About Irom Chanu Sharmila
Irom Sharmila Chanu (born 14 March 1972), also known as the "Iron Lady of Manipur" or "Mengoubi" ("the fair one") is an Indian civil rights activist and poet from the state of Manipur. In 2000, she began a hunger strike to abolish the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act, 1958. She ended her intermittent fast in 2016, after being force-fed for over 500 weeks in custody. Amnesty International has declared her a prisoner of conscience. At this time, she met and won the support of Nobel-laureate Shirin Ebadi, who promised to take up Sharmila's cause at the United Nations Human Rights Council. In 2009, she was awarded the first Mayilamma Award of the Mayilamma Foundation "for achievement of her nonviolent struggle in Manipur". In 2010, she won a lifetime achievement award from the Asian Human Rights Commission. She said "I will join politics and my fight will continue." Sharmila was awarded the 2007 Gwangju Prize for Human Rights, which is given to "an outstanding person or group, active in the promotion and advocacy of Peace, Democracy and Human Rights".
Biography source: Wikipedia. The profile adds birthday-specific historical context from the Celebs Birthday Today editorial database.