Tag: shaheen bagh protests

Two Years Later, Shaheen Bagh’s Anti-CAA Protest Still Holds Enormous Significance

In an effort to show solidarity with activists who were arrested for participating in the protest, several groups held an event at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi on Thursday.

New Delhi: 12-year-old Tooba holds a poster she made for the event on Thursday. It reads “celebrating two years of Shaheen Bagh”. The protest site which had become a symbol of dissent and resistance against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) continues to hold enormous significance, more than 18 months after the last protesters were moved out.

In a bid to both celebrate the legacy of the movement and demand the release of all those who have been imprisoned for participating in it, scores of students, members of civil society and activists thronged the protest site near Jantar Mantar in Delhi on Thursday.

Ghazala, like many other women, was at the frontlines of the movement from December 2019 until late March 2020, when the protests came to an end after the COVID-19 pandemic began. “The victory of the farmers and the repealing of the three farm laws have inspired us and given us hope that protesting and resistance do bear fruit, we are taking a cue from those protests and hope to rekindle the movement against CAA,” said Ghazala while speaking to The Wire.

In an effort to show solidarity, Pragtisheel Mahila Sangathan, the National Federation for Women, and the Commission on the Status of Women held an event at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi on the second anniversary of the Shaheen Bagh protest commencing. It would soon become the epicentre of the anti-CAA protests.

Speaking to The Wire, Maimoona Mollah of the All India Democratic Women’s Association said, “The movement has not failed, in fact, it has reignited. We are fighting to be on the right side of history and the right side of the constitution. The people have paved a way for the future of the movement, we truly believe we will also bring the government to its knees.”

Family members of activists and students who were part of the protests and were arrested were present at the event. The demands to release those who have been imprisoned under the draconian Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) echoed at the protest site.

Present at the protest was the father of 25-year-old Athar Khan, who is currently incarcerated in a conspiracy case, said, “My son is innocent. I firmly believe and I know he has not done anything wrong. We sincerely believe in the constitution, the moral right and the absolute truth and he will walk out free.”

His mother added, “I am proud to call myself Athar’s mother. He was extremely active during the movement and led the protests at Chandbagh. I stand here demanding justice for him. He deserves to walk free.”

Khan was detained by the Delhi Police on July 2, 2020. 

File photo of Shaheen Bagh protest. Photo: Raghu Karnad

Nargis Khalid Saif, the wife of 39-year-old Khalid Saifi, was present at the protest with her young daughter. Speaking to The Wire, she said, “I take every opportunity I can to talk about my husband. We are raising our voices as loudly as we can to demand his release. The families of those who have been wronged are awaiting justice and we will not stop until our demands are met.”

She added, “I am with my daughter today. This is an important day for us as all of us are coming together yet again to stand for what is right.” 

After the Narendra Modi government’s U-turn on the farm laws, the anti-CAA protests across India are gaining fresh traction.

The CAA seeks to fast-track the granting of citizenship to non-Muslims who fled because of religious persecution in Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan and took refuge in India before December 31, 2014.

According to reports, few organisations in Assam have decided to revive the anti-CAA protests. These organisations include the All Assam Students’ Union (AASU), the Krishak Mukti Sangram Samiti (KMSS) led by activist-turned-MLA Akhil Gogoi and the Asom Jatiya Parishad, a political party.

Shaheen Bagh Activists File Review Petition Against Supreme Court’s Verdict on Protests

The top court’s judgment that protests can only be held in designated areas will give way to an “unrestricted sanction to the police to take action by misusing these observations”, the petition says.

New Delhi: Protesters who were part of the anti-Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) demonstration at Shaheen Bagh in New Delhi have filed a review petition in the Supreme Court against the verdict which said protests can only be held in ‘designated spots’, saying the order could be misused by the executive to crackdown on protests.

A Bar & Bench report says that the petition was filed by Kaniz Fatima and 11 other Delhi residents who took part in the Shaheen Bagh. The petition says that the top court’s judgment appears to be giving way to an “unrestricted sanction to the police to take action by misusing these observations.”

The plea states that the top court’s order has given primacy to one aspect of the public importance (regulation of protests to allow free movement of commuters) while rendering another aspect of public importance (the right to criticise the government policies by assembling peacefully). According to Bar & Bench, it adds:

“Such observations may prove to be a license in the hands of the Police to commit atrocities on legitimate voice of protest, especially the protesters coming from the vulnerable sections of the social strata. Again this aspect is an error of law apparent.”

According to the Economic Times, advocate Kabir Dixit has submitted for the petitioners that the principle of “balancing different fundamental rights by completely segregating the right of protesters to abandoned places for protest would render the right to protest peacefully under Article 19 meaningless”.

“More so when majoritarian politics takes an oath to persecute marginalised minorities of the country’s large population,” he said, while seeking a review of the verdict that was delivered by a bench of Justices S.K. Kaul, Aniruddha Bose and Krishna Murari.

The petition says that the protests against the CAA were “too important” to be left at the mercy of elected representatives. “The ruling that such protests be confined to designated spots upsets the very concept of protest and dissent,” it says, according to ET.

