New Delhi: Family members of arrested Jamia Millia Islamia student Safoora Zargar say they are “appalled and upset” by the attempts made to slander her on social media, but her husband says he is keeping faith in the country’s judicial system.
Zargar, a 27-year-old M.Phil. student from Jamia, is over three months pregnant, and was arrested by the Delhi Police’s special cell on 10 April. She was later denied bail and, on 21 April, charged under the stringent Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA). She was associated with the Jamia Coordination Committee (JCC), and was part of the anti-Citizenship Amendment Act protests organised by university students in December and January. She was arrested for allegedly leading the anti-CAA protest at Jaffrabad metro station in February.
On Monday, three weeks after her arrest, her family found a hashtag in her name, #सफूरा_जरगर, trending on Twitter, hours after Delhi BJP leader Kapil Mishra commented on her pregnancy.
Please don't connect her pregnancy with my speech
It doesn't work that way https://t.co/WtKokksIqR
— Kapil Mishra (@KapilMishra_IND) May 3, 2020
Mishra had quote-tweeted Congress member Salman Nizami’s tweet, which said: “Activist Safoora Zargar (pregnant) is in Jail during Ramadan, hatemongers like Kapil Mishra who incited riots are FREE.”
Mishra is accused of inciting hate through his speeches before violence erupted in Northeast Delhi in February.
Following this, many tweets questioning the nature of Zargar’s pregnancy and her marital status began doing the rounds.
I am short of words to express my disgust. @TwitterSafety @DelhiPolice@DCP_CCC_Delhi if u can't take action against these shameful trends and people then you are complicit. Commenting on a women's modesty in a country where women are worshipped as Devis. SHAME. #सफूरा_जरगर pic.twitter.com/aqKsHpGMZt
— Nabiya Khan | نبیہ خان (@NabiyaKhan11) May 4, 2020
“We are extremely appalled and distraught about this. I am shocked at the lengths people are willing to go to in order to malign her image,” her sister Sameeya Zargar told ThePrint. “This is nothing but character assassination.”
“I don’t even want to dignify these trolls by responding to them, they will do what they have to,” Zargar’s husband said to ThePrint. He requested that his name not be published.
Also read: Over 1,100 activists condemn Delhi Police action against anti-CAA protestors amid lockdown
Outrage over continued arrest without bail
Zargar’s continued arrest without bail has received widespread outrage and condemnation, including from Amnesty International. Her arrest, along with that of another Jamia student Meeran Haider, had earlier kicked up a storm of online petitions demanding their release.
At Zargar’s bail hearing on 18 April, the court said the investigating officer had filed a “cryptic and superficial” reply on her role in the case, and told the officer to file a detailed reply for the next hearing. However, her bail was later denied after more stringent charges were added to the FIR.
Amnesty said in a statement: “She is currently imprisoned in Tihar jail, which is one of the most overcrowded prisons in the country, and has not been able to access her lawyer or meet her husband since 14 April. Safoora’s pregnancy is a mitigating factor against her continued detention under UAPA, particularly amidst the Covid-19 pandemic.”
Early Monday morning, her sister Sameeya released an open letter to her, describing the period of Safoora’s arrest as a “slow death”.
“She has had pregnancy related UTI issues. She also has a history of UTI. We were hoping on all these grounds she will be given bail, but hasn’t yet,” Sameeya said.
Safoora’s husband added: “We were hoping she would get bail soon, but because of the lockdown, the entire machinery is moving slowly. But we have hope in our judicial system.”
Also read: Delhi Police file first charge sheet in communal riots case, name shooter Shahrukh
‘Not an arbitrary arrest’
The Delhi Police maintains that Safoora Zargar’s arrest is not ‘arbitrary’.
“It is not an arbitrary arrest, we have evidence to prove the charges. Rest the judiciary will take a call,” a senior police officer said on the condition of anonymity.
Officials of Tihar jail have said “she is being given proper medical assistance”, and have denied that she has been kept in solitary confinement.
