THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Irom Sharmila, who staged the world's longest hunger strike, 16 years on end, protesting Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) took her fight to the state capital on Monday after a humiliating defeat in Manipur Assembly elections this month. She met Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and CPM secretary Kodiyeri Balakrishnan seeking their solidarity in her campaign against the controversial security law. Both promised support like their party did during her electoral run.
“I want to lobby the whole world against the law. Fight for this cause has become part and parcel of life. I don't want to be considered in a separate pedestal. I want us all to respect each other and share the joys of life,” Ms Sharmila told reporters later. The 45-year-old is still coping with issues from the long hunger strike that saw her being detained and forced fed through a tube in her nose. She hinted at ending her short-lived stint in politics for ever. She said politics of 'money and muscle' had hypnotised the people of Manipur.
“I was aware of the circumstantial realities (involved in Manipur politics). I really expected people to believe me. In politics, I could have been like a mother who does not know how to bring up a child but thought I would (eventually) learn it,” she added. She just got 90 votes contesting against incumbent CM Okram Ibobi Singh. She came to Attapadi tribal village in Kerala as a part of one-month spiritual retreat on Wednesday. In the midst, she visited Kozhikode before coming to the state capital. “I met a lot of people in Kerala including politicians, students and intellectuals,” she said.
