GAUHATI, India – A woman opposed to sweeping powers granted to the
military in India's northeast has spent 10 years on a hunger
strike.
Irom Sharmila is alive because Manipur state authorities have
been force-feeding her through her nose. She was arrested after she
began to refuse food and water on Nov. 4, 2000 to protest the Armed
Forces Special Powers Act.
The act allows the military to arrest or kill anyone suspected
of being a rebel.
Thursday marks the 10th year of her hunger strike, which she
began after soldiers gunned down 10 civilians near a bus stop.
Manipur's insurgent groups demand autonomy or independence for
the northeast state of 2 million people that borders Myanmar.
http://sg.news.yahoo.com/ap/20101104/twl-as-india-decade-hunger-strike-d8d2a8b.html