Irom Sharmila weds Coutinho

Desmond Coutinho and Irom Sharmila after their wedding in Kodaikanal on Thursday. (PTI)

Khelen Thokchom and agencies, TT, Imphal/Kodaikanal, Aug. 17: Manipur civil rights activist Irom Sharmila married her long-time partner Desmond Coutinho, a British national, at Kodaikanal in Tamil Nadu at 10.30 this morning.

Coutinho put a ring on Sharmila's finger in a simple ceremony at the sub-registrar's office in the presence of sub-registrar Radhakrishnan. The couple got married under the Special Marriage Act as their wedding was an inter-religious one.

The families of the bride and groom were absent but before Sharmila tied the knot, she called her mother Irom Sakhi, 87, who wished her a "blessed married life".

"My sister called my mother shortly before the marriage. She first called my elder brother (Irom Raghumani). After informing him about the wedding plan, Sharmila talked to my mother briefly," Sharmila's elder brother Irom Singhajit told The Telegraph. Sharmila sought her mother's blessings on Raghumani's cellphone.

"Our family wishes her all the best. It is her decision and we support it. How can we say no? We hope everything will be fine for the couple," Singhajit said.

However, he said the family feels that Sharmila could have waited a little longer as the Centre is mulling handing over the power to remove the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act to the state governments of Assam and Manipur. He said had she waited till repeal of the act, she could have ended her fast triumphantly and would have been hailed by the whole world.

When this correspondent called Sharmila in the evening, she did not answer the phone.

After the wedding, Sharmila, dressed in a printed pink dress and a garland of red and white flowers around her neck, told reporters that Kodaikanal was a peaceful place and her search for peace had ended there. The rights activist said she would raise her voice for the welfare of tribals in Kodaikanal hills, where the couple are stationed at present. The newlywed carried a posy of red-and-yellow flowers. Sharmila was also accompanied by documentary filmmaker and CPI (M-L) activist Divya Bharathi.

The wedding had been objected to by a local activist, V. Mahendran, who contended that if the couple stayed in the hills, tribals in the area would face law and order problems. However, the sub-registrar rejected his objection. The couple had submitted their application for marriage registration under the Special Marriage Act on July 12 and the sub-registrar had called for objections, if any, within 30 days.

A group of tribals in the area, including Palani Malai Pulaiyan and Paliyar, had submitted a memorandum to the sub-registrar in support of the wedding.

Sharmila had moved to the hill town with Coutinho from Manipur following her defeat in the Assembly elections in March this year. Her party, People's Resurgence and Justice Alliance, had been routed.

The 44-year-old activist had begun her indefinite fast on November 4, 2000, demanding withdrawal of the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act, 1958, from Manipur after troops of the Assam Rifles gunned down 10 civilians in indiscriminate firing at a bus stand at Malom near Imphal airport.

Sharmila, known as the Iron Lady, called off her 16-year fast, the world's longest, on August 9 last year, declaring that she would fight AFSPA politically as her fast was not bearing fruit. She had said she wanted to become the chief minister so that she could repeal the act. She had also declared that if she lost the election, she would marry Coutinho.