Burning Bright: Irom Sharmila And The St

Irom Sharmila has been on a fast unto death for eight years demanding a repeal of the draconian Armed Forces Special Powers Act in Manipur. Ten innocent people were mowed down by security forces in Malom a village near Imphal in November 2000. The perpetrators were not punished protected under the Armed Forces Special Powers Act which empowers military and para-military personnel to arrest shoot even kill anyone on the grounds of mere suspicion. In response to this tragedy—one among many such atrocities—Irom Sharmila a young Manipuri began an indefinite hunger strike. The government arrested her and force-fed her through nasal tubes. She has been released and re-arrested innumerable times since then but has stood by her demand steadfastly refusing to eat until the Act is repealed.. Burning Bright is a hard-hitting account of a people caught between the crossfire of militants and security forces; of a once- sovereign kingdom whose culture has been brutally violated; of the many voices of dissent— from underground groups to the Meira Paibis a women’s movement opposed to all forms of violence whether by the state or insurgents and a moving portrait of ‘the Iron Lady of Manipur’.