«Εκδίκησή μας θα είναι το γέλιο των παιδιών μας»
1 Μαρτίου 1981. Πριν 30 χρόνια ο Bobby Sands ξεκινάει την απεργία πείνας που τελικά τον οδήγησε
στον Θάνατο. >> FOTO from Ireland
Sands died in the prison hospital after 66 days of hunger-striking, aged 27
In response to a question in the House of Commons on 5 May 1981, British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher said, "Mr. Sands was a convicted criminal. He chose to take his own life"
The 1981 Irish hunger strike started with Sands refusing food on 1 March 1981. Sands decided that other prisoners should join the strike at staggered intervals in order to maximise publicity with prisoners steadily deteriorating successively over several months.
The hunger strike centred around five demands:
the right not to wear a prison uniform;
the right not to do prison work;
the right of free association with other prisoners, and to organise educational and recreational pursuits;
the right to one visit, one letter and one parcel per week;
full restoration of remission lost through the protest.
The significance of the hunger strike was the prisoners' aim of being declared as political prisoners (or prisoners of war) and not to be classed as criminals. The Washington Post however, reported that the primary aim of the hunger strike was to generate international publicity.
After a highly polarised campaign, Sands narrowly won the seat on 9 April 1981, with 30,493 votes to 29,046 for the Ulster Unionist Partycandidate Harry West—and also becoming the youngest MP at the time. Following Sands' success, the British Government introduced the Representation of the People Act 1981 which prevents prisoners serving jail terms of more than one year in either the UK or the Republic of Ireland from being nominated as candidates in UK elections
----------------------------------
Young Irishmen in Ulster born,
Deprived of freedom, work and hope,
Oppressed by brutal racist laws
That grind men down beneath the yoke.
And when the bloodhound comes at night
To terror strike across the land,
With their tanks and guns and poor man's sons,
O'Hara, Hughes, McCreesh and Sands.
And in the hell of an H-block cell,
Where tyrants try to break men's wills,
And boots and bars leave life-long scars,
Those brave men's spirits ne'er did yield.
The words of Christ then came to mind,
Who'd give up his life for his fellow man?
And the volunteers without dread or fear
Were O'Hara, Hughes, McCreesh and Sands.
members of his campain to win the seat in the parliament
the day he started the hunger strike
his son in his funeral
the corridor of haitrate
the corridor of haitrate
John Lennon-Yoko Ono
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