Social Activist Irom Sharmila In Social Work

HISTORY AND PERSPECTIVE OF SOCIAL WORK

Contribution of Social Activist Irom Sharmila in Social Work

Enrollment no R2014MH004

By

Abhijit Pathak

9/16/2014

Introduction

Social activism is demand of time which generally being observed recently in India. People were totally gave up the burden of oppression on various ground, there were limitless political, social and economic injustice done to the citizen by the corrupt politicians and various chains of bureaucrats. People were looking to each other hoping that anyone among them will put his step forward and become their leader. In last few decades’ country have seen many agitation and movements which had led to sensitizing the government and politicians also realized that there is no

She is a civil rights and political activist. She started her fast on 2 November, 2000 which turned down to be the longest hunger strike in history, she is also known as world’s longest hunger striker. She undertook this bitter measure to make Indian government to repeal its draconian law known as Armed Force (Special Powers) Act 1958. Irom Sharmila was born on 14th march 1972 in Kongal, Imphal, Manipur, India. She is the youngest of nine brothers and sisters. She studied till class XII, and never went to college. The reason for her indefinite fast starts on 2 November, 2000 when Assam rifles shot dead 10 civilians on Malom bus stop in Imphal valley, Assam rifles are one of the paramilitary force operating in the state. The next day activist took the incidence as “Malom Massacre”. After three days of her fast, she was arrested on 6th November on the charge of an attempt of committing suicide under section 309 of Indian Penal Code and later transferred to judicial custody. With her determination not to take food or water, her health deteriorated tremendously; the police then forcibly had to use nasogastric intubation in order to keep her alive while under arrest. Since then Irom Sharmila has been under a ritual of release and arrest every year since under IPC section 309, a person who "attempt to commit suicide" is punishable "with simple imprisonment for a term which may extend to one year or with fine, or with both.

Earlier Manipur was a separate country with resemblance to South Asia in terms of culture. There are two major conflicts prevalent in the state. 1) Resentment among the Manipuri’s on the forceful annexation of their princely state from them. 2) Unethical Naga outfits with their dream of having a greater Nagaland through integration of Manipur. There is a long standing issue of arm conflict between Indian state and the militants of Manipur. Thus, these conflicts generally termed as “internal disturbance” by Indian union leading to imposition of AFSPA to bring back the law and order situation. But it further worsens the situation. The AFSPA is prevalent in the state since 1980. Before understanding the rise of militants and non-cooperation, we should first understand what is special about this AFSPA. The Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act 1958 gives huge powers to the armed forces of the union; the military can shoot anyone on suspicion when an area comes under its purview. No legal action can be undertaken against the armed forces for misusing the law without prior approval of the union government. Manipur was an independent country before it had been occupied by the British in 19th century. British conquered Manipur in 1891. The first armed rebel done by Kuki group against the British in 1917. In 1939, a spontaneous uprising