Irom Sharmila Chanu on Monday refused to accept the ‘security escort’ provided to her by the state authorities under the direction of the Election Commission of India.
Sharmila said she has no enmity with anyone and has ‘nothing to fear about’.
The former iconic human rights figure said she does not approve of the ‘VIP culture’ of being surrounded by armed forces and wants to be with the people.
On the other hand, Additional Chief Secretary J Suresh Babu said, "The state authorities are doing their part as the ECI has directed them to provide security to Sharmila as she travels alone almost all the time."
"Security has been provided to Sharmila for her own safety," he said.
Erendro, convenor of Sharmila's party People’s Resurgence and Justice Alliance said six personnel from the state armed forces were provided for her security.
"They follow her continuously," Erendro added.
The ECI, on Friday, had asked the state authorities to provide escort to Sharmila who is contesting the upcoming 11th Manipur state assembly elections from Thoubal, the home turf of incumbent Chief Minister Okram Ibobi Singh.
Sharmila had formed her own political party -- the People’s Resurgence and Justice Alliance -- which has fielded three candidates for the upcoming polls in the state.
Meanwhile, the PRJA said on Monday that the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act -- the AFSPA -- is not the medicine for militancy and it is there to 'extract resources' from Manipur.
To drive home the point, the PRJA said that there were only four insurgent groups when the draconian AFSPA was introduced in Manipur in the 1980s and the number has gone up to 32 since.
"The AFSPA is not about militancy and counter-insurgency. It is something beyond that. To deal with militancy and counter-insurgency, you may need laws and programmes but the AFSPA is not one of them.
"In the 1980s when the AFSPA was introduced in Manipur, there were only four insurgent groups and in 2016 there were more than 32 groups reported... The AFSPA is not the medicine for militancy. It has clearly multiplied the disease. The AFSPA is there to extract resources from Manipur,” PRJA convener Erendro Leichombam said in an email interview.
He said that his party would work towards the removal of the Act, which gives sweeping powers and immunity to the army in conflict-ridden areas, from Manipur first and ‘then move Parliament to repeal it from all places across India’.
Asked whether the electoral fight this time was ‘symbolic’, the 33-year-old leader said, "Absolutely not. I think one PRJA MLA is worth 60 other MLAs. We are going to create so much ruckus inside the assembly and expose the lies that people are going to ask for more."
Asked whether the party would support either the Congress of the Bharatiya Janata Party in case of a hung verdict, Leichombam just said, "We are not going to ally with the Congress."
On the possibility of a future alliance with the Aam Aadmi Party in view of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's appreciation of Sharmila, he said, "We are a very new party, we are barely five months old. We want to make sure we establish our own identity and foundation and once we are assured of the party strength, only after that we will be looking at an alliance."
Asked about the party's take on the economic blockade by the United Naga Council and its impact to the economy of the state, he said, "Every day, people are struggling because of the economic blockade. The Congress and the BJP are in power in the state and at the Centre, respectively. It is their job to resolve this at the earliest but they are just taking political mileage out of this."
