Hundreds join Free Gulfisha Campaign in India, abroad, perform her poems

Counterview Desk

On April 9, Gulfisha Fatima marked five years in prison under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA). She was arrested for her involvement in protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA). During her time in Tihar Jail, Gulfisha has written poetry that reflects themes of resistance, memory, and defiance.

Her poetry is claimed to have inspired readings, translations, songs, and artwork shared across social media platforms and performed in various cities. Week-long events are said to have amplified her voice and highlighted the importance of solidarity in the face of adversity.

A statement by Free Gulfisha Fatima Campaign:

***

On 9th April this year, Gulfisha Fatima, a young Muslim woman from North East Delhi and a Delhi University graduate had spent 5 long years imprisoned as an undertrial prisoner under the draconian UAPA - jailed on entirely fabricated charges for her role in the peaceful movement for equal citizenship against the CAA-NPR-NRC. From her tiny cell in Tihar Jail No. 6, Gulfisha, lovingly known as Gul, has penned deeply poignant, heart-wrenching poetry - poems that rage, remember, and resist.

In response to the campaign demanding Gulfisha's release, something really special and extraordinary has unfolded over the last few days. Gulfisha's defiant verses have stirred countless hearts sparking a wave of solidarity. Activists, lawyers, students, scholars, journalists, writers, poets, artists, theatre practitioners, actors, film-makers, friends and common citizens - have come together to demand her release. The FreeGulfisha social media accounts are becoming a growing archive of resistance - flooded with impassioned readings of Gul's poems and powerful artwork inspired by her writings. Gul's poems have been read aloud in homes and classrooms, in streets and parks. They are being translated into multiple languages Telugu, Bengali, Punjabi and more. Her poetry is being composed into hauntingly beautiful songs. Poetry reading events were organised in Jaipur, Lucknow, Bhopal, Hyderabad, Bangalore, Delhi, Kolkata, Dharamshala and Churu, even internationally in Birmingham, Amsterdam & Hague - many more are being planned.

What began as a campaign to help Gul's voice break through prison walls has transformed into something profoundly moving and momentous. Her words have not only flown free-they have set us free too. In the wake of brutal state repression and arrests, a paralysing fear and enforced silence had gripped many of us. Gul's tender and resilient verses have helped us confront that fear within to rekindle our courage. It has been heartening to witness the large number of young women across the country and abroad who have come forward to extend support to the campaign. Her poems have not only carried her voice beyond the bars-they have inspired so many others into speech, remembrance and resistance. Her writings have given us a voice.

Some prominent names that have extended solidarity to Gul include: Ratna Pathak Shah, Swara Bhaskar, Naseeruddin Shah and Zeeshan Ayyub from Bollywood, film-makers Shonali Bose and Sanjay Kak, journalists Arfa Khanum Sherwani, Rana Ayyub and Paranjoy Guha, senior lawyer Prashant Bhushan, writers Amitava Kumar and Aakar Patel, academics Uma Chakravarty, Nivedita Menon, Sayeda Hameed and Roop Rekha Verma, Sadhna Arya, theatre practitioners Maya Rao and Danish Husain, poets Amir Aziz, Jacinta Kerketta, Akhil Katyal, Sabika Abbas Naqvi and Nabiya Khan, student leaders Dhananjay, Gurmehar Kaur, activists Vasantha Kumari, Teesta Setalvad, Lalita Ramdas, Chayanika Shah, Navsharan Singh, and Madhu Bhushan.

Gulfisha's bail application has been unjustly pending in the Delhi High Court for almost three years, without a verdict. Despite the long incarceration and inordinate judicial delays, Gul has refused to surrender. On completing 5 years of this unjust incarceration, she writes in her recent letter - "I shall celebrate this day also to mark my survival in the most bizarre circumstances of struggle."

Like Gulfisha - Khalid Saifi, Sharjeel Imam, Umar Khalid, Meeran Haider, Athar Khan, Shifa ur Rehman, Shahdab Ahmed, Tasleem Ahmed, Tahir Hussain, Saleem Malik & Saleem Munna - all charged under UAPA in FIR 59/20 continue to be incarcerated under trumped-up charges. We stand in solidarity with the struggles of all political prisoners - academics, artists and activists incarcerated for their political dissent under UAPA. We demand the repeal of UAPA, a law that is being used to attack all voices of dissent and to punish those who stand up for constitutional and democratic rights.

