Renewing Solidarities, Towards Justice, Peace, and Hope

In solidarity with Irom Sharmila and the struggle for the repeal of AFSPA

On 9 August 2016 Irom Sharmila will give up her fast, which she began in November 2000 to demand the repeal of Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act (AFSPA). In solidarity and deep respect for Irom Sharmila’s non-violent struggle and her indomitable spirit, and in support of her decision to give up her fast and continue the struggle through other means, Forum for Social Justice, Hyderabad is holding a solidarity meet on 9 August 2016 at Lamakaan at 7.30 pm. Drawing on a relic of the British legal system’s attempt to crush the Quit India movement in 1942, the government of independent India promulgated the AFSPA in 1958 and subsequently imposed it in several parts of the country. The Act empowers the Government to declare any area as disturbed for any length of time without provision for review. It gives vast powers to even a constable to shoot anyone on mere suspicion, to arrest without warrant and to search and seize. The armed forces acting under the Act have virtual impunity from criminal persecution. Protests against human rights abuses by the armed forces and demands for the repeal of AFSPA have been longstanding and have echoed from different parts of the country, most urgently from the northeastern states of Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, and Tripura and from Jammu and Kashmir which have suffered these abuses the most. The most recent indictment of the AFSPA has come from a Supreme Court judgement in a 2012 case filed by the Extra Judicial Execution Victim Families Association (EEVFAM) alleging 1,528 fake encounters in Manipur since the 1980s. The Court ordered investigation into six cases, all of which were proved to be fake encounters: killing of innocent persons, by armed forces or police commandos. The Court has ruled that all the remaining cases must be thoroughly probed. Irom Sharmila’s struggle is located alongside these larger battles being waged by people’s movements for justice, democracy, human rights and state accountability. Her decision to continue her struggle for the repeal of AFSPA through other means enables us to reflect on the expanding possibilities of protest and struggle in today’s times. It enables reflection on established legal principles in a democratic state, their functioning, their limits and their excesses; as well as accountability in the rule of law. Most importantly, it enables us to reflect on the unfailing nature of hope, love and solidarity as integral to struggle. On 9 August we invite all of you to salute Irom Sharmila's fight against this draconian law and pledge our solidarity in the struggle to repeal it. Join us as we share poems, extracts from court judgements, songs, and reflections on struggle and hope.

• All are welcome