By IANS,
New Delhi : Manipuri social activist Irom Sharmila, on a fast for about 12 years demanding the repeal of the Armed Forces Special Powers Act, Monday refused to plead guilty to attempting suicide in a Delhi court which framed charges against her.
Metropolitan Magistrate Akash Jain framed charges against Sharmila for attempting to commit suicide and issued show cause notice to the activists who takes feed through a food pipe.
She told the court that she “loves life and does not want to take my own life”.
Sharmila, who was present in the court, denied that she attempted suicide while fasting at Jantar Mantar here in 2006.
She said: “I only want justice.”
“If I wanted to commit suicide I might have died. My protest was non-violent for my demand, just to live as human being,” she added.
She appeared before the court under penal provisions for attempt to commit suicide while her fast in Delhi.
The court posted the matter for May 22 for recording of prosecution’s evidence in the case relating to her fast-unto-death which started Oct 4, 2006 at Jantar Mantar for demanding the revocation of the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA).
The court told Sharmila: “We respect you but the law of the land does not permit you to take your life.”
Asked if she tried to commit suicide, she replied: “No”.
The court earlier told her counsel to explain to her that maximum punishment in the case was a few months to a year and that she had been in custody for more than six years, so if she pleads guilty, the case would be settled Monday.
Sharmila, after discussions with her counsel, told the court: “If AFSPA will be repealed by the government then only I will take food and will throw away the food pipe.”
The magistrate told her: “This is a political process. Here I am concerned with this case only.”
The counsel told the court that Sharmila has been protesting for the last 12 years in the “most non-violent way like Mahatma Gandhi”.
She is fasting for the people of Manipur as they are being neglected by the government, said the counsel, requesting the court that she should not be asked to appear in court again and again due to her medical condition.
Meanwhile, her supporters staged a protest outside gate no.2 of Patiala House Court complex.
Demanding revocation of the AFSPA, over 30 supporters of Manipur’s “Iron Lady”, as Sharmila is popularly known, gathered outside the court Monday morning and raised slogans in support of her campaign.
Talking to reporters outside the court, Sharmila said: “I am doing this for the society and other AFSPA-affected states but we are the citizens of a democratic country and so my demand is for the rights of a democratic citizen who needs justice.”
On whether the government will agree to her demands, Sharmila said: “They (government) will listen. It will take time. It depends upon the movement of people because we are citizens of a democratic society.”
“I am just a simple woman. I want to follow the non-violent principle of Gandhiji, the father of the nation. Just treat us also like him and do not discriminate. As a leadership, don’t be biased against a human being,” she added.
Sharmila, in an interview, told CNN-IBN: “I am taking personal pain to send a message for the betterment, for peace environment. I want to tell the whole universe in a non-violent way.”
She was flown to Delhi from Manipur Sunday.