Fatima applied for bail before the Delhi high court in mid 2022. The court is yet to deliver its verdict on her plea.
April 9, 2024 marks four years since Gulfisha Fatima, an MBA graduate, student activist and history enthusiast, was arrested by the Delhi Police. Fatima was active during the nationwide protests against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, and was arrested by the police on charges relating to the communal violence in North-East Delhi in February 2020. While several rights activists were arrested on similar charges – in cases seen as a way to silence dissenters while letting those who instigated violence go scot-free – Muslim student activists like Fatima are still in jail. Their bail petitions have gone unheard and undecided for years. Fatima applied for bail before the Delhi high court in mid 2022. The court is yet to deliver its verdict on her plea.
Below are excerpts from letters Fatima has written to her friends while in prison, and artwork she has created while incarcerated. Some editorial notes and translations have been added in square brackets. Names she mentions in her letters have been removed to protect the privacy of those she has referred to.
Read her poetry here.
This story was originally published in thewire.in. Read the full story here.