Manipur's 'Iron Lady' Irom Chanu Sharmila was on a hunger strike for 5757 days and was being force-fed through a nasal tube to keep her alive at a prison-turned-hospital in Imphal.
She had earlier announced that she would break her fast and join politics as she wants Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) to be repealed through political means . Addressing the media on Tuesday, shortly after ending her fast, Sharmila said, "I want to join politics as I've been called the Iron lady of Manipur and I want to live up to that name. I want to be the chief minister of Manipur and I want my people to believe in me.
She also said that from now on, she will be staying at an ashram and would not require any security. She was released by the court earlier in the day. The 44-year-old had been held in judicial custody on charges of attempting suicide.
Sharmila's struggle has been the nucleus of all protests against AFSPA in Manipur and the neighbouring north-eastern states.
On November 2, 2000, an Assam Rifles battalion had allegedly killed 10 civilians in a village near Imphal. Three days later, Sharmila embarked on her fast demanding revocation of AFSPA, which allows security men to even kill a person on suspicion without the fear of facing a trial in court.
The Armed Forces Special Powers Act is in effect in Jammu and Kashmir and Northeastern areas facing separatist insurgencies. The law gives security forces the right to shoot to kill suspected rebels without fear of possible prosecution and to arrest suspected militants without warrants. It also gives police wide-ranging powers of search and seizure.
It prohibits soldiers from being prosecuted for alleged rights violations unless granted express permission from the federal government. Such prosecutions are rare.
What next for world's longest hunger striker?
'Different agitation'
Ms Sharmila told the court in the state capital, Imphal, that she was a "prisoner of conscience" and she wanted to end her fast, be free and fight in local assembly elections.
"I have to change my strategy. Some people are seeing me as a strange woman because I want to join politics. They say politics is a dirty, but so is society. I want to stand in the elections against the government," she said.
She told reporters she had decided to "try a different [form of] agitation" because "I have been fasting for 16 years and I have not got anything from it yet".
Ms Sharmila had been protesting against the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA), which gives soldiers sweeping powers to arrest without warrants and even shoot to kill in certain situations.
AFSPA is in effect in several Indian states, including in Manipur and Indian-administered Kashmir.
Photographer Ian Thomas Jansen-Lonnquist has closely followed MS Sharmila's journey over the past few years.
She started her fast 16 years ago after 10 civilians were killed by Indian soldiers in Manipur.
A memorial has been built at the site in Manipur where the 10 civilians were killed by Indian soldiers. The state has a population of about 2.5 million people and a huge force of army, paramilitary and state police are deployed there to fight insurgent groups.
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