Irom Sharmila Chanu, a Manipuri poet turned social activist,completed ten years of hunger strike demanding the repeal of the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act, 1958 (AFSPA) in Manipur. Irom Sharmila Chanu started her protest after the Malom massacre where 10 civilians were gunned down by the Armed Forces on 2 November 2000.
The Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act, 1958 (AFSPA) gives special powers to arrest, detain and even kill people on suspicion.In 2006, Justice BP Jeevan Reddy Committee recommended the repeal of the The Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act, 1958. "Save Sharmila Solidarity Campaign" launched across India.
In September, 2011,an English newspaper The Telegraph banned for an indefinite period for publishing the private life of the poet turned social activist of Manipur.According to her supporters,in the last 11 years of Irom Sharmila’s agitation the national media refused to focus her on the front page but The Telegraph used the news item on private life of the social activist on the front page.