AKIPRESS.COM - The world’s longest hunger strike ended on Tuesday when an Indian human rights campaigner gave up her protest against state violence but pledged to continue the fight in the political arena, The Guardian reported.

Crinkling her face at the taste of food, Irom Sharmila, 44, from the troubled north-eastern state of Manipur, finished the fast she began in 2000 after the Malom massacre – when 10 people were reportedly killed by a government-run paramilitary group near the city of Imphal.

“I will never forget this moment,” said Sharmila, whose solo protest had become a symbol of Manipur’s resistance against state violence. After 16 years, it was a lick of honey that did it.

At the start, she vowed not to eat until the repeal of the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA), which grants the military immunity from judicial scrutiny in disturbed areas. But years of fruitless struggle have driven her to try a different route.

Speaking to journalists on Tuesday, Sharmila said she wanted to topple Manipur’s incumbent chief minister, Okram Ibobi Singh, whom she accuses of presiding over years of insurgency and corruption.

“I’ve been the real embodiment of revolution,” she said. “I want to be chief minister now. I know nothing about politics and academia. My education is very, very low. Everything I have I will use for the positive, for society.”