New Delhi: On the eve of International Human Rights Day (10th Dec.) a human chain was formed at India Gate in New Delhi today to showcase the plight of Irom Sharmila and human rights violation mostly caused by Armed Forces Special Power Act or AFSPA.
Volunteers of Save Sharmila Solidarity Campaign (SSSC), a nation-wide struggle to protest against the neglect and suppression of Irom Sharmila, a Manipuri human rights activist who has been on a hunger strike against AFSPA in Manipur for 12 years now, organized a human chain and appealed to the Government to open talks with her.
For over a year, SSSC has been organizing public demonstrations, candle-light vigils, signature campaigns, caravans and awareness programs in colleges across the nation and beyond.
Ravi Nitesh, one of the organizers of the human chain, remarked that it is “a way to spread the word among the citizens about a fellow citizen. Irom Sharmila has been struggling for 12 years to argue for rights which are given to everyone else in the country”.
Mohammad Tanveer, member of SSSC added: “She is not just a citizen but a truth democrat. Her ongoing struggle shows her faith in the democratic institutions of the country. But the Government has chosen to neglect her non-violent and democratic voice. We ask why?”
Shaheen Muhammad, another organizer, argued that, “When the Government can talk to naxals and terrorists. Why can’t they talk to someone who has been on a non-violent struggle for rights of people? It is shocking that in these 12 years, the Government has not sent even one delegation to meet her.
Pankaj Pathak stated that, “On human rights day, this human chain symbolizes another blot on the World’s largest democracy. We support Irom and her struggle as we believe that every citizen of this country deserves the same rights and privileges.”
Another volunteer, Shekhar Jain, argued that, “For over a year, we have been organizing activities to spread the word about her struggle and we have hardly come across a person who has been unsympathetic towards her struggle and her people. So the logic of the Government that people are unsympathetic and insensitive towards North-east states is quite a myth.”