Shaheen Bagh on Republic Day. Photo: Raghu Karnad/The Wire

The petitioners add that by allowing the administration to remove any “obstructions” in public spaces, the verdict has taken away the constitutional guarantee for peaceful protests against government policies and actions. “Sometimes, citizens have no option but protest and the verdict has taken away the only option left for citizens to voice their concerns,” it says.

The administrative wisdom of the police cannot be conferred legitimate supremacy over the collective conscience of a large group of citizens protesting against government policies, the plea says, adding that the ruling seems to have lent legitimacy to “unguided police powers”.

The petition also expresses the apprehension that the judgment would allow the administration to never engage in dialogue with those protesting against government action or policy and would instead provide them with the backing to take action, including prosecuting the protesters.

The review petition will be heard by the same bench which delivered the original verdict.

Also Read: SC’s Shaheen Bagh Order: Fundamental Rights for Commuters, No Country for Protesters

In its October 7 judgment, the top court said that public places cannot be occupied indefinitely. It added:

“We have to make it unequivocally clear that public ways and public spaces cannot be occupied in such a manner and that too indefinitely. Democracy and dissent go hand in hand, but then the demonstrations expressing dissent have to be in designated places alone.”

The top court delivered the verdict even though the site was vacated in March, when COVID-19 cases began rising. The top court continued to hear the matter to weigh in on the ‘larger issue’ of balancing the right to protest with the right to free movement of people.

On March 24, the Delhi police removed the structures at the protest site after 101 days of sit-in protest.

‘Problem With CAA Won’t Go Away Because One Activist Joins BJP,’ Say Shaheen Bagh Women

While BJP has been keen to project Shaheen Bagh protester Shahzad Ali’s move to join the party as a kind of victory, the protesters who had populated the site are taking the news with a pinch of salt.

New Delhi: On Sunday, Neelkant Bakshi, head of media relations of the Bharatiya Janata Party’s Delhi unit, released a statement that said, “Shaheen Bagh social activist Shahzad Ali has joined BJP Delhi in presence of state BJP president Adesh Gupta and vice president national BJP and in-charge Delhi BJP, Shyam Jaju.”

“The enthusiasm with which Muslim brothers and sisters are joining BJP clearly shows that people of all religions have faith in the Modi government,” Gupta said on the occasion at the Delhi BJP office.

“Social worker Shahzad Ali, gynaecologist Dr Mehreen, former AAP worker Tabassum Hussain along with a large number of Muslim brothers and sisters joined the Bharatiya Janata Party,” said the Delhi BJP statement.

Shahzad Ali joins BJP. Photo: Twitter/@ANI

In the Shaheen Bagh neighbourhood, which has been the centre of the iconic sit-in protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act for three months since December last year, the news was taken with a generous pinch of salt. “If somebody who was part of the anti-CAA protests has joined the same party that he was protesting against, he is just confused and doesn’t know the difference between right and wrong,” said a protester, requesting anonymity. 

According to the statement released by the BJP, while joining the party, Shahzad Ali had said, “Congress and other opposition political parties since 70 years have used Muslims for their political benefit where as Vazir-e-aazam jenab (Prime Minister) Narendra Modi Ji has done justice in every scheme with all casts and religions (sic)…I have joined BJP to prove wrong those in our community who think BJP is our enemy. We’ll sit together with them over CAA concerns.”

Who is Shahzad Ali, the anti-CAA protester who joined BJP?

In the release, Ali introduces himself as a “social activist.” To The Wire, he said, “I have been in the profession of mobile industry, in sales.” He added that he gave up his job and started full time activism some years ago.

Originally from Uttar Pradesh’s Muzaffarnagar, Ali has been living in Shaheen Bagh for the past 17 years. He told this reporter that as a resident of the neighbourhood, “Whatever social ills we have witnessed, we have been raising our voice against them every now and then.”

“We will continue to do so,” he added, “I joined the party yesterday. We will sit and clear whatever the problems there are. I am not in favour of Hindu-Muslim politics, I don’t want to get stuck in this. The nation should progress, and conversations should be around the vikas [progress] model.”

Protesters at Shaheen Bagh. Photo: Twitter/@natashabadhwar

He also attempted to analyse the role of the Muslim community in electoral politics. “We have been seeing that there is an existing narrative around BJP, that it is an enemy of the Muslims. But we have been voting for the Congress for more than 70 years. They have been doing vote-bank politics on our [Muslim] community. Today, we all know the condition that Muslims are currently in. But we have never voted for the BJP. Even though they don’t need our vote, they [BJP] are still in power. I am a peace-loving person. I will work shoulder to shoulder with Modi ji, and [if] I receive the party’s support, we will get more Muslims to join the party.”

Critiquing the AAP state government, he said, no work is being done in Delhi. “Whose government is in power in Delhi? Who is responsible for this condition? Eight graveyards in Delhi were captured. The details of the Waqf property were made published also. The issues on which AAP made their government [referring to water and electricity] are now a failure, and hence they are trying to find a new issue in the rape cases of Delhi, which have always been there.”

