‘Iron lady’ of Manipur Irom Sharmila wants PM Narendra Modi to revoke AFSPA

Imphal: Civil rights activist Irom Sharmila, who has been on an indefinite hunger strike demanding repeal of the Armed Forces Special Powers Act for the past 13 years, wants to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi to apprise him of the situation in the state and revoke the Act.

"I'll try to meet the Prime Minister and highlight the problems faced by the people after imposition of the Act in the state in 1980," she told reporters here yesterday before leaving for Delhi.

The 42-year-old 'Iron Lady' of Manipur also said that she would urge the Prime Minister to repeal the Act.

Sharmila is in the national capital following a summon issued by the metropolitan magistrate of Patiala House court in connection with a case relating to a 2006 hunger strike at the Jantar Mantar.

Sharmila has been on indefinite hunger strike to demand repeal of the Act after killing of ten civilians allegedly by the Assam Rifles near Imphal airport in November 2000.

She is being nose-fed by the state government at government hospital at Porompat here, which has been converted into a jail for her.