Date:13/12/2006 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2006/12/13/stories/2006121305361200.htm

National

Lok Sabha asks Sharmila to end fast

Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI: The Lok Sabha on Tuesday appealed to human rights activist Irom Sharmila to end her indefinite fast demanding repeal of the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) from Manipur.

"We all appeal to Irom Sharmila to call off her fast," Speaker Somnath Chatterjee said. The matter was raised by P.A. Sangma (NCP), who drew the attention of the House to Ms. Sharmila's "critical" condition. She was admitted to the All-India Institute of Medical Sciences where she was being force-fed.

Ms. Sharmila has been on a fast for the last six yearsand survives now only because of her arrest by the Government and force-feeding, he added.

Mr. Sangma said that when Prime Minister Manmohan Singh visited Manipur recently, he only spoke of the amendments to the Act and not its repeal. The Act had failed to serve the purpose because when it was enacted in 1958 there was only one militant organisation while there are more than 24 now.