Known as the "Iron
Lady of Manipur", she started her fast after witnessing the killing of a
group of civilians by Indian paramilitary forces in in November 2000.
The campaigner in India who
has been on a hunger strike for 16 years has ended her fast.
Irom Sharmila had been
protesting against a controversial law that gives the Indian army draconian
powers to tackle unrest in her home state of Manipur.
Refusing food and water for
all that time, authorities have kept her alive by force feeding her through a
tube in her nose.
The 44-year-old has pressed
for the scrapping of the widely criticised Armed Forces Special Powers Act
(AFSPA).
The legislation allows the
security forces to arrest people without a warrant and use deadly force, while
giving soldiers immunity from prosecution.
There has been an
insurgency in Manipur, a state in India's northeast, for the last five decades,
with a number of militant groups demanding independence.
Indian human rights groups
claim the AFSPA is used by soldiers as legal cover to carry out torture and
extrajudicial killings.
UN bodies have also judged
it a violation of international law and have urged India to repeal it.
Described as a
"prisoner of conscious" by Amnesty International, Ms Irom has been
held in custody during her protest for attempting to commit suicide under
section 309 of the Indian penal code.
Her struggle has been
compared to that of Nelson Mandela and Aung San Suu Kyi.
However, she has now
decided to give up her fast and pursue her aim through politics.
Her brother Singhajit said "I
cannot express why she suddenly changed her mind but as a brother I stand with
her.
"I am sure she will
succeed in her struggle to repeal the special powers act."
However, her decision has
not been welcomed by some.
Activists have called on
her to reconsider while she has been threatened by insurgent groups.
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