It was not clear to The Wire exactly which rape cases Ali was referring to.

Also read: 2012 Nirbhaya Case: Delhi Govt ‘Strongly’ Recommends Rejection of Convict’s Mercy Plea

Was he part of the Shaheen Bagh protests?

When asked if he was indeed a part of the protests at Shaheen Bagh, Ali said, “Since I am from Shaheen Bagh, of course I was a part of it. There are recorded interviews [which prove it]. Even then, I had been of the opinion that the end goal of any protest should be to have a dialogue. I still believe the same. I had spoken to the media during the protest also and said that whatever the problem is, we will sit down and solve it. There is no way to solve a problem without dialogue.”

Ali claims that more than 200 people from the neighbourhood have so far joined BJP. Asked for his opinion on the fact that he has joined the very party that brought the controversial Citizenship (Amendment) Act against which the protests all over the country had erupted and in which he had participated as well,he said, “Congress and AAP have both done less to explain things to people and more to lead them astray. Everybody just wanted to enhance their own politics. The conversation [on CAA] is only possible through dialogue.”

Shaheen Bagh on Republic Day. Photo: Raghu Karnad/The Wire

Ali insisted that his plan was to sit with [senior] leaders of the BJP and “clear the confusions” that Muslims have on the CAA. “Everybody’s views are different, we will listen and talk. The biggest thing is that, in my personal opinion, we have always thought of the BJP as our enemy. I have been welcomed by BJP members with so much warmth, it should be appreciated. By sitting at home and protesting against something, problems will not get solved. Problems will be solved only through dialogue,” he added.

Ali said the “most damage to us [the Muslim community] has been done by the Congress.” He added that it was Kejriwal’s responsibility to talk to the protesters, as chief minister of Delhi. “He should have come and made people understand. He is as responsible as Modi ji is.”

Not everyone is convinced of Ali’s credentials. Shoaib Jamai, who has been actively involved in the Shaheen Bagh protests since their beginning in December, 2019, said, “There were many people who used to come to the Shaheen Bagh for tea. Even Gunja Kapoor came to the protest, wearing a burkha. Does that mean she was a protester? Maybe he was part of the public, but he was not involved in any of the main meetings that some of us used to hold.”

Also read: Rightwing YouTuber Visits Shaheen Bagh in Burqa, Films Protesters

Gulbano, an elderly woman visible in the Shaheen Bagh protests and often referred to as one of the “dadis” (or grandmothers) of Shaheen Bagh, said that there were supposed to be no politicians in the protest. “There weren’t any politicians in the protests, you know. People would come, speak, perform poetry and leave, ” she said.

She added that she does not remember seeing the likes of Ali active in the protests. “We don’t have a problem with BJP, but with the CAA and NRC,” she said.

Elderly women protest at Shaheen Bagh. Photo: PTI

Was he part of ‘pro BJP’ party Rashtriya Ulema Council?

On Monday, a day after he had joined the BJP, RTI activist Saket Gokhale tweeted saying, “Shahzad Ali was never a ‘Shaheen Bagh activist.’ In Feb 2019, Rashtriya Ulama Council had appointed Shahzad Ali as its Secretary for Delhi. Rashtriya Ulama Council is described by critics as a pro-BJP group.” He also attached an official appointment letter with the Tweet.

Ali confirmed Gokhale’s claim to The Wire, saying that he has been part of the Rashtriya Ulema Council for about eight months. However, he did not comment on the stance of the party.

Shaheen Bagh protester responds

Asma Abdullah, a resident of Shaheen Bagh and a regular at the Shaheen Bagh anti-CAA protests who calls herself a social worker said, “Shaheen Bagh protest was not just the voice of the people of Shaheen Bagh. It was the voice of many different people from different states who were against the CAA. This act talks about boycotting Muslims, and we are still against the CAA. We didn’t need the CAA in this country…B.R. Ambedkar had already laid down many rules which said all religions would be equal. The CAA violates this equality. When power came into the hands of some people, they started doing all this. There are many more matters on which work could have been done…employment, corruption, etc.”

A protestor at Shaheen Bagh. Photo: Danish Siddiqui/Reuters

Recalling her time at the protest, she said, “I used to stay at the protest site all day. I joined an NGO in February, and I used to work along with attending the protests. We would return home only after midnight.”

She says that she saw the news about anti-CAA protesters joining the BJP on Twitter. “I saw him [Ali] a few times at the back of the protest site. If the joining of Shahzad Ali ensures that there is dialogue on the CAA…I think that’s completely a myth. We kept protesting for more than hundred days, no BJP politician listened to us or had any dialogue with us. I don’t think the joining of one Shahzad Ali will ensure dialogue on CAA.”

Hindu Sena Calls off Stir, Delhi Police Impose Section 144 at Shaheen Bagh

On Sunday, it made a heavy deployment of security personnel at the site as a “precautionary measure”, officials said.

New Delhi: Delhi police have reportedly imposed Section 144 at Shaheen Bagh, the site of anti-Citizenship Amendment Act protests, largely by women, in south east Delhi.

