IMPHAL: The
Manipur government
has provided security cover to rights crusader
Irom Sharmila Chanu
though she did not apply for it. Nine police personnel, including two woman, are guarding her for the last two days.
"I did not seek security cover. When one officer asked me if I require security about a week back ago, I turned down the offer," the
Iron Lady
of Manipur told this reporter on Wednesday.
She added, "Some policemen came to me at my temporary house in the Thoubal Leishangthem area on Sunday and informed me that they were sent by the government as my security escorts. They have been guarding me since then."
PRJA, Sharmila's party, has fielded three candidates for the coming March 4 and 8 assembly polls. Sharmila is taking on chief minister
Okram Ibobi Singh and BJP's L Bashanta aka Bhim from Thoubal constituency.
"Of the nine police personnel, two women in in plain clothes are guarding me closely. The others, wielding sophisticated rifles, are staying quite far from me. I feel uneasy and a little bit shyness with such an arrangement. Nevertheless, I am letting the discharge their duties as it was done under an administrative process," she said.
Manipur DGP LM Khaute said the government provides security cover to all candidates contesting the assembly polls taking into account the current situation.
"The police personnel remind me of my prison days in the security ward of JNIMS where I was under watch for the last 16 years," said Sharmila , who ended her epic struggle against the controversial Armed Forces ( Special Powers) Act (AFSPA) on August 9 last year.
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