By A Staff Reporter
IMPHAL, May 2:Irom Chanu Sharmila, who was produced before the Court of the Judicial Magistrate First Class (JMIC) today said that her right and freedom to speech was being denied.
She was commenting on the Government`s answer to the request of the N Special Rapporteur on Violence against women, its causes and consequences (UNSRVAW) seeking to meet her by stating that the process of the application could not be completed on time.
“I am only a helpless prisoner and my right to expression is being curtailed. We live in a land where the condition of life is indescribable,” she replied.
“The refusal to the application for meeting me is denial of my fundamental right to expression by the government. This is because the administrators are weak,” she said. Irom Sharmila further added that she had refused to be produced before the Court of the Judicial Magistrate First Class (JMIC) for her periodic 15 day appearance as her court visit only caused inconvenience to the security personnel but achievednothing for her demand for the repeal of the Armed Forces Special Powers Act.
When asked to comment on the report that the UNSRVAW will be submiting to the UN and her hope on the outcome, Irom Sharmila replied that the mentality of the people in the state could not be changed by the UNSRVAW. “It is only when the mentality of the people in the state change, that the efforts by others can be pushed to convert into action,” she said before she was led from the Court premises to the waiting ambulance.