Among the medley of news on recently held assembly elections, one small news item said that Irom Sharmila who was fighting election against Manipur CM got only 90 votes and has quit politics now, vowing not to fight elections again.
Irom, known as "Iron Lady", had done hunger strike for 16 long years protesting against Armed Forces Special Powers Act which grants special power to the security forces to search property without warrant and arrest people on suspicion of acting against the state. Such harsh a law is applicable only in the North Eastern states and in J&K, obviously because there are powerful separatist and insurgent forces working in these regions against the republic.
Irom was not alone in her fight against AFSPA and her long hunger strike of course won't be possible without people's support for her cause. She was not untouched from politics; from Anna Hazare to Mamata Banerjee to Communist Party, all have been in touch with her in the past. Not to speak of social organizations who have rallied around her. She has received several international prizes commending her for human rights and non-violence; including Amnesty International and Asian Human Rights Commission.
It is unbelievable how she was able to manage only 90 votes.
Her 16 years long fast ended just last year in 2016; meaning she won't have lost relevance in public's memory. She was born and brought up in Manipur and lives there; meaning she was no outsider to the state. She is known all over India due to her hunger strike and her noble cause and hence the locals would definitely have positive opinion about her. The results of assembly elections including the high number of seats won by the BJP indicate that people were looking for a change. Then what happened that she got only 90 votes? Why would the masses who were with her during her hunger strike suddenly abandon her? What does her defeat tell about Indian democracy - positive or negative?
I think the fact that she lost elections in this manner tells good about Indian democracy. I guess people were aware that despite being a good person with a noble cause, she was unprepared and lacked political experience to make actual changes. Also, spending decades on a single purpose of repealing AFSPA did not raise confidence in people that she would be able to take the state forward in all counts of important issues like employment, security, health and education, which do matter to people. Her decision to "aim too high" by fighting against the CM would also have backfired against her; as people judged her by comparing her with the CM who was a senior leader. Looking at opposition party BJP's numbers, it appears that she would have done much better had she joined and fought on a BJP ticket. But the mature and "unsentimental" manner in which people discarded her as unfit in politics, speaks that Indian voters are prudent and logical. They care about their votes and don't want to spend it either on sentiments or on single causes alone.
Despite the valid reasons, one can't remain without feeling sorry for her. That is why popularity can be so dangerous - it raises the expectations so high that disappointments become more severe and damaging.
Elections are called celebrations of our democracy. Then no festival is celebrated in all homes. May the losing ones be strong and be able to get on their feet again. Because life must go on!
- Rahul
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