Irom’s cause reaches Delhi, where this 2009 protest took place to challenge the AFSPA. Joe Athialy/Flickr. Some rights reserved.Democracy, or rather democratic sincerity, means more than just free and fair elections. It is reflected in every aspect of society – from a free judiciary and space for civil society to thrive, to freedom from fear and violence in everyday life. When repression is a reality, even in an established democracy such as India, individuals often rise above the state’s diktats to uphold democratic principles. This is the story of one such individual, Irom Sharmila.
Irom lives in India’s troubled northeast region, where many citizens have for decades suffered from arbitrary state violence or fear of such violence, which has been made possible by a long outdated act. This act — the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) — continues to be challenged through civil resistance, both locally and nationally. The issue has become a litmus test for the democratic sincerity of one of the world’s largest democracies.
Irom’s story is one of how an individual act of resistance can help gain recognition of civil rights for many. Irom Chanu Sharmila is a civil rights activist who has been on a hunger strike that has entered its sixteenth year now. Starting on 2 November 2000, at the age of 28, she has been on what is now the world's longest documented hunger strike. Since then, she has been arrested on charges of “attempt to commit suicide”, hospitalised, only to be force-fed by the Indian state, released, only to be re-arrested — in annual cycles — because this woman refuses to eat or drink voluntarily. Needless to say, the state is really vexed by her simple, yet persistent defiance.
