Dimapur, September 3 (MExN): Iron Lady of Manipur Irom Sharmila receives support from Nagaland in her fight against the black law the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act. A number of citizens from Nagaland today wrote a letter encouraging the marathon hunger-strike activist to stand firm and that all citizens irrespective of state or community should support the activist’s endeavor to repeal the black law from the North East.
“Irom Sharmila’s unyielding, non-violent fight to get the Government of India to consign the Armed Forces Special Powers Act to the dustbin of India’s history of dealing with the NE region has started to catch the attention of the people of India. The Act cannot stand scrutiny,” stated the letter form the Naga citizens. The letter was appended by Charles Chasie, Neichute Duolo, G. Gaingam, Bano Haralu, N. Diswang Hau, Hekani Jakhalu, Niketu Iralu, Dr. Chingmak Kejong, Pfhelie Kesiezie, Zapuvisie Lhousa, Rev. Kari Longchar, Fr. Dr. Abraham Lotha, Rev. Dr. Mazie Nakhro, Prof. Dr. Paul Pimomo, Samuel Risom, K. Seyie, PA Thekho, Nyamto Wangsha and Kos Zhasa.
“The cause so courageously taken up by Sharmila should be supported by all so that the objective of her fasting will be realized enabling her also to end her fast at the earliest with dignity.”
Responsible Indians should be ashamed of the draconian law, the letter said, and the other inhuman measures adopted in the NE region to protect India’s security and ‘interest of the mainland’. “The arbitrary powers it authorizes are similar to those in the racist laws that apartheid South Africa employed to brutally suppress Africans and Asians it considered inferior.” According to the letter, Sharmila’s courageous fight against the AFSPA has been sustained throughout especially by the formidable support of the defiant women of the Meira Paibi (a Manipur women organization).
“Nagas have been equally outraged by the Act and for a longer duration. It is not worthy of Mahatma Gandhi’s India. The undersigned Nagas express their appreciation and support for Sharmila’s protest. They believe Nagas widely share the sentiment.
The Act was originally promulgated in 1958 to deal with ‘the extraordinary situation arising from the assertion of the Nagas’”.
‘Knowing what it means, we express our anguish and solidarity to all the people affected by the Act which is in force today in all the “disturbed areas” of the NE and Jammu & Kashmir,’ the letter said.
The letter also said the method of fast-unto-death is questioned by some on grounds “it is liable to be misused in some situations as a method of blackmail.” Nonetheless, “we fully support the total rejection of the AFSPA that the unwavering fast has symbolized. The forced feeding Sharmila has been subjected to for the past 11 years reveals callous disregard of her life and her dignity as a human being. It also shows the extent to which the rulers of mainland India will go to ignore what they regard to be unimportant to mainland India.”
The “insulting insensitivity” of India should end without further delay to enable the new thinking needed by both sides to grow, the letter said.
“Irom Sharmila’s unyielding, non-violent fight to get the Government of India to consign the Armed Forces Special Powers Act to the dustbin of India’s history of dealing with the NE region has started to catch the attention of the people of India. The Act cannot stand scrutiny,” stated the letter form the Naga citizens. The letter was appended by Charles Chasie, Neichute Duolo, G. Gaingam, Bano Haralu, N. Diswang Hau, Hekani Jakhalu, Niketu Iralu, Dr. Chingmak Kejong, Pfhelie Kesiezie, Zapuvisie Lhousa, Rev. Kari Longchar, Fr. Dr. Abraham Lotha, Rev. Dr. Mazie Nakhro, Prof. Dr. Paul Pimomo, Samuel Risom, K. Seyie, PA Thekho, Nyamto Wangsha and Kos Zhasa.
“The cause so courageously taken up by Sharmila should be supported by all so that the objective of her fasting will be realized enabling her also to end her fast at the earliest with dignity.”
Responsible Indians should be ashamed of the draconian law, the letter said, and the other inhuman measures adopted in the NE region to protect India’s security and ‘interest of the mainland’. “The arbitrary powers it authorizes are similar to those in the racist laws that apartheid South Africa employed to brutally suppress Africans and Asians it considered inferior.” According to the letter, Sharmila’s courageous fight against the AFSPA has been sustained throughout especially by the formidable support of the defiant women of the Meira Paibi (a Manipur women organization).
“Nagas have been equally outraged by the Act and for a longer duration. It is not worthy of Mahatma Gandhi’s India. The undersigned Nagas express their appreciation and support for Sharmila’s protest. They believe Nagas widely share the sentiment.
The Act was originally promulgated in 1958 to deal with ‘the extraordinary situation arising from the assertion of the Nagas’”.
‘Knowing what it means, we express our anguish and solidarity to all the people affected by the Act which is in force today in all the “disturbed areas” of the NE and Jammu & Kashmir,’ the letter said.
The letter also said the method of fast-unto-death is questioned by some on grounds “it is liable to be misused in some situations as a method of blackmail.” Nonetheless, “we fully support the total rejection of the AFSPA that the unwavering fast has symbolized. The forced feeding Sharmila has been subjected to for the past 11 years reveals callous disregard of her life and her dignity as a human being. It also shows the extent to which the rulers of mainland India will go to ignore what they regard to be unimportant to mainland India.”
The “insulting insensitivity” of India should end without further delay to enable the new thinking needed by both sides to grow, the letter said.