On Sunday, it made a heavy deployment of security personnel at the site as a “precautionary measure”, officials said.

The police deployment has come after the right-wing group, Hindu Sena, gave a call to clear the Shaheen Bagh road on March 1. However on Saturday, with the reported intervention of police, they called off their proposed protest against the anti-CAA agitation.

It is not clear if the Section 144 imposition has been as a result of the Hindu Sena call or in response to the north east Delhi riots.

Also read: A Timeline of the Delhi Riots: Arson, Shooting and Police Indifference

“The proposed protest call was cancelled with timely intervention. But as a precautionary measure, we have made heavy police deployment here,” Deputy Commissioner of Police (Southeast) R.P. Meena said.

In a statement which News18.com quoted, the Hindu Sena said that police pressured them to call off their protest on Sunday. It also claimed that their national president Vishnu Gupta was “illegally detained”.

Twelve companies, including two of female forces, have been deployed in Shaheen Bagh, 100 men each from four police districts have also been deployed along with the local police, the official said.

The Hindu Sena said in a statement police pressured them to call off their protest on Sunday against the Shaheen Bagh agitation.

Shaheen Bagh, near Jamia Millia Islamia, has been a protest venue for a section of people opposed to the Citizenship Amendment Act and the National Register of Citizens since December 15 last year.

SC Defers Shaheen Bagh Hearing to March 23, Criticises Delhi Police Over Handling of Violence

The apex court held that it was ‘time for all parties to lower temperatures’.

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Wednesday deferred hearing on petitions to have the Shaheen Bagh site cleared of protesters to March 23.

The apex court said that it has asserted repeatedly that people have the right to protest without blocking roads and held that it was “time for all parties to lower temperatures.” It also criticised Delhi Police’s professionalism in handling the violence.

“We have seen the report of the interlocutors. We don’t want to discuss it here. We want to defer it. The environment is not conducive…let the police and the system work,” NDTV quoted a bench of Justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul and K.M. Joseph as having said.

A couple hundred people have been injured in the communal riots that have broken out in Delhi. As many as 22 people have died. At the heart of the violence, mainly in Delhi’s north east, BJP leader Kapil Mishra’s open call to remove Jafrabad’s anti-Citizenship Amendment Act protests. The protesters at Shaheen Bagh have been sitting in a dharna over the same issue.

Also read: Supreme Court: Interlocutors Submit ‘Sealed Cover’ Report on Shaheen Bagh Protest

The top court was hearing two pleas – one by lawyer and petitioner Amit Sahni and another by BJP leader Nand Kishore Garg – seeking removal of protesters from Shaheen Bagh.

“We have already said in earlier hearings and cannot repeatedly say that the protesters do have the right to protest but they cannot block the roads,” the bench said.

The top court remarks came after advocate Shashank Deo Sudhi, appearing for BJP leader Nand Kishore Garg, sought some interim order for removal of protesters from the road at Shaheen Bagh, saying people are using their right to protest as a weapon and causing inconvenience to others.

“We have thought of something which was an out of box solution to the problem. However, we don’t know how far we have succeeded but we must say that the interlocutors have made every endeavour to do whatever necessary to find the solution. We appreciate their efforts.”

The bench said that it had gone through the report of the two interlocutors senior advocate Sanjay Hegde and advocate Sadhana Ramachandran.

It told the interlocutors that people at Shaheen Bagh have to come forward for the solution.

“Appointing of the interlocutors was an out-of-box solution. But let’s see, how far we have succeeded,” it added.

Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the Centre, said that interlocutors were asked by the court to persuade the protesters to vacate the road, not to find alternatives to the blocked roads.

Also read: Delhi Riots: HC Asks Police to Decide on FIRs Against BJP Leaders by Tomorrow

To this, the bench said, the court order was very clear in this regard.

“Their job was to instil confidence among the protesters that they have the right to protest but not at this place. We think they did their job well and we appreciate that,” the bench said.

It asked all the parties to maintain composure, saying that “this is not how the developing society works and behaves. There can be difference of opinion. People may have their contra view which can be debated. There has to be a manner of debate.”

The top court agreed with the views of Mehta that “manifestation of dissent should be civilised”.

Firstpost has reported that the court was also disparaging to Delhi Police who it accused of lack of professionalism.

“The problem is lack of professionalism of police. If this had been done before, this situation would not have risen,” Joseph said. Police doesn’t have to wait for orders if someone makes inflammatory statements but act in accordance with law, the court said.

The solicitor general said in response to this, that the observation of the court should not be put in the order as it may have a demoralising effect on the law enforcing agencies.

“We agree with that. The problem is that media people in the court starts tweeting about any word spoken in the court. By the time, order is dictated, it is spread all over. Many a times, what has been expressed in court is not part of the order. What we say in court is part of discussion, which we have. We must say that the views of the court is in its order,” the bench said.

Mehta said that he was not referring to the media but the parties on other side, who may refer to the apex court’s order in other judicial platforms.

