One of India’s most prominent political activists ended a 16-year hunger strike Tuesday, licking honey from her hand and declaring “I will never forget this moment.”
Indian political activist Irom Sharmila licks honey from her hand to break her fast in Imphal, north-eastern Indian state of Manipur, India, Tuesday, Aug. 9, 2016. One of India’s most prominent political activists ended a 16-year hunger strike Tuesday, licking honey from her hand and declaring “I will never forget this moment.” Sharmila had been force-fed through a tube in her nose and held by police since November 2000, when she began her fast to protest a draconian security law that gives immense power to security forces in the northeastern state of Manipur. (AP Photo/Anupam Nath)
Irom Sharmila had been force-fed through a tube in her nose and held by police since November 2000, when she began her fast to protest a draconian security law that gives immense power to security forces in the northeastern state of Manipur.
Earlier Tuesday, a judge had granted her bail after she assured him that she planned to end her fast.
Hours later, she appeared at a news conference, the nose tube already removed, and tasted the honey.
She said she plans to run in the next Manipur state elections, in early 2017, to fight to have the security act struck down.
“I need power to remove this act,” said Sharmila, 44. “I am the real embodiment of revolution.”
Asked how she felt to finally eat, she said “I will never forget this moment.”
She began her fast days after 10 civilians were killed by paramilitary soldiers in Manipur, which has long been plagued by uprisings by ethnic separatist militants and violent government crackdowns.
In this Oct. 5, 2006 photo, Irom Sharmila is attended to by supporters at a protest to demand the repeal of the Armed Forces Special Powers Act in her home state of Manipur, in New Delhi, India. (AP Photo/Gurinder Osan)
Supporters of Irom Sharmila, unseen, who has been on a decade-long hunger strike protesting an anti-terror law, shout slogans in her favor after being barred from entering the court premises as Sharmila is produced there, in New Delhi, India, Monday, March 4, 2013. (AP Photo/Saurabh Das)
She was charged with attempting suicide, a crime in India, allowing officials to force feed her.
Sharmila announced last week that she planned to end the fast and run for political office.
On Tuesday, an official with Amnesty International India said the fast was “a testament to her passion for human rights.”
“The government arrested her, confined her to a hospital room and force fed her for 16 years, seemingly to break her will. There was zero dialogue. A peaceful protest was criminalized,” said the official, Abhirr VP.
The Armed Forces Special Powers Act is in effect in Indian-ruled Kashmir and in a number of northeastern areas facing separatist insurgencies. The law gives security forces the right to shoot to kill suspected rebels without fear of possible prosecution and to arrest suspected militants without warrants. It also gives police wide-ranging powers of search and seizure.
The act prohibits soldiers from being prosecuted for alleged rights violations except with express permission from the federal government. Such prosecutions are rare.
Manipur, like some other parts of the northeast, faces unrest from separatist militant groups fighting for ethnic enclaves or independent states. Most northeasterners are ethnically more tied to China or Myanmar than they are to most of India.
A portrait of Irom Sharmila, center, hangs on a wall with other family photographs at her home in Imphal, northeastern Manipur state, India, Monday, Aug.8, 2016. The 44-year-old activist has been on a hunger strike for nearly 16 years to protest alleged brutality by India’s military. (AP Photo/Anupam Nath)
A security officer gestures as he objects to taking photographs outside the Jawaharlal Nehru hospital where Indian activist Irom Sharmila has been kept in judicial custody in Imphal, northeastern Manipur state, India, Monday, Aug. 8, 2016. (AP Photo/Anupam Nath)
Irom Sakhi Devi, 84, mother of Irom Sharmila, sits as Irom Sunibala, 27, an air hostess and niece of Irom Sharmila who has arrived to meet Sharmila on Tuesday stands at her home in Imphal, northeastern Manipur state, India, Monday, Aug. 8, 2016. (AP Photo/Anupam Nath)
Irom Sakhi Devi, 84, mother of Indian activist Irom Sharmila, looks on as media persons interview her at her home in Imphal, northeastern Manipur state, India, Monday, Aug. 8, 2016. (AP Photo/Anupam Nath)
Irom Sakhi Devi, 84, mother of Indian activist Irom Sharmila, holds and cleans a portrait of her daughter as media persons interview her at her home in Imphal, northeastern Manipur state, India, Monday, Aug. 8, 2016. (AP Photo/Anupam Nath)
A security man, center, objects to taking photographs at the Jawaharlal Nehru hospital where Indian activist Irom Sharmila has been kept in judicial custody in Imphal, northeastern Manipur state, India, Monday, Aug. 8, 2016. (AP Photo/Anupam Nath)
Singhjit Singh, 58, elder brother of Irom Sharmila talks on a mobile phone to a foreign media at her home in Imphal, northeastern Manipur state, India, Monday, Aug. 8, 2016. (AP Photo/Anupam Nath)
Irom Sakhi Devi, 84, mother of Indian activist Irom Sharmila, walks at her home in Imphal, northeastern Manipur state, India, Monday, Aug. 8, 2016. (AP Photo/Anupam Nath)
Activist Irom Sharmila is taken back to a hospital after a court appearance in Imphal, in the north-eastern state of Manipur, India, Tuesday, Aug. 9, 2016. (AP Photo/Anupam Nath)
Activist Irom Sharmila is taken back to a hospital in an ambulance after a court appearance in Imphal, in the north-eastern state of Manipur, India, Tuesday, Aug. 9, 2016. (AP Photo/Anupam Nath)
A Manipuri human rights activist shouts against the decision of Irom Sharmila to break her fast, in Imphal, north-eastern Indian state of Manipur, India, Monday, Aug. 9, 2016. (AP Photo/Anupam Nath)
Locals watch Indian political activist Irom Sharmila break her fast in Imphal, north-eastern Indian state of Manipur, India, Tuesday, Aug. 9, 2016. (AP Photo/Anupam Nath)
Indian political activist Irom Sharmila picks up a bottle of honey to break her fast in Imphal, north-eastern Indian state of Manipur, India, Tuesday, Aug. 9, 2016. (AP Photo/Anupam Nath)
Indian political activist Irom Sharmila licks honey from her hand to break her fast in Imphal, north-eastern Indian state of Manipur, India, Tuesday, Aug. 9, 2016. One of India’s most prominent political activists ended a 16-year hunger strike Tuesday, licking honey from her hand and declaring “I will never forget this moment.” Sharmila had been force-fed through a tube in her nose and held by police since November 2000, when she began her fast to protest a draconian security law that gives immense power to security forces in the northeastern state of Manipur. (AP Photo/Anupam Nath)
Indian political activist Irom Sharmila, bottom center, holds a press conference after breaking her fast in Imphal, north-eastern Indian state of Manipur, India, Tuesday, Aug. 9, 2016. (AP Photo/Anupam Nath)
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