Imphal, February 24, 2010: Social activists of Kerala who visited Manipur iron lady Irom Chanu Sharmila today said that they would urged their Keralite leader and Union Defence Minister A K Anthony to remove Armed Forces Special Powers Act 1958 from Manipur.

"We will speak in Malayalam to him (A K Antony) on this issue of AFSPA",M N Giri, president of Kerala based Social Association for Forest and Environment (SAFE) who was part of the Kerala delegation who visited Sharmila today said.

Defence Minister Anthony is an MP from his native coastal state.

The visiting Kerala delegation from Mayilamma Foundation also felicitated Manipur's iron lady Irom Chanu Sharmila who has been on a fast unto death campaign since November 2000 demanding repeal of the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act 1958by presenting the Mayilamma Award 2009. As Sharmila herself is presently staying under police surveillance at JN Hospital in Porompat, representatives of Mayilamma Foundation presented her with the award which comprises a memento as well as a citation in the hospital room where she is being nose-fed.

Representative of various other civil society organizations such as Social Association for Forest and Environment (SAFE), National Alliance of People Movement (NAPM) of Delhi and UP, Asha Parivar of Gujarat and London-based Angrda Foundation were also present at the meeting.

Mayilamma Foundation spokesperson Ramdas Kadiru said, "We are giving the award to Sharmila for achievement of her non-violent struggle methods in Manipur".

A vocal and passionate exponent against AFSPA as well as poetess, Sharmila received the award in silence with tears.

She remained silent throughout the award presentation and interaction.

The Mayilamma Award is given in memory of Kerela adivasi social activist Mayilamma, a direct victim of Coca-Cola's operations in Plachimada, in Kerala's Palakkad district, who founded the Coca-Cola Virudha Samara Samiti (Anti Coca-Cola Struggle Committee) in Plachimada to spearhead the campaign to hold Coca-Cola accountable for water shortages and pollution in the area.

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