Irom Sharmila decided to end after 16 years
Sixteen years after starting her hunger strike demanding the
repeal of the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act, Irom Chanu Sharmila has
decided to end it on August 9 and contest the Manipur Assembly elections as an
Independent candidate.
Who is Irom Sharmila?
She is the woman crusader who has been on a fast-unto-death since
November 2000 demanding the repeal of the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act in
Manipur. She was also recently acquitted in a case of attempted suicide
registered in 2006.
Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act:
It is an Act empowering armed forces to deal effectively in
‘Disturbed Areas’. Any area which is declared ‘Disturbed’ under the disturbed
areas act enables armed forces to resort to the provisions of AFSPA.
Who declares an area as disturbed?
The choice of declaring any area as ‘disturbed’ vests both with
state and central government.
Special powers provided to armed forces:
After an area comes under the ambit of AFSPA, any commissioned
officer, warrant officer, non-commissioned officer or another person of
equivalent rank can use force for a variety of reasons while still being immune
to the prosecution.
Ambit:
The act was passed on 11 September 1958 by the parliament of India
to provide special legal security to the armed forces carrying out operations
in the troubled areas of Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Meghalaya, Manipur, Mizoram,
Nagaland, Tripura (seven sisters).
- In 1990 the act was extended to the state of Jammu and Kashmir to confront the rising insurgency in the area.
- In Manipur, despite opposition from the Central government, state government withdrew the Act in some parts in Aug, 2004.
The government can declare AFSPA in the
following conditions:
- When the local administration fails to deal with local issues and the police proves inefficient to cope with them.
- When the scale of unrest or instability in the state is too large for the police to handle
