India's Iron Lady charged with trying to kill herself after 12-year hunger strike

Irom Sharmila has been protesting against India's use of Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act in Kashmir and Manipur since 2000
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Irom Sharmila, who has been on a hunger strike for 12 years over the Armed Forces Special Powers Act
An Indian policeman and a supporter stand behind Irom Sharmila, who has been on a hunger strike for 12 years in protest at a law that suspends human rights protections in areas of conflict, such as her home state of Manipur. Photograph: Tsering Topgyal/AP

A veteran Indian activist who has not eaten a meal for 12 years in protest against what she says are repressive laws allowing widespread human rights abuses was charged in a court in the capital, Delhi, on Monday with attempted suicide.

Irom Sharmila, 40, is protesting against the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act, which is in effect in Indian-ruled Kashmir and parts of the country's remote north-east. It gives troops the right to shoot to kill suspected rebels without fear of possible prosecution and to arrest suspected militants without a warrant. It also gives police wide-ranging powers of search and seizure.

Sharmila, who is from Manipur, one of the poorest and most violent parts of India with some of the worst social indicators, is dubbed the "Iron Lady" by her supporters and has become a rallying point for those demanding the law's repeal.

The attempted suicide charges stem from a 2006 protest she attended in New Delhi. Police took her from the protest to hospital and registered a case against her.

Sharmila had her last voluntary meal on 4 November 2000, in Imphal, capital of Manipur, one of several north-eastern states where long-running insurgent movements contest state authority. The immediate cause was a recent shooting, allegedly by the paramilitary Assam Rifles, in which 10 civilians were killed. She was arrested three days later and has been force fed through a tube in her nose ever since. Under law, she has to be released once a year to see if she will start eating. When she refuses, she is taken back into custody and force fed.

Appearing in court with her nose tube in place, she pleaded not guilty.

"I love life. I do not want to take my life, but I want justice and peace," the Press Trust of India quoted her as saying in court, which she attended after flying in from Manipur over the weekend.

The magistrate set her trial for 22 May. If convicted, she faces one year in prison.

Sharmila remained unbowed as she left the courtroom. "I will continue my fast until the special powers act is withdrawn," she said.

Sharmila's supporters demonstrated outside the court to demand the repeal of the act. "The Indian army should leave Manipur state and authorities should withdraw all the cases against her," said one protester, Sucheta Dey.

Human rights workers have accused Indian troops of using the law to detain, torture and kill rebel suspects, sometimes even staging gun battles as pretexts to kill.

The army opposes any weakening of the act, saying it needs extraordinary powers to deal with insurgents.

Ashwini Kumar, Indian law minister, defended the act, saying it was needed for conflict zones where the onus and burden of proof were not easy to resolve.

"Therefore, the opinion of the defence establishment and intelligence agencies was critical in such matters," Kumar was quoted as saying by The Hindu newspaper on Monday.

Student activists in Manipur disagree, complaining that the Indian army misuses these extraordinary powers and treats civilians as insurgents.

Kennedy Sanabam, a member of the Manipur Students' Association, said the military had failed to contain the insurgency despite these powers. "The number of insurgents has gone up," he said.

Pranshu Prakash, a research scholar in a Delhi university, said the arrest last week of an army officer in Manipur with illegal drugs worth millions of dollars suggested the special powers were being misused to carry out extortion and drug trafficking.

The law has come under fire amid India's re-evaluation of its sexual violence laws following the gang rape and killing of a student on a bus in New Delhi in December. Women's rights activists have said the law allows troops to rape women without fear of arrest or punishment.

A panel appointed by the government recommended in January that the law be re-examined and that protections be removed for soldiers accused of sexual violence. The government declined to amend the law when it approved new measures to protect women.

The law prohibits soldiers from being prosecuted for alleged rights violations unless it is expressly allowed by the federal government. According to official documents, the state government in Indian Kashmir has sought permission to try soldiers in 50 cases in the last two decades. The federal government has refused every one.

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