Irom Sharmila under medical supervision; on liquid diet

Imphal: Manipur’s ‘Iron Lady’ Irom Sharmila, who broke her 16-year-old hunger strike on Tuesday, is now under supervision at Jawaharlal Nehru Institute of Medical Sciences (JNIMS) and has been put on a special liquid diet. A senior JNIMS doctor told PTI that Sharmila was under supervision of their doctors since she had been on fast for so many years and was not in a position to shift to solid food immediately. [caption id=“attachment_1677035” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  File image of Irom Sharmila. AFP[/caption] She is being administered liquid diet and perhaps would have to stay in the hospital room for some more days for medical back-up support until she is in a situation to take solid food and recover physically, the doctor said. Meanwhile, armed police personnel were posted in the hospital compound in the wake of security threat to the activist with some groups opposing her decision to end the fast, a police officer said. Outside a government hospital, a room of which was turned into a jail for her, the 44-year-old iconic rights activist turned emotional as she licked honey from her palm on Tuesday to end the fast that she undertook in protest against the Armed Forces Special Powers Act(AFSPA). “I want to be the chief minister of Manipur to make positive changes….. If I become chief minister, the first thing I will do is to remove the AFSPA,” she had told reporters. Imphal West district’s chief judicial magistrate Lamkhanpau Tonsing had on Tuesday in his order said as the offence under section 309 (attempt to suicide) was a bailable offence, he was inclined to allow Sharmila on bail on her furnishing a personal bond of Rs 10,000. After the bond was furnished, it was accepted by the court and a release order issued. Sharmila would appear before the court again on 23 August.