A campaigner in India who has been on a hunger strike for 16 years has ended her fast.

Irom Sharmila had been protesting against a controversial law that gives the Indian army draconian powers to tackle unrest in her home state of Manipur.

Refusing food and water for all that time, authorities have kept her alive by force feeding her through a tube in her nose.

Known as the "Iron Lady of Manipur", she started her fast after witnessing the killing of a group of civilians by Indian paramilitary forces in November 2000.

The 44-year-old has pressed for the scrapping of the widely criticised Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA).


The legislation allows the security forces to arrest people without a warrant and use deadly force, while giving soldiers immunity from prosecution.

There has been an insurgency in Manipur, a state in India's northeast, for the last five decades, with a number of militant groups demanding independence.

Image: Irom Sharmila (C) with some of her supporters in 2006

Indian human rights groups claim the AFSPA is used by soldiers as legal cover to carry out torture and extrajudicial killings.

UN bodies have also judged it a violation of international law and have urged India to repeal it.

Described as a "prisoner of conscious" by Amnesty International, Ms Irom has been held in custody during her protest for attempting to commit suicide under section 309 of the Indian penal code.

Her struggle has been compared to that of Nelson Mandela and Aung San Suu Kyi.

However, she has now decided to give up her fast and pursue her aim through politics.

Her brother Singhajit told Sky News: "I cannot express why she suddenly changed her mind but as a brother I stand with her.

"I am sure she will succeed in her struggle to repeal the special powers act."

However, her decision has not been welcomed by some.

Activists have called on her to reconsider and she has been threatened by insurgent groups.

Speaking to Sky News back in 2013, Ms Irom said she did not want to commit suicide and that her protest was about "justice and peace".

She said it was no different to what Mahatma Gandhi did to end British rule in India.