New Delhi, September 03, 2009: Union Minister of State for Rural Development Km Agatha Sangma will release a biography on Irom Sharmila entitled�"Burning Bright Irom Sharmila and the Struggle for Peace in Manipur" written by Deepti Priya Mehrotra and published by the Penguin Books India at Gulmohar Hall, India Habitat Centre here on September 5 at 7 pm.

The book containing 219 pages is priced at Rs 275. The book launch will be followed by a discussion based on the book between the Director of Human Rights Alert, Manipur Babloo Loitongbam, Secretary General of Control Arms Foundation of India Binalakshmi Nepram, Advocate, Supreme Court of India and Founder Director of Human Rights Law Network Colin Gonsalves and the author Deepti Priya Mehrotra.

Sources from Penguin Books India said Irom Sharmila has been on a fast unto death for eight years, demanding a repeal of the draconian Armed Forces Special Powers Act in Manipur.

Ten innocent people were mowed down by security forces in Malom, a village near Imphal, in November 2000.The perpetrators were not punished, protected under the Armed Forces Special Powers Act which empowers military and para-military personnel to arrest, shoot, even kill, anyone on the grounds of mere suspicion.

In response to this tragedy�one among many such atrocities�Irom Sharmila, a young Manipuri, began an indefinite hunger strike.

The government arrested her and force-fed her through nasal tubes.

She has been released and re-arrested innumerable times since then, but has stood by her demand, steadfastly refusing to eat until the Act is repealed.

Burning Bright Irom Sharmila is a hard-hitting account of a people caught between the crossfire of militants and security forces; of a once- sovereign kingdom whose culture has been brutally violated; of the many voices of dissent� from underground groups to the Meira Paibis, a women's movement opposed to all forms of violence whether by the state or insurgents and a moving portrait of 'the Iron Lady of Manipur', it added.

Deepti Priya Mehrotra graduated from St.

Stephen's College, and had a doctorate in Political Science from Delhi University .

She carried out independent research supported by Fellowships awarded by India Foundation for the Arts, the MacArthur Foundation, and the Indian Council for Philosophical Research.

Her interests include feminist thought, people's movements, education and theatre.

She works with several civil society organizations as an activist and researcher.

She currently teaches at Lady Shri Ram College , Delhi University .

She writes in English and Hindi.

Her three books already published by Penguin Books India were- Gulab Bai- The Queen of Nautanki Theatre, Home Truths- Stories of Single Mothers and Western Philosophy and India Feminism- from Platos Academy to the Streets of Delhi.

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