The Unknown Anna

Both are Gandhians. Both are selfless doers. Both are fighting for causes of colossal magnitude. Both resorted to fasting. Both are ordinary humans. Both are social activists. But one went on to become a National Hero and the other still remains to be just another social activist. Compare them on a couple of pans, put a 12 day fast on one and on the other, an eleven year fast. Of course, the latter is heavier.

Meet Sharmila Chanu, better known as Irom Sharmila Chanu. Born on 14th  March, 1972, none would have imagined it in their wildest of dreams that this lady from the North Eastern belt of India would go on to hold the record for being the World’s longest hunger striker. Her reasons to hold the hunger strike are no meager reasons. It is more than a decade now that she is demanding the Indian Government to repeal the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act, 1958. She blames this Act for creating the amount of insurgence it has in the areas of Manipur, Assam, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland. This Act was also imposed in Jammu and Kashmir later. This Act entitles the Armed forces with the ultimate authority to use force or fire upon any person, arrest without a warrant and search any premise without any notice during times of emergency in the disturbed areas.

Hell broke loose in Malom, a small town in the Imphal valley on the 2nd  of November back in the year 2000 when ten commoners were shot down at a bus stop by the Assam Rifles (a part of the Indian Paramilitary Forces). Deeply affected by the ruthless incident which otherwise is known as the Malom Massacre, Chanu began her journey of unimaginable struggle, inexplicable pain and intensive torture. Right from the outset, the killing of people based on mere suspicion sounds farcical and that is what Chanu is fighting against. Her fasting has become an epic struggle now and while the law makers and executors should pay heed to it, they instead have pushed her deep into further trouble. Her act of fasting has been looked upon as an attempt to suicide which is unlawful under Section 309 of the Indian Penal Code. The law has found her guilty on the above grounds and she serves an imprisonment up to one year (with or without fine) every year. Chanu keeps getting released and re-arrested every year which goes to show the indifference of the government towards her. While Chanu hasn’t taken a morsel of food or even a drop of water for more than a decade now, she has been put on nasogastric intubation which force feeds her twice a day with a handful of vitamins and nutrients. There are two sides to this discussion. You may look at it as a method to keep her alive or you may think of it as a cruel way to kill her again and again, every passing moment. But amidst all this, she might just weigh 37 kilos, her body organs might have gone defunct but the fact that she is still fighting on a hospital bed is painfully inspiring enough to create a wave of awakening.

Has her life created a wave of awakening? The answer is a painful NO. When Chanu started off with her fast, she might have never thought that it would take so long. And even after a decade’s fight, her demand longs for fulfillment. Her courage has been awarded with various Global, Bravery and Peace Awards but does that serve her purpose? The answer again is a painful NO. Her struggle got a fresh leash of life in the year 2006 when Prime Minister Manmohan Singh promised to amend the Act to ensure it was humane. And that promise is yet to be fulfilled.

Chanu’s life and struggle have been plots of innumerable documentaries, books, debate and a few audacious ones consider it to be a feat to be registered in the books of World Records. Did Chanu ever ask for all this? All that she still wants is justice. All that she still yearns for is respect for the human life which is violated by the AFSPA Act. Simple things are best answered with simplicity but our complex constitution doesn’t seem to believe in it. While the Ramlila Maidan where Anna sat down fasting was enveloped by special security personnel, Chanu on the other hand, is left seeking support. Anna found support from all across the country, including the media, celebrities, top businessmen, high rank officials etc. While the entire nation woke up to the chants of Anna and demanded justice, one wonders why such a step-motherly treatment has been dished out to Chanu. Does this mean that Chanu’s reasons don’t qualify for a hearing? If that is the story, then our country and its law makers really need to draw a line. And here we are not talking about the much hyped Below Poverty Line. The country now needs to draw a line for what deserves justice, which method is legal enough and who is qualified enough to do it?

In a nation where a kid falling into a pit makes news, celebrity break-ups and patch ups make news, Chanu’s story deserves better treatment. Irom Sharmila Chanu is rightly called the Iron Lady of Manipur, for more reasons than one. Her as-strong-as-iron determination and guts is a lesson to be learnt. But more importantly, the biggest question that we need to find an answer to is:

“Who defends the defender?”

This article was written during Anna Hazare's longest hunger strike to move the government to frame the Jan Lokpal Bill.