Fasts unto death have long been used as non-violent means of protest, but there are only a handful of instances when such a fast by a public figure has led to death.
Nonetheless, the power of 'fast' as a political tool got underscored again with the Centre conceding to fasting TRS chief K Chandrasekhar Rao's demand for a separate Telangana state.
There are many public leaders from history who used fasting as a means to fulfil their demands and the most revered name among those is that of Mahatma Gandhi.
However, those who died while on fast are not many.
Freedom fighter Jatin Das died while fasting in pre-independent India. The revolutionary who began his strike in Lahore Jail on July 13, 1929, demanding equal rights for Indian and British political prisoners, died on September 13.
His death is said to have fired the imagination of the Indian youth, unleashing a new wave of protests.
Post-independence, Potti Sriramulu was the first political leader to die during a hunger strike. Demanding a separate Andhra Pradesh, he began his fast in Madras on October 19, 1952 and died on December 15 after 58 days. His death triggered off violent protests in the region that finally led to the creation of Andhra Pradesh.
Darshan Singh Pheruman was another martyr to the cause of statehood post Independence. The Sikh leader, who began his fast on August 15, 1969 eventually died on October 27, 74 days after he gave up food. He was demanding among other things the inclusion of Chandigarh in Punjab.
Mahatma Gandhi undertook fasts for over 15 times during his life. His hunger strike in 1932 led to the 'Poona Pact' under which untouchable leaders renounced separate representation during British rule.
Again in 1943, he went on a hunger strike for 21 days at Aga Khan Palace to end the deadlock over negotiations between Viceroy and Indian leaders. This was a turning point in the freedom struggle. The last by the Father of the Nation was in 1948, when he resorted to this medium for five days to bring an end to violence.
Freedom fighter Bhagat Singh had gone on a 63-day fast along with his comrades Rajguru and Sukhdev in Lahore Jail in 1929.
Among the other high-profile hunger strikes, Sunderlal Bahuguna's was a prominent one. Bahuguna, who spearheaded the anti-Tehri dam movement, undertook a 45-day-long fast in 1995, protesting the construction of the dam. He called off his fast after then Prime Minister P V Narasimha Rao gave an assurance to set up a review committee to look into the ecological impacts of the dam.
Two years later, he again went on another long fast which lasted for 74 days at Gandhi Samadhi, Raj Ghat, during the tenure of Prime Ministe H D Deve Gowda who assured that the project would be reviewed.
In 2006, Trinamool Congress leader Mamata Banerjee used this weapon to protest forcible land acquisitions in West Bengal. She called off her 25-day-long hunger strike on December 28, 2006 following appeals by President A P J Abdul Kalam and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
However, her act changed the state's political complexion pushing the ruling Left to a corner.
In April this year, DMK chief M Karunanidhi went on a fast-unto-death to press the Sri Lankan government to declare a ceasefire when the country was nearing to an end of its decades-long war against LTTE.
The six-hour hunger strike did work as the island government announced that combat operations have concluded.
Handed down by the Mahatma as medium to peacefully protest for a cause, hunger strike has, however, been used by many politicians for achieving individual goals.
Many leaders have been successful while some failed in getting their demands conceded, but fasting is still considered an effective weapon of protest in Indian polity.
