Supporters of the campaign take out a procession in Imphal on Thursday. Picture by UB Photos

Imphal, Oct. 27: The Irom Sharmila solidarity march that began in Srinagar on October 16 reached Imphal today after passing through 10 states, marking the beginning of further campaign against the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act.

The 4,500km march was carried out under Save Sharmila Jan Karwan: Srinagar to Imphal and was participated by social activists from various states, including Maharashtra, Gujarat, Delhi, Madhya Pradesh and Bihar.

Activist Medha Patkar flagged off the march in Srinagar on October 16 and the participants include professionals like engineers and businessmen. The team travelled by train and bus and organised rallies in the 10 states they passed through.

The activists left Guwahati yesterday afternoon and reached Imphal by bus. Supporters of Sharmila and rights activists received the marchers near the northern gate of Imphal city’s Kangla Fort before they took out a rally till Kongpal Kongkham Leikai, Sharmila’s birthplace in Imphal East.

The marchers chanted “Irom Sharmila Zindabad”, “Sharmila bachana hei, Armed Forces Special Powers Act hattana hei” during the 3km march, heavily guarded by armed police personnel.

The 28-member team, including eight women, was “furious” that the Manipur government has not given them permission to meet Irom Sharmila, who is now in judicial custody.

Sharmila, who is in the security ward of Jawaharlal Nehru Institute of Medical Sciences in Imphal under the constant care of medical personnel, is surviving on nasal feeding.

The team applied for permission from chief secretary D.S. Poonia for meeting Sharmila. Irom Singhajit, a leader of the Just Peace Foundation, Imphal, said the permission was yet to be given.

The marchers said they would spend tomorrow fasting in Imphal on Ningol Chakkouba Day, one of the largest festivals of Manipur.

Enjoying a sumptuous meal in each Meitei house is the main highlight of the festival. “Every government office, every corner of the country has Mahatma Gandhi’s photo or statue. However, the government is keeping satyagraha in cold storage by ignoring Sharmila’s hunger strike, the true image of Gandhiji’s satyagraha,” Mukta Srivastava, a Mumbai-based activist of the National Alliance for Peoples Movement, said addressing a gathering at the local club at Kongpal Kongkham Leikai.

The team members said reaching Imphal did not end the campaign.

“We will take off from Imphal. We will tell the nation after we go back what Sharmila wants and what the people of the Northeast want,” Santosh Upadhyay, a prisoners’ rights activist from Bihar, said.

Sharmila began her hunger strike in November 2000 demanding the repeal of the army act after the killing of 10 civilians by Assam Rifles personnel in Imphal West that month. Supporters of Sharmila around the world will hold a daylong hunger strike and demonstrations on November 6, marking the completion of 11 years of Sharmila’s fast and also to lend voice to the demand for repeal of the act.

Seram Rojesh, Delhi coordinator of the Sharmila campaign, said 16 states have confirmed participation in the daylong programme.