Irom Sharmila decides to end her 16-year long fast, fight elections

July 26, 2016

Imphal, Jul 26: Human Rights activist Irom Chanu Sharmila on Tuesday announced she would end her fast-unto-death protest on August 9 against the controversial Armed Forces Specials Powers Act (Afspa), after more than 16 years.

sharmila1

Speaking to media outside the Imphal court, the 43-year-old said would instead contest elections.

“I will break my fast as the government has failed to give any positive response... I will fight elections to resolve the issues,” she told a news agency.

Known as the Iron Lady of Manipur', Sharmila spent years being force-fed by the government through her nose as she called for the repealment of the act. She had been arrested under Section 309 of the Indian Penal Code on charges of attempt to commit suicide and held at a prison hospital.

Sharmila began her non-violent protest in November 2000 after 10 people were killed by troops of the Assam Rifles near a bus stop at Malom, in the outskirt of Imphal.

The Afspa 1958 covers large parts of northeastern India and Kashmir, and gives security forces sweeping powers to search and shoot on sight. Seen by critics as a cover for human rights abuses, Sharmila was one of the strongest voices opposing the act.

Earlier this month, the Supreme Court strongly rebuked the army, saying it cannot use “excessive or retaliatory force” even in troubled areas. With regards to Manipur, it said the situation was never a “war-like” threat to national security that warranted the act.

The apex court further directed a thorough probe into alleged fake encounter killings there.

Comments

ahmed
 - 
Tuesday, 26 Jul 2016

Join S.D.P.I and contest in the upcoming election surely you will win.

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.
coastaldigest.com news network
June 14,2020

Newsroom, Jun 14: Bollywood star Sushant Singh Rajput, who was found dead in his house in Mumbai’s Bandra today, was heartbroken after the death of his former manager Disha Salian.

34-year-old actor had posted a heartfelt note after her death: “It’s such devastating news. My deepest condolences to Disha’s family and friends. May your soul rest in peace.” 

The police are considering 28-year-old Disha’s death as an accidental one and the investigation is on to find if it was a suicide. She died after falling off the 14th floor of a building in Malad, Mumbai on June 8.

It is not yet known if there is any connection between the two deaths. Sushant’s house help reportedly found him hanging inside his room on Sunday and cops are investigating the case. He was recently seen in Nitesh Tiwari’s Chhichhore and more recently on Netflix opposite Jacqueline Fernandez in Drive.

Who is Disha Salian?

Disha Salian hails from Karnataka’s coastal district of Udupi. She was born in 1992 into a business family background. She reportedly migrated to Mumbai with her family at an early age. 

After completing her education, she worked in the Times of India Group for more than three years. She went on to become the celebrity manager at Media Vantage.

Apart from Sushant, she had great links with many popular celebrities like Bharti Singh, Alisha Panwar, and others.

Comments

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.
News Network
May 18,2020

Dubai, May 18: An Indian working in a mining company in the UAE has become the latest expatriate to have lost his job for hate-filled social media posts targeting Islam and Muslims.

Brajkishore Gupta was fired without notice for calling Indian Muslims 'coronavirus spreaders' and hailing the Delhi violence as 'divine justice' in his Facebook posts.

Gupta, who is from Chapra, Bihar, was employed by Stevin Rock, a mining company headquartered in Ras Al Khaimah city.

"This isolated incident involving a junior employee was investigated and dealt with immediately resulting in the termination without notice of this person's employment with Stevin Rock," said the company's business development and exploration manager Jean-Francois Milian.

"Our company policy supports the direction of the UAE government in promoting tolerance and equality and strongly renouncing racism and discrimination and we have sent communications to all of our employees irrespective of their religious or ethnic background reminding them that any such behaviour is unacceptable and will lead to immediate dismissal," Milian was quoted as saying in the report.

Three Indians based in the UAE were either fired or suspended from their jobs for "Islamophobic" posts on social media early this month.

On April 20, India's ambassador to the UAE Pavan Kapoor had warned Indian expatriates against such behaviour.

"India and UAE share the value of non-discrimination on any grounds. Discrimination is against our moral fabric and the Rule of law. Indian nationals in the UAE should always remember this," he said in a tweet.

Last month, Sharjah-based businessman Sohan Roy had to apologise for "unintentionally hurting religious sentiments" through his poem, which alluded to a Muslim religious group.

In March, chef Trilok Singh was fired from a restaurant in Dubai for an online threat against a student in Delhi over her views on the Citizenship Amendment Act.

Comments

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.
News Network
May 9,2020

New Delhi, May 9: The Finance Ministry on Friday announced relief to those who have been facing difficulty with their residency status in India under section 6 of the Income-tax Act due to lockdown and suspension of international flights owing to COIVD-19 outbreak, as they have had to prolong their stay in India.

According to a Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) release, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman today allowed discounting of prolonged stay period in India for the purpose of determining residency status after considering various representations received from people who had to prolong their stay in India due to lockdown and suspension of international flights.

They expressed concern that they will be required to file tax returns as Indian residents and not as NRIs after 120 days of stay.

The Finance Ministry stated that the lockdown continues during the financial year 2020-21 and it is not yet clear when international flight operations would resume, a circular excluding the period of stay of these individuals up to the date of resumption of international flight operations shall be issued for determination of the residential status for the financial year 2020-21.

A circular also said that in order to avoid genuine hardship in such cases, the CBDT has decided that for the purposes of determining the residential status under section 6 of the Act during the previous year 2019-20 in respect of an individual who has come to India on a visit before March 22, 2020 and:

(a) has been unable to leave India on or before March 31, 2020, his period of stay in India from March 22, 2020 to March 31, 2020 shall not be taken into account; or

(b) has been quarantined in India on account of novel coronavirus (Covid-19) on or after March 1, 2020 and has departed on an evacuation flight on or before March 31, 2020 or has been unable to leave India on or before March 31, 2020, his period of stay from the beginning of his quarantine to his date of departure or March 31, 2020, as the case may be, shall not be taken into account; or

(c) has departed on an evacuation flight on or before March 31, 2020, his period of stay in India from March 22, 2020 to his date of departure shall not be taken into account."

The release said there are number of individuals who had come on a visit to India during the previous year 2019-20 for a particular duration and intended to leave India before the end of the previous year for maintaining their status as non-resident or not ordinary resident in India.

"However, due to declaration of the lockdown and suspension of international flights owing to outbreak of COVID-19, they are required to prolong their stay in India. The status of an individual whether he is resident in India or a non-resident or not ordinarily resident, is dependent, inter-alia, on the period for which the person is in India during a year," it said.

Comments

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.