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

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