Irom’s 10 years, Hazare’s 4 days: unequal equation!
The other
day I was going through my facebook account when I came across a forum
“Stop discriminating people from Northeast India” with 9,907 members.
“Irom Chanu Sharmila has been fasting for over a decade now against the
atrocities of Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act, better known by its
acronym AFSPA. Anna Hazare’s four-day old campaign already got the whole
country crying out. So what’s the difference?” read its latest status.
This drew my attention and made me wonder about the different reaction
that is evoked on issues confronting Northeast India, within India. It
is a bitter fact that north-easterners are discriminated against and
treated unequally.
Is it not sad that Irom has been fasting for over 10 years and even
after that it is still not equal to Hazare’s four-day fast? Don’t get me
wrong: my thoughts are not against Hazare’s success; indeed he has
brought forth a great challenge against corruption, but why is Irom’s
plea not heard in the corridors of power and even in the mainstream
media?
This brings in the role of the media which had rallied behind Hazare
and created so much hype around him. In the context of AFSPA, it seems
that this particular Act pertains only to the people of the Northeast,
with no implication to the rest of Indians. Moreover, “News from
Northeast doesn’t affect TRP rating of viewership. Thus, the media finds
it less attractive; besides lack of celebrities’ support to a
humanitarian fight,” said Dibyak Das Sarkar, a native of Vadodara,
Gujarat.
To those uninitiated ones, Irom has been fasting since November 4,
2000 for withdrawal of AFSPA from Manipur and other areas of India’s
Northeast. Is it not a sign that even at policy level there are
discriminations meted out to the Northeast?
“One of the reasons why Irom’s cause is still unheard is that the
people of the Northeast have failed to portray the issue of AFSPA as a
challenge to the constitutionally granted fundamental rights of every
Indian. Very few know about AFSPA and there is no mass mobilization,”
said Kobby Zirdo, a member of Arunachal Pradesh Women Welfare
Association (APWWA).
Mind you, Irom’s hunger strike is not about the people of Manipur or
Northeast; it concerns every Indian citizen. Isn’t the implementation of
an Act like AFSPA tantamount to murder of democracy itself? It is loud
and clear that Irom wants the state to be accountable for the
extrajudicial killings which today is shielded and guarded in the name
of AFSPA. How many ‘Mongoloid faces’ need to be sacrificed as sitting
ducks for the Indian Army before we all wake up to the reality?
It is about time that every discerning northeasterner woke up to the
reality that Irom’s fight against AFSPA will not just benefit Manipur
but the entire region if it is successful. So is it not the time to give
moral and physical support to Irom, the way the rest of Indians backed
up Hazare? Maybe we too can achieve what the rest of Indians achieved in
four days.
By Teli Yami
(The Sentinel,20.04.2011)
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