IMPHAL, Feb 25 � Human Rights activists from North East exchanged opinions and views on the controversial Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act 1958 in a symposium at the John F Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University, in Boston (USA) recently.
The Carr Center For Human Rights Policy at Harvard University, Harvard India Caucus and Kashmir Initiative at the Carr Center organised the symposium under the theme �11-year hunger strike: Irony in the world�s largest democracy� on February 21.
According to a statement by Just Peace Foundation, a foundation which supports human rights activist Irom Chanu Sharmila�s struggle against AFSPA, the North American Manipur Association (NAMA) and the European Manipuri Association (EMA) were the co-sponsors of the event where Dr Charlie Clements, Executive Director of the Carr Center For Human Rights Policy, Harvard University, delivered the welcome address.
The context of the symposium, the first of its kind held in the United States on AFSPA and Irom Sharmila, was Sharmila�s 11 year long hunger strike to repeal The AFSPA.
Binalakshmi Nepram, Founder of Manipur Women Gun Survivors Network, Babloo Loitongbam, Executive Director Human Rights Alert (Manipur), L Somi Roy of Huntre International Manipur Projects, Angana Chatterji, co-convener of the International People�s Tribunal on Human Rights and Justice, and Pradyot Deb Burman, chairman and Editor of Shillong-based The Northeast Today.
Leichombam Erendro Singh, President of The Harvard India Caucus, and a World Bank Fellow at Harvard University coordinated also moderated the symposium.
Besides Manjarita Laishram, NAMA vice-president, researchers and scholars and representatives from the University of California, Berkeley, and several others attended the event, the statement added.
