Irom Chanu Sharmila Went on a 16-Year Long Hunger Strike
Sometimes, people will fast as a form of “hunger strike” to prove a point or try to enact some sort of social change. Gandhi was famous for taking multiple hunger strikes in the name of non-violence. But one woman named Irom Chanu Sharmila also known as the “Iron Lady of Manipur” is an Indian civil rights activist. In the year 2000, she started a hunger strike to end India’s Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act, 1958. This law allowed the Indian government to search houses without a warrant, and even use deadly force. Her fasting lasted for 16 long years. She was forced-fed in jail through a nasal tube, which is the only reason why she survived for so long without eating. In India, attempted to commit suicide is considered a crime. This is why Irom was arrested over and over again, because starving herself was seen as suicide.
How did we find this stuff? Here are our sources:
Fasting Girls: The History of Anorexia Nervosa. Joan Jacobs Brumberg. 2000.
Who were the fasting girls? Messy Nessy Chic. Francky Knapp. 2020.
The Wonder. Emma Donoghue. 2017.
The Welsh Fasting Girl. Varley O’Conner. 2019.
The strange case of Josephine Marie Bedard, a young lady, stout and active, who has eaten nothing for seven years. Webber C.H. 1889.