Early history of fasting as protest
Fasting was used as a method of protesting injustice in pre-Christian Ireland, where it was known as Troscadh or Cealachan. It was detailed in the contemporary civic codes, and had specific rules by which it could be used. The fast was often carried out on the doorstep of the home of the offender. Scholars speculate this was due to the high importance the culture placed on hospitality. Allowing a person to die at one's doorstep, for a wrong of which one was accused, was considered a great dishonor. Others say that the practice was to fast for one whole night, as there is no evidence of people fasting to death in pre-Christian Ireland. The fasts were primarily undertaken to recover debts or get justice for a perceived wrong. There are legends of St. Patrick, the patron saint of Ireland, using the hunger strike as well..
In India,
the practice of a hunger protest, where the protestor fasts at the door
of an offending party (typically a debtor) in a public call for
justice, was abolished by the government in 1861; this indicates the
prevalence of the practice prior to that date, or at least a public
awareness of it. This Indian practice is ancient, going back to around 400 to 750 BC. This can be known since it appears in the Valmiki Ramayana,
which was composed around that time. The actual mention appears in the
Ayodhya Kanda, (the second book of the Ramayana), in Sarga (section)
103. Bharata has gone to ask the exiled Rama
to come back and rule the kingdom. Bharata tries many arguments, none
of which work, at which point he decides to do a hunger strike. He
announces his intention to fast, calls for sacred Kusha grass, lies down upon it in front of
Rama. Rama, however, is quickly able to persuade him to abandon the
attempt. Rama mentions it as a practice of the brahmanas.
Gandhi & Bhagat Singh
Mohandas Gandhi was imprisoned in 1922, 1930, 1933 and 1942. Because of Gandhi's stature around the world, British authorities were loath to allow him to die in their custody. It is likely Britain's reputation would have suffered as a result of such an event. Gandhi engaged in several famous hunger strikes to protest British rule of India. Fasting was a non-violent way of communicating the message and sometimes dramatically achieve the reason for the protest. This was keeping with the rules of Satyagraha.In addition to Gandhi, various others have used the hunger strike option during the Indian independence movement. Such figures include Jatin Das (who fasted to death) and Bhagat Singh. It was only on the 116th day of their fast, on October 5, 1929 that Bhagat Singh and Dutt gave up their strike (surpassing the 97 day world record for hunger strikes which was set by an Irish revolutionary). During this hunger strike that lasted 116 days and ended with the British succumbing to his wishes, he gained much popularity among the common Indians. Before the strike his popularity was limited mainly to the Punjab region.
After Indian Independence, freedom fighter Potti Sreeramulu used hunger strikes to get a separate state for Telugu-speaking people. Morarji Desai went on fast twice during NAVNIRMAN in the seventies and prior to that Indulal Yagnik alias Indu Chacha went on a long fast during Maha Gujarat and thereafter in the seventies.
Amarajeevi Sriramulu
Potti Sriramulu was an Indian revolutionary who died after undertaking a hunger strike for 58 days in 1952 after Indian independence in an attempt to achieve the formation of a separate state, to be known as Andhra State. His sacrifice became instrumental in the linguistic re-organisation of states.He is revered as Amarajeevi (Immortal being) in Coastal Andra for his sacrifice. As a devout follower of Mahatma Gandhi, he worked for much of his life to uphold principles such as truth, non-violence and patriotism, as well as causes such as Harijan movement to end the traditional alienation of, and accord respect and humane treatment to those traditionally called "untouchables" in Indian society.
British and American suffragettes
In 1913 the Prisoner's Temporary Discharge of Ill Health Act (nicknamed the "Cat and Mouse Act") changed policy. Hunger strikes were tolerated but prisoners were released when they became sick. When they had recovered, the suffragettes were taken back to prison to finish their sentences.
Like their British counterparts, American suffragettes also used this method of political protest. A few years prior to the passage of the Nineteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, a group of American suffragettes led by Alice Paul engaged in a hunger strike and endured forced feedings while incarcerated at the Occoquan Workhouse in Virginia.
Irish republicans
Hunger strikes have deep roots in Irish society and in the Irish psyche. Fasting in order to bring attention to an injustice which one felt under his lord, and thus embarrass him into a solution, was a common feature of society in Early Irish society and this tactic was fully incorporated into the Brehon legal system. The tradition is ultimately most likely part of the still older Indo-European tradition of which the Irish were part.[3]The tactic was used by Irish republicans from 1917 and, subsequently, during the Anglo-Irish War, in the 1920s. Early use of hunger strikes by republicans had been countered by the British with force-feeding, which culminated in 1917 in the death of Thomas Ashe in Mountjoy Prison.
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Colonial Solidarity: a National Protest Fast
One of the most interesting early uses of fasting as a form of civil protest was motivated by a motion made in the Virginia House of Burgesses on May 24, 1774. The port of Boston to be closed on June 1 by the British government as punishment for the Boston Tea Party. The members of the burgesses wanted to pass a resolution to show solidarity with and support for the people of Boston. It was decided a day of fasting and prayer should be declared for June 1. Another motivation for doing this was to more or less offer an insult to the Crown - and it was taken as such an act. The next day after the vote on the proclamation the British Governor of Virginia declared their legislative session over and effectively sent the burgesses home.Unfortunately for the Crown the word about this idea has already gotten out and the idea spread - not only to Virginians but to other colonies as well. The effect was that on June 1 many colonists in many areas fasted and held special prayer services. It was an effective protest and created a sense of solidarity among the colonists.
Protest fasting did not catch on although fasting proclamations for other reasons were issued by American political bodies may times after this episode. In America these types of public fasts became as fashionable as in England, and this practice continued throughout most of the 17th and 18th centuries.
Gandhi and Fasting for Change
Mahatma Gandhi is one of the most famous practitioners of civil disobedience in human history. His use of fasting as a means of protest, especially in regards to freeing India from British rule, was an extension of a Hindu practice. The central idea was to fast for the shortcomings or sins of a person that had wronged you. It was useful, in some situations, as a powerful way of shaming others into coming around to a position they would otherwise not be willing to entertain or concede. One of Gandhi’s many gifts was an ability to strongly connect with his countrymen through the simplest of gestures, and unite and rally them to his causes and ideas in a remarkable way. His fasting was one means of communicating to his people that strongly moved them, while it simultaneously was perceived by others in the world as a moving statement about his causes.Gandhi's was influenced by the example set by Marion Wallace-Dunlop, an important figure in the British women's suffrage movement.
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