THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Rights activist Irom Sharmila, who is spending a post-election sabbatical in Kerala, said on Monday that the people of Manipur are hypnotised by the system of money and muscle-power based electoral politics.
Participating in a meet-the-press programme organised by the Kesari Memorial Journalists' Trust here, she reiterated her resolve to quit politics, but added that she wanted her political outfit—the Peoples' Resurgence and Justice Alliance (PRJA)—to survive.
''When people let me down, I felt really shattered. If you don't want me to involve in politics and don't want to use your right to choice correctly, then let it be,'' she said on her electoral debacle in the recently-concluded Assembly polls in which she managed to win only 90 votes. ''And I myself want to get free of it if they don't want it,'' she added.
Sharmila, who arrived in the state capital on Monday morning, met Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan in the afternoon. She said the Kerala CM assured her of his support in her struggle against the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act (AFSPA). She also met CPM state secretary Kodiyeri Balakrishnan.
On her post-election plans, Sharmila said she wanted to ''lobby the whole world'' against the draconian AFSPA. ''What I really want from the world is mutual sharing of life, worries and happiness; mutual dependence, mutual respect, enjoying together the beauties of the universe,'' Sharmila said.