The Troubles republican prisoners led to more than 500 of them in the Maze prison initiating the "blanket" and "dirty" protests. Their protests culminated in hunger strikes in 1980 and 1981, aimed at the restoration of political status, as well as other concessions. In the 1981 Irish hunger strike, ten republican prisoners (seven from the Provisional IRA and three from the INLA) died of starvation. The first hunger striker to die, Bobby Sands, was elected to Parliament on an Anti-H-Block ticket, as was his election agent Owen Carron following Sands' death. The hunger strikes resonated among many nationalists; over 100,000 people attended
Students' hunger strike at the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests for involvement. This speech became the basis of the "Declaration of a Hunger Strike", which contained the "Hunger Strike Manifesto". By the time students entered the square to begin the strike, there were 800 people participating. The hunger strike was meant to force dialogue with the government by occupying the square before Gorbachev's arrival on May 15. The official goals of the students are outlined in the "Hunger Strike Manifesto", which was distributed throughout Beijing using cassette tapes and handbills. Below is the "Hunger Strike Manifesto": The formation of the Hunger Strike Committee occurred on May 15. The committee was