I just read Irom Chanu Sharmila’s letter to Anna Hazare. I also read between the lines. The letter in itself is a tight slap on the smug faces of all the members of the Fourth Estate in this country and a kick in the guts to the government that allows men and women like Sharmila to wither away.
While Anna’s nine-day fast has made newspaper and TV channel headlines all across the country for the past month, Sharmila is remembered when our self-proclaimed Gandhian suddenly decides to write a letter to her inviting her to join ‘his’ agitation against corruption.
He didn’t call on her when she was being forced fed or arrested, he didn’t call on her when he was forming his team, he didn’t call on her when photographers were queuing up for his photo-ops after he was released from his token jail stay… and he definitely didn’t call on her to give support to her cause, which, despite being 11-year-old, is still largely unknown in the country.
Irom Sharmila Chanu is also called The Iron Lady of Manipur. Born on March 14, 1972, Sharmila is a political activist who has been on a fast since November 2, 2000, when she was just 27-year-old. She demanded that the Centre repeal the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act, 1958 (AFSPA), which allowed the Army to indefinitely detain any citizen on suspicion of being a rebel. Having refused food and water for more than 10 years, she has been called “the world’s longest hunger striker”. The government is now force-feeding her with the help of a tube in judicial custody. She was arrested on charges of “attempt to commit suicide” and released after completion of a year’s sentence since Section 309 of the IPC says a person who “attempts to commit suicide” is punishable “with simple imprisonment for a term which may extend up to one year.
Hazare remembered her when some northeast newspapers and even the Internet space started buzzing comparing his nine-day fast with Sharmila’s 11-year agitation.
In fact, we at Howzzit.com were the first to compare the fasts of Hazare and Baba Ramdev to that of Irom Sharmila’s decade-long agitation. We did it in June — The Farce Over the Great Indian fast — saying her 11-year struggle is as close to the Gandhian model as can be in this day and age. The mainstream media, it seems, has ended up playing catch-up.
Anna’s seemingly opportunistic call for support from Sharmila reeks of petty politics — the very politics that the Gandhian seeks to oppose in his struggle. His action is like those same band of vote-seeing politicians — get votes from wherever possible and from whomsoever possible — that he claims he is fighting. Anna is like the main cheerleader in his own bash. His letter just sought to exploit a cause that has been left unaddressed for over a decade.
However, Sharmila has written back a polite no to Anna’s request. If read between the lines, it is very clear that the Iron Lady is not amused. Each of her lines means something else. This is how I read it:
“I would like you to be convinced of the reality of my situation.”
Please read as: I am convinced that you actually don’t know a thing about the situation I am in.
Sharmila is suddenly remembered when Hazare decides to write a letter to her.
“I cannot get the advantage of exercising my non-violent protest for justice against my concerned authority as a democratic citizen of a democratic country, unlike your environment.”
Please read as: I hope you know that I am being force-fed by the government and I am under arrest.
“This is the problem I cannot understand.”
Please read as: Of course I understand, but you are in the Capital and I am here, so what can I say?
“My humble suggestion is if you feel seriously; please try to reach the concerned legislators (read authorities) to let me get free, like yours, to join your amazing crusade to root out corruption — which is the root of all evils.”
Please read as: I know you don’t care. But please try and get me free. I promise I will tell everyone I meet that I support your agitation. I just hope that the government gives in to your demands and maybe perhaps then you can endorse mine. Maybe you will achieve my objective of getting the government to repeal the draconian Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act which I failed to do in 11 years.
“Or you can come to Manipur, the most corruption-affected region in the world.”
Please read as: Just to reiterate that I cannot move from here. Maybe after your struggle in Delhi, you can take over my struggle. I am sure the government will listen. Maybe you can bring some cameramen and reporters from Delhi, I haven’t seen what they look like in ages.
The government might listen, but will Anna leave his podium in central Delhi and the thousands of admirers, including Bollywood celebrities, and go and fight for someone whose demands for justice is pending for 11 long years?
The observations made are purely writer’s own, neither Irom Sharmila nor howzzit.com takes any responsibility for them.
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[...] Forces (Special Powers) Act, 1958 is resented by the people. Irom Sharmila’s hunger strike demanding repeal of the Act since November 2000 is a telling example. Under-development, inability to penetrate the zone, [...]