NEW DELHI, April 7: A press release from the Irom Sharmila Scholarship Committee has informed that the first Irom Sharmila Scholarship for 2013 has been awarded to twenty two year old Lymon Majeed from Panjipora village of Sopore district, Kashmir. Studying for an MA in Political Science at Jamia Millia Islamia, Lymon has been writing about Kashmiri experiences under AFSPA and militarism for various publications, stated the release.
The release said that the Committee received over 50 applications of which, 40 were found eligible. The others were BA students or students studying outside Delhi. The applicants came from all the states of the Northeast and Kashmir and from all the different educational institutions in Delhi. The jury short listed four people for interview including a student who had his father killed by militants, and another by the security forces. Applicants for the fellowship included several who had been displaced, those who had been shot at or picked up themselves.
The selection Committee said that the fellowship award is based on a combination of financial need, academic seriousness, suffering under AFSPA or similar laws and both present and potential contribution to the democratic struggle against AFSPA and militarism in the spirit of Irom Sharmila. The fellowship is a one-time cash award of Rs. 50,000, and is restricted to post graduate students enrolled in any University or institute in Delhi.
The jury consisted of A. Bimol Akoijam, CSSS, JNU; Kamei Aphun, Department of Sociology, Delhi University; Ujjwal Kumar Singh, Department of Political Science, Delhi University; Nandini Sundar, Department of Sociology, Delhi University, and Sameer Yasir, Islamic University of Science and Technology, Kashmir.