In the history of ‘fasting until death’ in India, Jagjit Singh Dallewal is currently one of the longest periods of fasting. political news

In the political history of independent India, fasting was a means of protest against various issues. During the freedom struggle, Mahatma Gandhi described fasting as “a great weapon in the satyagraha arsenal” and staged this form of protest at least 20 times. His longest hunger strike was in 1943, when he fasted for 21 days in response to detention due to disturbances caused during the Quit India Movement.

The first major fasting demonstration in independent India took place in 1952, when Potti Sriramulu stopped eating over his demand for the separation of Andhra Pradesh from the former state of Madras. His death after a 58-day fast sparked violent protests that ultimately led the government to separate Andhra Pradesh from the then Madras state in 1953.

In 1969, Sikh leader Darshan Singh Ferman fasted to death over the inclusion of Punjabi-speaking regions, including Chandigarh, in the then newly created state of Punjab. He died after 74 days of fasting. After his death, his supporters fielded the Shaheed Ferman Akali Dal, but the party has so far failed to gain a significant foothold in Punjab politics.

In November 2000, when 10 civilians were allegedly shot dead by the 8 Assam Rifles in Manipur, then 28-year-old activist Irom Sharmila spoke out against the killings and later enacted the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA). began an indefinite hunger strike in protest. Three days after she began her fast, Ailom was arrested for “attempting suicide” and was kept in police custody for 16 years, forced to be nasally fed by the authorities while she continued her hunger strike, and known as the “Iron Lady of Manipur”. ” earned him the nickname. . She ended her fast in 2016 without achieving her goal.

International organizations from the United Nations to the International Red Cross have said Sharmila’s force-feeding was a “form of torture” and a violation of prisoners’ right to refuse food, and in 2021 the Madras High Court ruled that hunger strikes were It was ruled that it was not allowed. It is equivalent to a suicide attempt.

In 2006, Trinamool Congress president Mamata Banerjee went on a hunger strike to protest the alleged forcible expropriation of land for the Tata Group’s nano factory by the left-wing government in West Bengal. Following appeals from then President APJ Abdul Kalam and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, she called off her 25-day hunger strike and the Tatas eventually withdrew from the state. The incident proved to be a turning point in Bengali politics, with Mamata coming to power five years later in the 2011 assembly polls, ending more than three decades of leftist rule.

In 2009, Telangana Rashtra Samithi Party leader K. Chandrashekhar Rao (KCR) began a till-the-death fast demanding statehood. The Congress, which was under nationwide pressure at the time, relented within 10 days and promised to create a state of Telangana. After extensive discussions on the details of state boundaries and the choice of a capital, Telangana was established about four-and-a-half years later in 2014 with KCR as its first CM.

In 2011, activist Anna Hazare’s campaign for an anti-corruption Lokpal brought hunger strikes back to the forefront of the national debate during the UPA government. Less than four days after the indefinite fast began, the government agreed to his demands and set up a Lokpal bill drafting committee, which was eventually passed by Parliament in 2013. The roots of the Aam Aadmi Party go back to the Hazare movement that was with Arvind. Kejriwal was among those who took part in the anti-corruption protests.

Former Andhra Pradesh CM and Telugu Desam Party leader N. Chandrababu Naidu went on hunger strike in 2018 over his demand for special status for the state. Naidu severed ties with his then ally, the Bharatiya Janata Party, over this demand. In the same year, activist-turned-politician Hardik Patel began a fast demanding that Patidar youth be given government jobs and education, and that agricultural loans be waived.

In late 2020, after the Bharatiya Janata Party government passed three controversial farm laws, farmers launched nationwide protests and relay hangers to pressure the Center to repeal the laws. – Strikes were also included.

Recently, activist Manoj Jalange Patil led a series of fasts demanding reservations for the Maratha community in Maharashtra. In February, the state Legislature passed a 10% reservation for employment and educational institutions.

In October, climate activist Sonam Wangchuk staged a 21-day hangar to demand constitutional safeguards for the Union Territory of Ladakh and protection of its ecologically fragile ecosystem from industrial and mining lobbies. went on strike. He also called for a “pashmina march” from Leh to the Line of Actual Control (LAC), but later withdrew the plan over concerns of violence.