IMPHAL, Aug 9 - Manipur�s human rights crusader Irom Chanu Sharmila broke her 16-year-old hunger strike protesting against the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act (AFSPA) on Tuesday afternoon after a local court here granted her bail in connection with an attempt-to-suicide case.
Sharmila broke her fast around 4:30 pm, as she had pronounced last month, during a hurriedly called press conference in front of the Jawaharlal Nehru Institute of Medical Sciences (JNIMS) hospital at Porompat in Imphal East district, where she was detained on charges of attempting to commit suicide since she launched her fast in the year 2000.
The 44-year-old rights activist turned emotional as she licked honey from her palm to end the fast, the world�s longest, that she undertook in protest against the AFSPA. During her fast she was force-fed through a nasal tube to keep her alive. Now the familiar tube hanging from her nose was missing as she broke the fast.
Responding to questions from media, both international and national, Sharmila, who is popularly known as �Iron Lady of Manipur�, said that she wants to become the Chief Minister of the state by contesting in elections to bring a positive change and remove the AFSPA.
�I�ve decided to enter electoral politics now. I�ll contest the next assembly election from Khangabok in Thoubal district... I�ll work hard as a people�s representative to repeal AFSPA if I come out victorious.�
She said she would also appeal to the Prime Minister of India to stop indulging in violence through the armed forces and instead govern the people with a fatherly treatment by scrapping the draconian laws.
Sharmila was in the custody of Sajiwa Central Jail, but kept in a ward of the JNIMS where she has been force-fed through a nasal tube. She launched her agitation in November 2000 after 10 people were killed by the Assam Rifles near a bus stop at Malom on the outskirts of Imphal. She was arrested under Section 309 (attempting to commit suicide) of the Indian Penal Code.
Earlier, she was produced before the court of the Chief Judicial Magistrate, Imphal, Lamphanpau Tonsing, as per schedule where the court granted her bail after she signed a PR bond of Rs 10,000. The court also asked her to appear in the court on August 23 and issued a release order, legal sources said.
On July 26 this year, Sharmila surprised everyone, saying she would end her hunger strike on August 9, and change the approach of her campaign against the AFSPA.
