly points out, "Here, 'democracy' seems a theoretical construct, certainly not a lived reality".

On Sharmila's cause she writes, "...some might consider it irrelevant to talk about a corner of the country where a lone woman continues her fight against the truly undemocratic Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) imposed on Manipur that has made life a living hell for the ordinary people of that State".

She writes of the hope our Eche has on her mind, "A hope that people will notice, that her determination will be recognised, that the current government, which in its earlier term had promised to look again at AFSPA, will not break one more promise".

She reminded to the other Indian citizens the forgotten what the Jeevan Reddy had requested the GOI, "The committee recommended, amongst other things, a withdrawal of AFSPA. So Sharmila's demand is not unreasonable; a government-appointed committee has endorsed it. But the recommendation was given more than six years ago. Yet today, the security forces continue to enjoy the right to act with impunity, while the citizens of Manipur, who are also citizens of India, live without many fundamental rights guaranteed to them under our Constitution".

She points out, "Anna Hazare's campaign, in the national capital and in full media glare, is premised on scepticism about the government's intent on the matter of dealing with corruption. But Sharmila has even a greater reason for scepticism given the absence of any movement on a recommendation that has been before the government for so many years".

She concludes by saying that, "If we are concerned about freedom, about democratic rights, about the right to protest, let us also remember other protests, other parts of India where democratic rights are being denied. Let us remember Sharmila".

Read the entire article from Kalpana Sharma in The Hinduhere who can be contacted at sharma(dot)kalpana(at)yahoo(dot)com