Muslim girl student Gulfisha Fatima completes four years in Indian jail
New Delhi: Gulfisha Fatima, a detained Muslim MBA student, has now spent four years incarcerated in a Delhi jail in India, marking her fourth Eid in illegal detention.
According to Kashmir Media Service, Gulfisha Fatima, an MBA student who participated in protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) in 2020, has completed four years in jail following her arrest in connection with the Delhi riots.
The bail application of Fatima, who was arrested on April 9, 2020, was heard by the Delhi High Court in March 2024. However, the court has yet to deliver its judgment in the case.
Prominent journalist Rana Ayyub took to social media to lament the continued incarceration of Fatima, who will now spend her fourth Eid in jail.
“When you celebrate Eid this week, Gulfisha Fatima would be spending her 4th Ramzan in jail. Incarcerated for speaking against oppression, for our liberty and our freedoms,” posted Ayyub. Ayyub also highlighted a report on the poems written by Fatima in jail.
Prominent human rights activist Teesta Setalvad described Fatima’s incarceration as arbitrary and unjust.
“Today marks 4 years of unjust, arbitrary, arrest & continued incarceration of young, brave, brilliant GULFISHA FATIMA, under the draconian UAPA, for her sincere engagement in the equal citizenship movement @thewire_in has pub a set of her poems, paintings & letters frm jail. #FreeGulfisha #FreeAllPoliticalPrisoners #RepealUAPA #NotoCAA-NRC-NP,” wrote Teesta.
Natasha Narwal, another activist arrested by Delhi Police in a similar case but granted bail, described the years of incarceration as four years of extraordinary pain and resilience.
“Today marks #Gulfisha’s 4 years of incarceration under UAPA. 4 years of being deprived of liberty, of the streets and sounds of the city, of ordinary life,” said Narwal.
In 2020, an FIR was registered against Fatima at Jafrabad Police Station in northeast Delhi. She was charged with several serious offenses including murder, rioting, unlawful assembly, and sedition. Initially granted bail on May 13, 2020, for FIR 48, Gulfisha was subsequently charged under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967 (UAPA) in another case by April 19. The police have alleged that Gulfisha was physically present at the protest site near Jafrabad Metro Station from February 22 to 24, where she is accused of protesting against the Citizenship Amendment Act.
Besides Fatima, activists Umar Khalid, Khalid Saifi, Meeran Haider, Shafi Ahmed, and others continue to languish in jail in cases related to the Delhi riots. All of them actively participated in protests against the CAA.
In Umar Khalid’s case, several of his bail pleas were rejected by the session court and Delhi High Court while the Supreme Court rescheduled the hearing for bail 14 times.
