Irom in Love

Manipur's Iron Lady has found romance but her associates aren't too impressed

Irom Sharmila in her ward at Jawaharlal Nehru hospital, Imphal.
Anna Hazare's fasts that brought the Government to its knees have put the spotlight on another indefatigable fighter, Irom Sharmila Chanu. On a fast-unto-death since November 4, 2000, demanding the removal of the draconian Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act (AFSPA), 1958, from Manipur, Sharmila has met more people in just a week after Hazare broke his 12-day fast on August 28 than she did in the last decade.
Confined to the isolated security ward of Jawaharlal Nehru Hospital in Imphal, in custody of the Central Jail, Sajiwa, for almost 11 years, Sharmila is visibly annoyed, not because of the attention she is getting, but by the sudden interest in her personal life. "I said something in good faith as I rarely get to share my feelings and emotions, but the media seem to be more interested in my lover than the cause I'm fighting for," she told India Today.
When 48-year-old Desmond Coutinho read about her struggle in Burning Bright, a book by Deepti Priya Mehrotra, he wrote a letter to Sharmila in 2009. Since then, the two have been exchanging letters regularly. Cupid struck, and in Coutinho Sharmila found her soulmate. He came to Imphal for the first time in February this year and finally managed to meet her on March 9 at a court, just before she was released for a brief period. "Yes, he loves me a lot and cares for me," says Sharmila, blushing like a teenager.

Desmond Coutinho
The union, however, has not gone down well with her supporters. Coutinho had to fast for two days before the activists relented and allowed him to meet her. The problem started when Coutinho insisted on sitting by Sharmila at the meira shang (women's shelter) where the Meira Paibis (women activists) gathered following Sharmila's release from jail for two days. Agitated activists were on the verge of manhandling him before the police came to his rescue.
Sharmila's room is full of gifts from Coutinho-a wooden statue of Krishna and Radha, Santa Claus cap and bells, a calendar, a diary and a laptop. "My supporters did not like the way he dressed and behaved. I admit he is very possessive about me and gets aggressive with the local people. At the same time, my family and friends consider me public property. I don't like interference in my personal life. He is of Goan origin but a British citizen," she says. Coutinho, however, has posted on a website, "Goan origin she said, but I was born in Zanzibar, Tanzania, as were my parents. I am a second generation African travelling with an EU passport." he posted.
"I have nothing to say if Sharmila wants to marry him. But she is blind in love. He is a good writer and could influence Sharmila's impressionable mind," says Babloo Loitongbam of Human Rights Watch, a long-time associate of Sharmila. "He seems mentally imbalanced. Initially he came to us saying that he wanted to build an ashram here. Soon, he started demanding money from us. He wanted to go to Kathmandu and asked us to book his tickets," says Loitongbam. Sharmila's brother Irom Singhajit was also annoyed by Coutinho's behaviour. "I met him for a minute at the Classic Hotel in Imphal and did not like his attitude," says Singhajit. "I don't mind her marrying him though," he clarifies.

The lover letter which was written by Desmond for Sharmila
Coutinho insists he is serious about Sharmila. "I am not a writer. I am not an activist. I care about her. And although this seems to annoy activists, I have done more for her with my caring than the moral support they claim to have offered her," he posted on the website.
Sharmila does want to go back to a normal life and get married once her goal is achieved. For now, the steely resolve hasn't flagged one bit. The Class XII dropout, who quit studies because she believed she did not know how to pass an examination, has put her entire life to test. "Could Prime Minister Manmohan Singh have afforded to ignore me for 10 years if I belonged to a state in mainland India?" she asks. Loitongbam says Union Law Minister Salman Khurshid has invited a four-member delegation to Delhi to discuss her demands. Is there hope around the corner?