Link to Instagram handle: https://www.instagram.com/freegulfisha/

Link to X (Twitter) handle: https://x.com/FreeGulfisha

Comments

Academics urge Azim Premji University to drop FIR against Student Reading Circle

By A Representative A group of academics and civil society members has issued an open letter to the leadership of Azim Premji University expressing concern over the filing of a police complaint that led to an FIR against a student-run reading circle following a recent incident of violence on campus. The signatories state that they hold the university in high regard for its commitment to constitutional values, critical inquiry and ethical public engagement, and argue that it is precisely because of this reputation that the present development is troubling.

Was Netaji forced to alter face, die in obscurity in USSR in 1975? Was he so meek?

By Rajiv Shah This should sound almost hilarious. Not only did Subhas Chandra Bose not die in a plane crash in Taipei, nor was he the mysterious Gumnami Baba who reportedly passed away on 16 September 1985 in Ayodhya, but we are now told that he actually died in 1975—date unknown—“in oblivion” somewhere in the former Soviet Union. Which city? Moscow? No one seems to know.

Love letters in a lifelong war: Babusha Kohli’s resistance in verse

By Ravi Ranjan* “War does not determine who is right—only who is left.” Bertrand Russell’s words echo hauntingly in our times, and few contemporary Hindi poets embody this truth as profoundly as Babusha Kohli. Emerging from Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh, Kohli has carved a unique space in literature by weaving together tenderness, protest, and philosophy across poetry, prose, and cinema. Her work is not merely artistic expression—it is resistance, refuge, and a call for peace.

UAPA action against Telangana activist: Criminalising legitimate democratic activity?

By A Representative The National Investigation Agency's Hyderabad branch has issued notices to more than ten individuals in Telangana in connection with FIR No. RC-04/2025. Those served include activists, former student leaders, civil rights advocates, poets, writers, retired schoolteachers, and local leaders associated with the Communist Party of India (CPI) and the Indian National Congress.

Asbestos contamination in children’s products highlights global oversight gaps

By A Representative A commentary published by the International Ban Asbestos Secretariat (IBAS) has drawn attention to the challenges governments face in responding effectively to global public-health risks. In an article written by Laurie Kazan-Allen and published on March 5, 2026, the author examines how the discovery of asbestos contamination in children’s play products has raised questions about regulatory oversight and international product safety. The article opens by reflecting on lessons from the COVID-19 pandemic, noting that governments in several countries were slow to respond to early warning signs of the crisis. Referring to the experience of the United Kingdom, the author writes that delays in implementing protective measures contributed to “232,112 recorded deaths and over a million people suffering from long Covid.” The commentary uses this example to illustrate what it describes as the dangers of underestimating emerging threats. Attention then turns...

Aligning too closely with U.S., allies, India’s silence on IRIS Dena raises troubling questions

By Vidya Bhushan Rawat* The reported sinking of the Iranian ship IRIS Dena in the Indian Ocean near Sri Lanka raises troubling questions about international norms and the credibility of the so-called rule-based order. If indeed the vessel was attacked by the American Navy while returning from a joint exercise in Visakhapatnam, it would represent a serious breach of trust and a violation of the principles that govern such cooperative engagements. Warships participating in these exercises are generally not armed for combat; they are meant to symbolize solidarity and friendship. The incident, therefore, is not only shocking but also deeply ironic.

The kitchen as prison: A feminist elegy for domestic slavery

By Garima Srivastava* Kumar Ambuj stands as one of the most incisive voices in contemporary Hindi poetry. His work, stripped of ornamentation, speaks directly to the lived realities of India’s marginalized—women, the rural poor, and those crushed under invisible forms of violence. His celebrated poem “Women Who Cook” (Khānā Banātī Striyāṃ) is not merely about food preparation; it is a searing indictment of patriarchal domestic structures that reduce women’s existence to endless, unpaid labour.

Swami Vivekananda's views on caste and sexuality were 'painfully' regressive

By Bhaskar Sur* Swami Vivekananda now belongs more to the modern Hindu mythology than reality. It makes a daunting job to discover the real human being who knew unemployment, humiliation of losing a teaching job for 'incompetence', longed in vain for the bliss of a happy conjugal life only to suffer the consequent frustration.

India’s foreign policy at crossroads: Cost of silence in the face of aggression

By Venkatesh Narayanan, Sandeep Pandey The widely anticipated yet unprovoked attack on Iran on March 1 by the United States and Israel has drawn sharp criticism from several quarters around the world. Reports indicate that the strikes have resulted in significant civilian casualties, including 165 elementary school girls, 20 female volleyball players, and many other civilians.

Search This Blog