The court also made some harsh comments about the Delhi Police even as the Solicitor General of India, urged the court not to do so.

Advocate Mehmood Pracha, appearing for some of the parties said that it is an open court and media can report the observation made during the proceedings.

(With PTI inputs)

From ‘Shikara’ to Shaheen Bagh: A Shared Tale of Pain and Longing

These two politico-aesthetic experiences strike at the heart of the violence at play today and offer hope.

I am not a Kashmiri Pandit, nor am I a Muslim. 

Yet, as I like to believe, what makes us truly humane is our ability to transcend the constraints of limiting boundaries, activate the therapeutic power of empathy, and understand the shared tales of hope and betrayal, pain and longing, and aspirations and struggles. Hence, I understand what it means to be a Muslim at a time when the dominant discourse of majoritarian Hindu nationalism aims at humiliating and stigmatising the minorities.

With their psychic and existential pain, I too find myself wounded. And this is precisely the reason why every story of pain and humiliation experienced by displaced Kashmiri Pandits also bothers me. 

In fact, an awareness of pain and the resultant quest for collective healing takes us beyond the politics of the blame game and the psychology of revenge.

In recent times, I have passed through this process of inner churning through two politico-aesthetic experiences – watching Shikara, a film based on the traumatic exodus of the Kashmiri Pandits from the Valley; and my constant contemplation of Shaheen Bagh as a site of the art of resistance against the discriminatory character of the Citizen Amendment Act (CAA), 2019.

Shikara: The healing power of love

I cannot deny that I was initially skeptical about Vidhu Vinod Chopra’s Shikara.

I thought that there must be some communal motive – a Hindutva device – lurking beneath the making of the film. I asked myself: at a time when the reading down of Article 370 and the suspension of the basic rights of ordinary Kashmiri people have damaged the self-perception of India as a secular nation, is a film on the mass exodus of Kashmiri Pandits  some sort of a balancing act?

Is it an attempt to convey a message that Kashmiri Muslims deserve this onslaught as they were not kind enough to their Hindu neighbours? Is it yet another effort to spread the poison of Islamophobia?   

Yet, I sought to unlearn my preconceived notions. I decided not to read any review of the film before watching it.

Also read: Movie Review: ‘Shikara’ Is a Poetically Told Tale That Somewhere Loses its Way

As I was free from the burden of playing the role of a film historian or a critic, my heart communicated with my intellect, and my political sociology did not prevent me from being emotively touched by the poetry of pain, longing and love that Chopra offers as a sensitive filmmaker.

Well, it is possible to say that Chopra could not capture the rigour of a complex and multi-layered socio-political history that has caused such discontent among the Muslim community in Kashmir, led to the rise of militant, extremist politics, and disrupted the possibility of the two communities living in peaceful co-existence.  

A still from ‘Shikara’.

It is also possible to argue that Chopra has escaped the grasp of  difficult political questions and that his poetic dream of human goodness even amid darkness transforms the film into yet another love story. I know that he runs the risk of being condemned by angry Kashmiri Pandits as well as Kashmiri Muslims.

He may be accused of trivialising the harshness of politics through a romantic tale. 

However, these limitations notwithstanding, Shikara, I must say, has sensitised me, softened my soul. As I came out of the theatre, I felt a heaviness in my heart.

It was therapeutic to realise that my tears had not dried up, and I realised once again the hollowness of the politics of the blame game. I felt the power of love without which it is impossible to heal the wound caused by the violence of extremism, identity-based communal politics, militarism and majoritarian nationalism.  

Through the eyes of Shanti (an impressive performance by Sadia), I saw the Valley – I felt its metamorphosis from the rhythm of simplicity and togetherness in an amazingly beautiful landscape to the heart-breaking noise of bombs and guns. I felt the psychology of fear; I felt the pain of the loss of cultural  syncretism (in fact, her wedding ceremony reveals the naturalness of this cultural fusion). Her feminine grace and soul-force gives her husband, Shiv (Aadil Khan), the strength to retain his poetic self, or his ability to retain his dream of peace and longing for the lost home. 

Their journey to the refugee camp in Jammu reminded me of Saadat Hasan Manto’s stories. One understood the meaning of the breakdown of trust, the psychic trauma of homelessness, and the pain of being transformed from a human soul to a faceless or abstract category in the official register. I heard the cry of all refugees, irrespective of colour, race and religion. 

And the characterisation of Latif (Zain Durrani) – Shiv’s friend – made me see an ‘extremist’ not as a demon, but as a tormented human being with love and longing,   broken dreams and misdirected anger. 

It is the  loss of his father – a political leader killed by the police – that changes the life-trajectory of this vibrant young cricketer. He becomes an ‘extremist’. The violent politics of revenge rooted in a Hindu-Muslim binary becomes his new mantra. Yet, Chopra makes it possible for us to see him not merely through the eyes of the Indian Army. We feel his human vulnerability.

Never does he forget Shiv and Shanti. In fact, as you watch Latif’s last moments of confinement, and his smiling face as the army official brings Shiv near him with a motive of getting some information, you cannot hate Latif – you only understand how a sick society with its divisive politics causes this tragedy.  

