Sharmila’s 11-year-old hunger strike, now in Ripley’s

[1]

The courageous tale of Irom Chanu Sharmila, the 'Iron Lady of Manipur', who has not eaten a morsel of food since the last eleven years has now been included in the collection of 'Ripley's Believe It or Not!'.

Under the banner of Just Peace Foundation (JPF), supporters of Sharmila had written to researchers at the US-based Ripley's franchise requesting them to include her case in their list of unusual and unbelievable feats.

"They have replied saying they have featured her story," JPF's Kshetrimayum Onil said from Imphal. Recognising her uncompromising stand and rock-like willpower, a graffiti along with sharmila's sketch and a brief note on her has been put up on the website of Ripley.

Demanding the repeal of the 'draconian' Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA), under which the security forces can even kill people without fearing prosecution, civil rights activist Sharmila is on an indefinite hunger strike since November 2000.

The 39-year-old is kept under house arrest at the Jawaharlal Nehru Institute of Medical Sciences in Imphal, where she is forcibly nose-fed to keep her alive.

The recognition from Ripley's has made Sharmila supporters happy, who believe that the campaign against AFSPA will now fetch additional support at the international level.

"We hope that more people will listen to our demands now", said Irom Singhajit, Sharmila's elder brother.