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Resilience Personified - Irome Sharmila

M C Raj

She is a living symbol of many buried aspirations. She is a symbol of the

surging anger against uncontainable atrocities and denial of dignity and rights.She effectively symbolizes the protest and the need for protest against thetype of misgovernance that a huge nation like India can hand out to hercitizens in the name of democracy. She is the signpost of the need for dissentin democracy. She is also the tip of the iceberg that lays buried in a vastocean of women power against mindless exploitation and oppression of apeople with their specific identity and culture. India treats the people of NorthEast as second-class citizens without much respect. She is exposing theinability of a boasting government to govern her people in an inclusive way.

The first time I landed in Imphal some 15 years ago it was a sort of shock thatgenerally one does not witness in a democracy. Is democracy also anillusion? It was difficult to wish away the thought amidst the flag march ofmilitary men on the otherwise peaceful streets. Were the people given anassurance that the military was being used to protect them? Not at all! It wasthe other way. People were frightened to their last nerve at the sight of themilitary men who could get hold of any young and good looking girl to make asexual feast for themselves in their barracks. The beasts that had militaryuniform were ruthlessly undisciplined. The women of Manipur had to baretheir breasts and expose their vaginas to the military men demanding to beraped in the gates of their camp. If they did not get a girl they were pouncing

on young men to satiate their thirst for raw blood. They can kill at their will thepeople of North East.

Before we go into the underlying issues of North East we need to recognizeand appreciate this great woman of history who has espoused a cause not outof any compulsion nor out of a bloated ego, not guided by any ideology or ismbut simply out of a spontaneous rise of emotive love for her people, especiallyfor the women of North East. The one evil that egged her on to give a fight tothe finish is the draconian measure of the Indian Government, the freehandgiven to Indian military terrorism. The name is AFSPA, Armed Forces SpecialPowers Act. She has manifested unprecedented courage. The enemy she

faces is the anaconda that can easily devour a people with their rights anddignity and pretend as if nothing has happened to anyone. Surviving 12 longyears with force-feeding by the Army not to let her die only because it willbring a bad name to the government is not an easy joke. Very symbolic notallowing the people to live, not allowing them to die.

No doubt that North East is strategically very significant for India to preventeasy Chinese aggression. Geographical positioning! We have no grudgeagainst the government of India on that score. In fact preventing externalaggression and protecting the borders of the nation is the legitimate duty ofthe army. But why heap so much of indignity and inflict violence on the people

of North East? They have nothing to do with external aggression of enemyforces. America has very easily changed the role of military all over the world

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from protecting nations from enemy aggression to suppressing the democraticaspirations of people within the borders of the nation. Any unrest withinnations is dealt with ruthlessly by the use of armed forces. The Militarybecomes the biting dog of the government vis--vis its own citizens.

Why the unrest? In 1991 when Indira Gandhi let loose the Indian Army on thePakistani Military in support of Shaik Mujibur Rahman and createdBangladesh she was hailed as the strongest woman Prime Minister of theworld. Rightly so! We had deep appreciation for Madam Indira Gandhi. Butthat was only till we knew what happened to the people of Tripura in the nameof ethnic swamping. Mujib and Indira entered into an agreement that Hindusliving in the then Bangladesh should be taken into India and Muslims living inWest Bengal should be sent to East Bengal (Bangladesh). It would have beenfairer if Madam Gandhi had brought the Hindus from Bangladesh and settledthem in West Bengal. But what she did was to settle all the Hindu Bengalis inTripura. The consequence? The Indigenous people of Tripura became a

minority of only 30% as the newly settled Bengalis became the majority with70%. From then on the people of Tripura have become strangers in their owncountry.

The natural resources of North East, rich in forest wealth, were plunderedeasily to be used in mainland India. What did India give in return to the peopleof North East? A step motherly attitude denying their rights, economicdevelopment and denial of dignity and rights! All these were the residues of adominant democracy imbibed evangelically from capitalistic nation stateformation. Added to their woe was the systematic denial of their rights at theUN by the government of India totally refusing to accept the existence ofIndigenous People in India. The lingering doubt in many peoples mind is thatwhether India treats people of North East in such inhuman way just becausethey have gone to Christianity in large numbers.

Whatever that may be, branding of the youth of North East as militants andkilling them is a bye product of its own misgovernance of the people of theregion. The mechanisms are the same in Kashmir too. Reduce people withdifferent identity to mere shit, they begin to protest and retaliate when theycan, brand them as terrorists, introduce the Army into their daily life, take theshit out of them by terrorising them and legitimize state violence as a counter

step to terrorist outfits. Country after country, all over the world this isstereotyped and yet most people in the world believe that the State is thelegitimate upholder of peoples rights. Keep blaming the people for all theirinternal dissensions when they try to organize themselves.

Irome Sharmila is a huge reminder to the entire world of how the Statebehaves to its citizens in unjust and mean ways. While it can easilyunderstand the point of Irome, the Indian government has opted to make herdead even while keeping her alive. That she is not allowed either to die or tolive her life is a grim reminder to all citizens of India as to how the nation statecan turn completely callous and ruthless when it comes to safeguarding the

interests of the dominant class it tries to safeguard. Irome Sharmila may beliving her life much against her wish, but in that very vegetable life she

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reminds every citizen of India of the abysmal level to which Indian democracyand governance has lowered itself. In as much as Indian citizens refuse tosee this reality they are writing the edict of doom for their future generations.

The way the rest of India keeps such calculated indifference to the fate that

has befallen Irome Sahrmila and North East reminds me of what is verycommonly quoted everywhere: First they came for the Jews and I did notspeak out because I was not a Jew. Then they came for the Communistsand I did not speak out because I was not a Communist. Then they camefor the trade unionists and I did not speak out because I was not a tradeunionist. Then they came for me and there was no one left to speak outfor me.

I do hope that we shall write an obituary for Irome when she dies, as we havebeen quite indifferent to the cause that she has espoused. I am sure thatNobel Prize and other awards will be an insult on her as we have been silent

spectators of the way the Indian government is dancing on the living bodies ofthe people the North East. Governance has to be done by elected members,Parliament and Legislative Assemblies. AFSPA has subverted it and hasroped in military in the mechanism of governance. This is not democracy andthis is not democratic governance. The sooner the Government of Indiawithdraws AFSPA and all draconian laws, the better will be democracy andgovernance. Contradictions of Indian democracy one woman fastinghelplessly as a protest and another woman containing the protest witharrogant military power at her disposal!