Violence, bloodshed, loss of home, everyday struggle: amid the misery of the displaced Kashmiri Pandits, Shiv and Shanti continue to live with pain and longing. Time passes, and then, following a tragedy, Shiv is left alone to face the world. It is the ecstasy of the relationship he had with Shanti that enables Shiv to give a new meaning to his loss – he decides to return to his ancestral home in the Valley.

No, the film does not prescribe the logic of counter-violence; there is no attempt to combat one sort of communalism through another.

Instead, Shikara – Chopra’s gift of love – celebrates the poetry of life.

A shikara on the Dal Lake in Srinagar. Photo: Mohd Rashid/Pixabay

It makes the final merger possible: Shiv at his village in Kashmir is invoking Shanti as he teaches Muslim children with a heightened ethic of care. Well, in this ‘utopian’ project, the cynic might say, lies Chopra’s hidden agenda: an attempt to portray the moral superiority of Kashmiri Pandits.

However, I draw my own lesson: there is no militaristic solution to the Kashmir crisis; it is only the art of relatedness that heals.   

Shaheen Bagh: The aesthetics of resistance 

And then there is Shaheen Bagh, a remarkable site of hope and protest, endurance and determination.

My ascriptive ‘Hindu’ identity has never acted as a stumbling block, and as I visit this ghettoised locality, I see something beyond the ‘identity markers’ of Muslim women. In fact, I have felt the hidden power of femininity that Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, I assume, understood pretty well, and activated to nurture the ‘soul force’ of satyagraha to resist the ‘brute force’ of colonial power. 

It is not surprising, then, that the mighty state, despite its highly aggressive propaganda machinery, has not succeeded in demotivating and demoralising the dadis of Shaheen Bagh. In a way, in this art of resistance against the explicitly discriminatory character of the CAA, I see the return of the lost dream – a vision of India refreshingly different from the aggression of toxic nationalism, or what the brigade of hyper-masculine ‘soldiers’ of the reified Bharat Mata regard as Hindu rashtra. 

Also read: Delhi Police, Not Protesters, to Blame for Traffic Around Shaheen Bagh: Ex CIC Tells SC

I see fearlessness: a notion of courage and bravery nurtured by ahimsa, endurance and moral conviction.  

Yes, Shaheen Bagh absorbs and embraces.

With the iconography of Gandhi and Ambedkar, Bhagat Singh and Maulana Azad, its enchanting aesthetics reminds us of our constitutional values: the ideals of lyrical unity amid plurality and heterogeneity, and equity, dignity and justice. Possibly, the continual recurrence of the symbolism of the national flag or the National Anthem (even though at times it looks like a compulsive performance) is an attempt to rescue the nation from its self-proclaimed champions known for castigating all dissenters as ‘anti-national’. 

Shaheen Bagh on Republic Day. Photo: Vedika Singhania/The Wire

And with my ‘utopian’ longing for a collective struggle against everything that separates and brutalises us, I wish to believe that the likes of Shanti and Shiv – the displaced and homeless Kashmiri Pandit couple portrayed in Shikara – must have joined the women of Shaheen Bagh.  

It is the same longing that is experienced – the longing for the home one belongs to. And it is the same fear that is experienced – the fear of being thrown out, and losing what a home means, namely love, dignity, participation and togetherness. The fact that Shiv and Shanti could feel the wound of the divisive politics that traumatised Kashmir is the reason why they would understand the pain and apprehension of the protesters at Shaheen Bagh.

And collectively they would tell us that India is possible only when we overcome all sorts of extremism or communalisation of consciousness.   

In my inclusive inner world, Shikara and Shaheen Bagh have merged.

Avijit Pathak is Professor of Sociology at JNU. 

‘Walls Are the Publishers of the Poor’: How Women Sketch the Language of Resistance

“There are many first time protesters and people who have not received a formal education. For them, these walls are an important medium,” said a student of Fine Arts.

New Delhi: Much has been written about the role of women in the anti-Citizenship Amendment Act and National Register of Citizens protests. But women are not just at the forefront of the protests, they are also responsible for the artwork that is housed on each wall, every corner surrounding the protest areas in Jamia Millia Islamia and Shaheen Bagh.

Women protesters at Jamia Millia Islamia during the anti-CAA and NRC protests. Photo: Ismat Ara

Simeen Anjum, a second-year student of Fine Arts at Jamia Millia Islamia has been a vocal voice in all of the protests that have happened in and around campus. However, her modus operandi is different from that of others. She doesn’t shout slogans or organise crowds; she picks up a brush, some colours and paints the walls.

One of the walls painted by Simeen Anjum and her friends. Photo: Ismat Ara

According to her, these paintings on the walls suggest that art is one of the strongest means of resistance. “Art conveys the same message in a different way, that is more effective. It has been a strong tool of resistance throughout history. That’s the thing about art,” she says.

