New Delhi: The ongoing student protests led by the Cockroach Janta Party has already led to striking artwork being shared on social media. But one photograph, in particular, has arguably come to define the movement.
It was taken at students’ protest held in Mumbai on July 22. It shows a young woman standing directly in the way of a police van, one hand pressed against it. The photo has gone viral, with filmmakers and actors including Zoya Akhtar, Abhishek Banerjee, Twinkle Khanna and Malaika Arora sharing it.
The viral picture was captured by photographer Indra Joshi, who was on the ground and witnessed the moment firsthand. In an exclusive conversation with ThePrint, he said the image would stay with him as one of the defining moments of the protest. He went on to describe how the scene unfolded.
“I was in Dadar, and it was around 5:30pm. Protesters had gathered near the Shiv Sena Bhavan. Suddenly we saw a police van passing by. It was carrying student protesters that were detained by the police at Dadar station. As the police van made its way to the protest site, I saw this woman stepping out and standing in front of the van,” Joshi claimed.
He found out later through other posts on social media that the woman’s name is Rhiya Ahir. She’s an actor, model, and entrepreneur. Joshi alleged that there was a tense back-and-forth between Ahir and the police.
The ‘Tank Man’ reference
He claimed that Ahir “stood there for 15 minutes” and her stance gave courage to a lot of youngsters, who later “formed a human chain.” The police were forced to relieve the students they had detained in the van, Joshi claimed.
“It will definitely go down as one of the most iconic moments. I salute her” he said.
Joshi, like many people on social media, was reminded of the ‘Tank Man.’ It is the famous 1989 photograph of an unidentified protester standing in front of a column of military tanks near Tiananmen Square in Beijing. Captured by Associated Press photographer Jeff Widener, the photo remains a global symbol of peaceful resistance against state oppression.
The official Instagram page of Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) also shared both images, quoting from Rabindra Nath Tagore’s poem for the caption: “When the mind is without fear and the head is held high.”
Filmmaker Zoya Akhtar simply shared Ahir’s image without any captions, while Abhishek Banerjee accompanied it with a single word: “aura.” Author Tahira Kashyap, shared the same picture and wrote, “Always knew, it will be HER.”
(Edited by Aakriti Handa)