It is one of the ultimate of weapons that the weak can hurl at the powerful. It is akin to the meek finally standing up to a bully and proving to be far stronger in the process. The one who goes on a hunger strike for a definitive cause uses the self to counter the inequal strength of the opponent. But a Hunger Strike is a very potent political weapon, provided it has an audience. No fasting in the privacy of one’s own resolve, ever affected change. From Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi in India to Nelson Mandela in South Africa… from Alexei Navlny in a Russian prison to Sonam Wangchuk at Jantar Mantar, it is in the sympathy of the many that there lies the power of a political fast. This is NDTV Focus on Hunger Strike and the Politics of Fasting.