Also read: In Photos: Students Fight Back During Jamia’s Year of Rebellion

Simeen has been actively involved in making graffiti and murals at various protest sites including Jamia and Shaheen Bagh. While talking about her work, she quoted Eduardo Galeano and said, “Walls are the publishers of the poor”.

Women protesters at Jamia Millia Islamia during the anti-CAA and NRC protests. Photo: Ismat Ara

She then explained, “In the Shaheen Bagh and Jamia protests, there are many first time protesters and people who have not received a formal education. They can’t read. For them, these walls are an important medium to understand what’s happening. And even for people who are just passing by, they can, within a few seconds, look at our art and gauge what’s happened.”

Another wall mural created by Simin, where she painted the portrait of JNUSU president Aishe Ghosh, who was attacked at the JNU campus. Photo: Ismat Ara

As an art student, Simeen felt it was important to contribute to the anti-CAA and NRC movements at Jamia Millia Islamia and Shaheen Bagh. She said, “I think the CAA and NRC are a very, very direct attack on the secular fabric of India. No matter what religion or community you come from, it is very important to speak out against it, especially at this time it is even more important for people to step out and be a part of the protest.”

Also read: We Are Seeing, for the First Time, a Sustained Countrywide Movement Led by Women

Jamia Millia Islamia and Shaheen Bagh have both seen large mobilisation by women during the past two months against the Citizenship Amendment Act and National Register of Citizens. After the attack by Delhi police on students inside Jamia Millia Islamia’s university premises, Shaheen Bagh roared with anger. The protests at Shaheen Bagh have only increased with every act of repression.

Simeen Anjum painting. Photo: Ismat Ara

“What distinguished these protests from the other protests is the fact that it is led by women. I have never seen so many apolitical people come together and do something so politically despite the violent oppression against them by the state,” Simeen said. “Where I come from, women have never been part of any kind of political or public gatherings in an open sphere. But now the same women are showing us the way,” she added.

A mural painted by Simeen which translates into, “We will fight till the time there is a need for it”. Photo: Ismat Ara

Speaking about her art, she said, “A community has been formed with all the artists. Some are painting walls, some posters and some are just making graphics for the internet. People are coming together and using art in various ways and not just visual art, but also other forms such as singing, dastangoi and theatre.”

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The anti-CAA and NRC protests in Jamia, as well as Shaheen Bagh, have seen women’s participation in huge numbers who have not just taken to the streets, but also the medium of the internet to spread their message through art online.

Khansa Fahad, a second-year student of Jamia Millia Islamia in the B.Tech department, calls herself “a nerdy Muslimah” as well as a “lover of art”. Her artwork ranges from handwritten notes, letters and posters to mehendi designs. Seemingly aesthetic artwork, they all have deep political messages underneath.

Some of Khansa’s Instagram posts. Photo: Ismat Ara

During the anti-CAA protests in Jamia, Khansa made a poster with Rahat Indori’s couplet on it, which went viral on Twitter. It read:

“Sabhi ka khoon hai shaamil yahaan ki mitti me
Kisi k baap ka Hindustan thodi hai.”

Khansa Fahad’s photograph with her placard that went viral on social media. Photo: Ismat Ara

Talking about her photograph that went viral, she said, “Rahat Indori’s nazm is very powerful. And this particular phrase, it has a different level of energy. People relate to it and it’s also very catchy. I made that poster in a hurry. I just wanted to carry a handmade poster, and this phrase struck my mind. I had been reading The Ministry of Utmost Happiness by Arundhati Roy those days and, in it, I read about how Urdu had been ghettoised.”

Referring to her hijab, she said, “That seemed like the perfect opportunity to me, to resist in my own way, carrying my identity, wearing it proudly, celebrating it, without ‘hurting’ anyone’s sentiments.”

Also read: The Brave Women of Shaheen Bagh

She also added, “My poster got a lot of appreciation and hate at the same time. It was shared by a lot of people and pages. I’ve made a lot more posters which were scanned, printed and distributed several times.”

Khansa’s mehendi art in Urdu, ‘Ehtijaj’, which roughly translates into ‘protest’. Photo: Ismat Ara

In an online campaign, Khansa recently started a weekly hand-lettering challenge called ‘Letter to Resist’ where readers are invited to scribble letters in their own handwriting the way they like, click a picture of it and post it online.

Talking about this online campaign, she said, “In response to the devastation occurring all across the world due to the irresponsible, inhuman, criminal decisions taken by governments – we thought of a way to bring people together who choose humanity over cruelty.” The hashtag #Lettertoresist has over a hundred posts on Instagram.

A post on Instagram with the hashtag #Lettertoresist.

Referring to the reported police brutality that occurred at Jamia Millia Islamia as well as Aligarh Muslim University campus premises on December 15, 2020, she said, “Our hearts are filled with sorrow and anguish and blood to fight for the losses that have incurred, losses that are immeasurable. We brought this challenge so that people can talk about their vulnerabilities and tell others that we are together in all this- bomb blasts and airstrikes, laathi-charges and firings, and as far as justice is concerned- dates and delays.”

