PRESS RELEASE: 5th October 2006
Kerala Fisherwomen Welcome Sharmila's Release!
Demand the Freedom of the Manipuri People from Army Rule!
We, the Theersadesa Mahila Vedi, an organization of fisher women from
Trivandrum, Kerala, welcome the news of the release on Monday, 2nd
October 2006, of the Manipuri activist and poet Irom Sharmila Chanu
from judicial custody.
Despite extreme physical weakness due to a hunger strike started in
November 2000 in demand of the withdrawal of the Armed Forces (Special
Powers) Act, 1958 (AFSPA) from Manipur, Irom Sharmila's moral strength
is undiminished as she continues her hunger strike from New Delhi.
Fueling Irom Sharmila indomitable and extraordinary courage is a sense
of pure outrage at the continuing abuse of human rights of the
Manipuri people at the hands of a politically repressive State and
legitimated by the imposition of the AFSPA in Manipur.
The AFSPA is a draconian law imposed not only in Manipur but
throughout the northeast equipping both commissioned and
non-commissioned security forces with unrestricted powers together
with legal protection. Due to the patently undemocratic provisions of
the AFSPA, security forces have:
* The power to arrest and enter property without warrant
* The power to shoot, arrest, and kill at the mere hint of
suspicious activity, even without the lives of members of the security
force being at imminent risk
* Immunity against legal action
Not surprisingly, in Manipur and other north eastern states, a range
of violence that includes rape, arbitrary detentions,
"disappearances", killings, and loot are being actively used by
security forces to terrorize and subordinate local communities in the
name of counter-insurgency.
In the context, the procedural formality of releasing Irom Sharmila
Chanu from judicial custody does not address the fundamental problems
caused in Manipur by the imposition of the AFSPA.
In September 2006, 120 women's groups across the country endorsed a
statement from Theeradesa Mahila Vedi in support of Irom Sharmila's
struggle, demanding the immediate withdrawal of the AFSPA from
Manipur. This statement was widely covered by local media in Manipur
and greatly strengthened the demand for a political rather than a
military resolution of problems in Manipur.
Carrying the aspirations of the petitioners forward, we, from the
Theeradesa Mahila Vedi, reiterate our fullest support to Irom Sharmila
and join her in demanding the immediate withdrawal of the Armed Forces
(Special Powers) Act (1958) as a fundamental precondition to bringing
peace and justice to the troubled state of Manipur. We call upon all
freedom-loving people and organizations to extend their support to the
cause of Irom Sharmila Chanu and the Manipuri people.
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