Irom Sharmila Urges Acid Attack Survivors to Rise Up Against AFSPA

Irom Sharmila and her husband Desmond Coutinho with acid attack survivors at cafe Sheroes, Agra. 

(Photo: The Quint)

Human rights activist and poet Irom Sharmila recently visited the Cafe Sheroes, Agra, and urged the acid attack survivors to raise their voice against the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA).

The Iron lady, accompanied by her husband Desmond Coutinho, was on a 4-day tour to the city where she maintained distance from the media. The couple paid a visit to the Taj Mahal too.

Cafe Sheroes manager Roopa said that Irom and her husband arrived in an auto and had simple food. "Before leaving, they clicked some photographs with women who work at the cafe and lauded their courage," Roopa said.

In the visitors' book, Irom wrote: "Despite enduring such atrocities, the courage with which you marched ahead, I salute that courage. Raise your voice against AFSPA, too." The couple was at the cafe for an hour.

Irom and Coutinho visited some of the oldest markets of the city and other monuments too.

Irom Sharmila and her husband Desmond Coutinho

Irom Sharmila, the iron lady, is known for a 16-year-long fast, the world's longest, against the AFSPA. During the course of her fast, she was also kept under police custody for a very long time.

Irom broke her fast in 2016 and expressed a desire to fight the AFSPA through a democratic process. She contested the election, unsuccessfully, from Manipur, receiving just 90 votes. Irom decided to leave politics after her defeat.