Enough is enough: Irom Sharmila on political plunge

'I was and have always been a one-woman army,' she said

Musician Raghu Dixit performs at ‘Open Heart Fest 2022’ organised by St Joseph’s College on Wednesday. DH PHOTO/PUSHKAR V

Social rights activist Irom Chanu Sharmila, who held a 16-year-long hunger strike against the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act, 1958, said she fought authorities as a one-woman army.

“If you want something, you need to start working for it. You can’t wait for others to join you,” is what the ‘Iron Lady of Manipur’ said while addressing students at
St Joseph’s College during the Open Heart Fest 2022.

“I was not educated,” Sharmila said. “I was physically, academically, and financially weak. The society laughed at me and mocked me. But neither did I stop what I was doing nor did I wait for someone to come and support me. I was and have always been a one-woman army.”

“I was on a hunger strike for 16 years and I told myself ‘enough is enough’. I needed to change my strategy and that is when I decided to get into politics.”