A poster by artist Noreen Fatima which features placards in several languages. Photo: Instagram/@inkedscapes

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Shah Kulsum, another young student of the Fine Arts Department at Jamia Millia Islamia, is credited with the addition of visuals along with words on placards used during the protests. She said, “During the initial days of these protests I realised that people have only words written on posters and no pictures. They failed to grab the attention of people at first sight. I started making posters with pictures on them and later noticed how this became a trend.”

After doing street art for two days, she realised that she wanted to do something that had a long-lasting impact. That’s when she, along with Simeen Anjum, started painting graffiti on walls and roads.

Kulsum’s artwork on a road outside the Jamia campus. Photo: Ismat Ara

Talking about the protests, she said, “People of Shaheen Bagh and Jamia started this protest all by themselves and today people of all classes join these protests in huge numbers. Trust me, I have met people who have come from Maharashtra, South India, UP and are staying here for the protest’s sake. Shaheen bagh is is a mela of democracy. Muslim kids ask Sikhs to tie turbans on their heads, and Muslim men wear the turban. They eat, sleep and sing together. It’s beautiful. Sometimes, I feel like the whole of India has gathered together. This is the real India, which we are fighting for through our art.”

Kulsum believes that one cannot separate art from social issues. She said, “Art is derived from social issues. Art reflects the pain, agony, hurt and damage of society. Art also reflects love, care and desires of the society. Today we are in pain because of CAA and NRC, society is in pain, and our art is reflecting that pain, damage and hurt of society.”

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During the anti-NRC and CAA protests in Jamia and Shaheen Bagh, several artists have emerged and collectively contributed to the movement through different art forms such as poetry, songs, sketches, placards, posters, paintings and graffiti. Some go to protest sites, with packets of sheets and markers and make posters on the spot as per the demands of people, while some paint on walls.

Women protesters at Jamia Millia Islamia during the anti-CAA and NRC protests. Photo: Ismat Ara

What stands out among these artists is that they are young, fearless women who have no qualms when it comes to asserting their identities while protesting.

Ismat Ara is a Mass Communication student at AJKMCRC, Jamia Millia Islamia.

Note: An earlier version of this article erroneously identified the artist of a poster captioned ‘A poster by artist Noreen Fatima which features placards in several languages. Photo: Instagram/@inkedscapes’ as Khansa Fahad. The error is regretted.

Watch | Why Has a Library Been Set Up At the Protest Site in Shaheen Bagh?

Who runs it? What kinds of books are being read here?

In Delhi, Shaheen Bagh has been protesting against the CAA for the last two months. In the meantime, a library has opened at a bus stop here, which is catching the attention of the people arriving at the site.

Who is running this library and what kind of books are being read here? Ritu Tomar and Haris Jeelani Toogo report from the ground.

Shaheen Bagh Protestors Can’t Block Public Roads, Create an Inconvenience: SC

“You cannot block the public roads. There cannot be an indefinite period of protest in such an area. If you want to protest, it has to be in an area identified for protest,” the bench said.

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday said the anti-Citizenship (Amendment) Act protestors at Delhi’s Shaheen Bagh cannot block public roads and “create an inconvenience” for others.

The apex court issued notices to the Centre, Delhi government and the police on pleas seeking removal of protesters from Shaheen Bagh.

“There is a law and people have a grievance against it. The matter is pending in court. Despite what some people are protesting. They are entitled to protest,” a bench comprising justices S.K. Kaul and K.M. Joseph said.

“You cannot block the public roads. There cannot be an indefinite period of protest in such an area. If you want to protest, it has to be in an area identified for protest,” the bench said.

The apex court further said that the protest at Shaheen Bagh has been going on for long but it cannot create inconvenience for others.

The bench said it would not pass any direction without hearing the other side and posted the matter for February 17.

At the outset, advocate Amit Sahni, one of the petitioners in the case, said that the question in this matter is about the extent of the right to protest.

“Is there anybody present from the government’s side. We will issue notice,” the bench said.

Also watch: Watch | ‘Democracy Needs Both Protests and Votes’, Say People of Shaheen Bagh

When advocate Shashank Deo Sudhi, appearing for another petitioner and former BJP MLA Nand Kishore Garg, urged the bench to pass some direction, the court said, “It can’t be done ex-parte”.

Advocate Mehmood Pracha told the court that he wants to intervene in the matter on behalf of Bhim Army chief Chandra Shekhar Aazad.

“Do whatever you feel proper,” the bench told Pracha.

At the fag end of the hearing, when Sudhi insisted that some directions may be passed as people are facing inconvenience due to the blockade of public roads, the bench said, “If you have waited for over 50 days, wait for some more days.”

Watch | ‘Democracy Needs Both Protests and Votes’, Say People of Shaheen Bagh

The Wire speaks to people from Shaheen Bagh on the day of voting in Delhi.

During the campaign for the Delhi assembly elections, the BJP targeted protests in Shaheen Bagh many times. Protesters from the area, and also other voters, lined up in large numbers to vote. Shaheen Bagh is part of the Okhla assembly constituency. The Wire‘s Srishti Srivastava interacted with voters. Watch the video to know what they said.