On satyagrahi Sharmila Irom, who, on November 5, "entered the tenth year of her superhuman fast" in protest of India's Armed Forces Special Powers Act, which "has been imposed in Manipur and most of the Northeast since 1980" and has resulted in countless state-sanctioned extrajudicial killings:
But, in a sense, the humbling power of Sharmila's story lies in her untutored beginnings. She is not a front for any large, coordinated political movement. And if you were looking for charismatic rhetoric or the clichéd heat of heroism, you would have been disappointed by the quiet woman in Room 57 in the New Private Ward of AIIMS in New Delhi. That 34-year-old's satyagraha was not an intellectual construct. It was a deep human response to the cycle of death and violence she saw around her — almost a spiritual intuition. "I was shocked by the dead bodies of Malom on the front page," Sharmila had said in her clear, halting voice. "I was on my way to a peace rally but I realised there was no means to stop further violations by the armed forces. So I decided to fast."Read the whole thing here. It is just an amazing piece, about a woman whose strength and resolve is simply breathtaking.
...In a complex world, often the solution to a problem lies in an inspired, unilateral act of leadership. An act that intuits the moral heart of a question and proceeds to do what is right — without precondition. Sharmila Irom's epic fast is such an act. It reaffirms the idea of a just and civilized society. It refuses to be brutalized in the face of grave and relentless brutality. Her plea is simple: repeal the Armed Forces Special Powers Act.
[H/T to Shaker Abhishek.]
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