“The new inmates are being kept isolated. As such, she is in a single cell. It is not solitary confinement. She has been allowed to talk to her family also on the phone,” said an officer posted in Tihar.
Her husband, however, said: “I was allowed to speak to her just once for only 5 minutes, over a week ago. There has been no communication permitted since then.”
(With inputs from Ananya Bhardwaj)
Also read: Minorities panel notice to Delhi Police for ‘random’ arrests of Muslims everyday for riots
Cheap media at it again, bravo.
This kind of media biased media coating how cruelty is she facing and talking about human rights. But what about the human rights of those lost their lives in delhi riots ?
We can’t expect more cheap mentality of these hate mongering bakts as depicted in recent times where all four pillars of democracy in India are hijacked by their bosses. Cruelty has an end and pride hath to fall… It can’t withstand forever…
We don’t support terrorists..
Human rights ARE ONLY FOR THOSE WHO ARE HUMANS THEMSELVES!! OR else they are to be SHOT AT SIGHT !
Like you ?
So true
jNU is making terrorists
My home state j&k bleeds because of people like safora . They present the wrong image of our state our country . They had right to protest but no one give them a right to intrupt or breaking law and order .They destroy the country’s unity and harmony. People like him put always behind the bars.
how much is bjp it cell paying you Akhil – hourly or daily wages ?
The same amount Congress is paying you ;(
My home state j&k bleeds because of people like safora . They present the wrong image of our state our country . They had right to protest but no give them a right to intrupt or breaking law and order . destroy the country’s unity and harmony. People like him put always behind the bar
Good to see such people who don’t even know the father of foetus and also such nuisance creature in Jail
Hehe. Do you know how many literate women in India end up popping babies out of their stomachs? Not many plan their pregnancies, the very prized foetus is the result of forceful sex or random sex in most cases. So why you want only Safoora to be in jail? You know those other cultured women in India slept with only one male in their lives? Haha. You seem to know very less about your own country. Learn about it my friend and tell us how many you would want to see behind bars?
Mr. Nakamurakh
Islamofobia ….. Islamofobia Islamofobia
Islamofobia try rabbirs c
Vaccine
She herself did NOT know about it and the boy is reluctant to reveal his name as he is NOT sure if he was the last man to be with her-what a confusion
And print is a family of bastards
India has lot of bastards. In case you don’t know about your country, please read up. A lot of people I know have been married to two women at the same time. God knows how many other children they have fathered in their lives without giving them legitimacy. Something that needs research and publication.
Yes only write what you wish and don’t allow us to comment
What a bunch of hypocrites. k2a
Ask her opinion about kashmir we will know heard her in vidio supporting kashmiri terorist if she doesn’t think kashmir is part of India then who is she to talk about Indian politics
Who has confirmed the pregnancy?
The police should be heaving a sigh of relief if it is a three months pregnancy, at least they now do not have to face some difficult questions.
What hypocrisy of Muslims?When you get caught you start crying?
How many video photos are there against Kapil Sharma on social media? Before the riots in Delhi, did he not inform the public but no action was taken against him. Is the police not cooperating with him? The answer is BJP RSS. Has to be a Muslim in India,
You have to be a non-Muslim in Pakistan and Bangladesh to realise what a ‘minority’ means.
Isn’t India a better country than Pak & Bangla? Why are you comparing esteemed India with such countries that shouldn’t even get mention in comparison. India should be compared with UK, Switzerland, Finland, Australia, New Zealand. Why do you keep demeaning India’s status by comparing it to Pakistan or Bangladesh? Do you even realize that you are actually badmouthing your own country by this comparison. Stand in front of a mirror and ask yourself – which countries you want India to be compared with? And why you keep making that mistake all of us do again and again- comparison with Pak!!
Why should her arrest be the concern of anybody? She is arrested and let the law decides. As far as the pregnancy is concerned, Who is the husband? It is not the USA . People do ask about the husband and matrimonial status, more so if some lady is pregnant. Her so-called sympathizers should not mind it.