By Dawood peer
Safoora zargar , a sociology student at Jamia Millia Islima University . Zargar , who was born to a homemaker mother and a father who worked for a public sector company , went to school in Fariabad , Haryana. She attended Jesus and Mary college in New Delhi , and then joined Jamia for her postgraduate studies.
Zargar was in custody from 10 April until 23 June 2020, accused of being part of a conspiracy to cause riots and of making an inflammatory speech on 23 February 2020.
In reality, Zargar was part of the peaceful resistance against the discriminatory Citizenship Amendment Act – a resistance led by women and students, notably the women of Delhi’s Shaheen Bagh neighbourhood. At the time of her arrest, Safoor Zargar was pregnant. What does the brutality of the state towards a pregnant Muslim peaceful resister during a pandemic lockdown tell us about the deep perils in which our Constitution is mired at this moment? We have reached a nadir. The use of imprisonment and carcerality under conditions of pandemic vulnerabilities to willfully deny Zargar her right to personal liberty is one part of an exercise of state repression. What does it tell us about the power of Zargar’s resistance, and the lack of urgency of intervention on her behalf by constitutional courts in the name of the Constitution? The legitimacy of constitutional courts is imperiled by their tacit deference to indefensible state action. The Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967, under which Zargar has been arrested, like other anti-terror laws in India is built on the presumption of state impunity, and criminalises any opposition to arbitrary actions by the state. There are two distinct categories of offences: “unlawful activities”and “terrorist activities”.
It has been hailed as a welcome move, given that various national and international human rights organizations had been advocating for the release of Zargar and others detained during the pandemic—the list includes The International Federation for Human Rights, the American Bar Association and the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom. However, the grounds of release are a peculiar concession—given the arguments made a day earlier, as well as the denial of bail in three earlier hearings—under the same circumstances. I am glad that the state conceded on humanitarian grounds and agreed to Safoora’s bail but the question remains, what was stopping them from doing so before the sessions court or the magistrate? Other social media posts targeting Safoora Zargar for her marital status and pregnancy occurred, with large numbers of individuals claiming that she was unmarried and that her pregnancy was discovered when she was lodged in Tihar Jail. The Quint fact checked all the allegations, which were revealed to be fake. It has been suggested that the online campaigns against her were misogyny and Islamophobia. Delhi Police hadn’t taken any action against the online vilification campaigns and trolls as of 20th May 2020. More often than not, ideals of motherhood are woven into political messaging. Across the aisle, India’s misogynist politicians, while delivering crass sermons, habitually address women as ‘mothers and sisters’. Rather than being treated as individual human beings or citizens, women find their visibility and significance becomes contingent on the roles assigned to them within conventional families. Right after the arrest, right-wing trolls went to town about Zargar being an unwed, expectant mother. With social media toxicity spiralling, Zargar’s husband told Alt News that they were married in 2018. That Zargar’s marital status, which has no bearing on the case at hand, should be a matter of speculation, in itself is unacceptable. The choice of becoming a single mother or being a mother in relationships outside the institution of marriage is not the business of the state, or the public at large.
Justice Rajiv Shakdher ordered her release from Tihar jail and directed her to furnish a bail of Rs 10,000 with a surety of the like amount. During the hearing, SG Mehta, appearing for the Delhi Police, submitted that without going into the merits of the petition, and without considering this as precedent, the prosecution would not object to Safoora Zargar being released on regular bail on “humanitarian grounds”. Mehta suggested that this would be subject to conditions, including one that Zargar not be allowed to visit Delhi. Now justice has been served to a mother.
Dawood peer is an activist associated with JKSA, can be reached at davoodpeer134@gmail.com
