Irom Sharmila wants to be Manipur CM to fight against AFSPA

Guwahati: The Iron Lady of Manipur  — Irom Chanu Sharmila was released by a court on Tuesday in Imphal on a personal bond and assurance to break her 16-year old fast demanding repeal of Armed Forces Special Powers Act (Afspa) in Manipur.

Ms Sharmila appeared before the court of Chief Judicial Magistrate of Imphal West, Lamk-hanpau Tonsing on Tuesday and was granted bail on personal bond of Rs 10,000.

Those present when she broke her fast said, “With her first taste of food, she winced, then broke down and wept for several moments.” A section of her supporters and family members are not happy over the way Ms Sharmila decided to break her fast.

Bombarded with questions about her political future and her plans, the 44-year-old Ms Sharmila said, “This is my life. I want equality... I am called the Iron Lady of Manipur and I want to live up to it.”

She reasserted that she wants to contest the Manipur election next year as an independent candidate. “I want to be the chief minister of Manipur to make positive changes..... If I become chief minister, the first thing I will do is to remove the AFSPA,” she told reporters here.

She has already announced that she wants to marry. For years, she has exchanged letters with Desmond Coutinho, a Goa-based British citizen who has also met her. Asked whether she was a woman in love, Ms Sharmila replied, “It is natural.”

Earlier in a brief remark to the media while waiting for her release order, she said, “I am being seen as a strange woman. Why can't people see me as an ordinary person? I am cut off from everyone.”