Poems by Gulfisha Fatima
By Gulfisha Fatima, Devangana Kalita
Preface: (Written by Devangana Kalita)
Gulfisha Fatima, a young Muslim woman from Seelampur in North East Delhi, has become a symbol of resilience, resistance, and the enduring spirit of dissent in the face of political repression under Hindutva. Gulfisha’s father runs a small grocery store near their home. She is a first generation learner who completed her BA and MA in Urdu literature from Kirori Mal College in Delhi University. She then went on to do an MBA from Institute of Management Education, Ghaziabad. She also worked as a radio jockey at All India Radio (Urdu).
Arrested on April 9, 2020, Gulfisha was initially implicated in FIR 48/20, which stemmed from her participation in the peaceful protest against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), the National Population Register (NPR), and the National Register of Citizens (NRC) that took place on February 22, 2020 at Jafrabad Metro Station. The protest, part of a broader nationwide movement, was a call for equal citizenship rights. On April 11, 2020, Gulfisha was arrested in FIR 59/20 under the draconian Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) on fabricated charges of conspiring to incite the riots that ravaged North East Delhi in February 2020. It was clear that Gulfisha was being targeted for being a young Muslim woman who had dared to speak out against the state. In July 2020, she was arrested once again, this time in relation to FIR 50/20, where she was charged for murder.
Gulfisha did not have any prior experience of engaging or organising protests. She learned and emerged organically as the movement progressed to become a powerful voice of collective assertion and democratic resistance. In the sit-in protest site in Seelampur, she used to regularly hold adult literacy classes for the women who would come to participate in the protest. She was committed to building women’s local initiative and leadership through the protests. In the face of inhuman incarceration, she has remained steadfast in her commitment to education, activism, and the collective spirit of solidarity. Inside the prison, she has become a source of hope and support for her co-inmates, many of whom rely on her for basic literacy, legal aid, and emotional support. As a tutor with the “Pado Padhao” programme inside prison, she has taught fellow prisoners to read and write, and has provided them with a sense of agency that is often denied within the prison system. Gulfisha has also found strength in creativity, turning her hardships into powerful poetry, artwork, and letters that capture the emotional toll of her unjust imprisonment.
It will soon be 5 years since Gulfisha’s arrest. While Gulfisha got bail in the other two FIRs in 2020 itself, she continues to remain incarcerated under the UAPA case. Her quest for bail in FIR 59/20 has been marked with never-ending adjournments and judicial delays in what has become a complete travesty of justice. She filed for bail in the High Court in May 2022. It will be three years for her, just waiting for a verdict on her petition. Her bail has been argued twice but judges in two benches have been transferred and they have left without pronouncing a judgement. Currently, since November last year, her bail is being argued for the third time in the High Court and the ordeal continues.
Listen! Faiz,
Do you know?
The difference
between your and my wait
Is only
A fixed time
Just a few more days
You knew that
Like the gust of breeze
Speechless cloud does not tell
When I ask—
“How many more seasons like this?”
Who knows how many more seasons?
The walls around me,
These four walls,
Have been standing quietly,
Raising their heads high,
Bearing winds and storms, and the scorching sun.
Why do they not speak?
No! Maybe, they do speak.
When sand and plaster fall,
They surely say something.
But! The owner repairs them off
silencing their words
One day,
Finally, the weary wall collapses,
And at the same place,
Another silent wall is built.
On the pitch-black night yesterday,
There was a knock on the doors of prison
Of the innocent breezes
Of cries of our dear ones
Even the lightning
Was screaming for help
Asking for our freedom
Even the well-shaped branches
Openly joined in the grief
After failed attempts
And losing control
The delicate tears of rain
Started to pour
Struck against the earth’s crust,
And the rhythm of the drops
Turned it into
A commotion of pleas.
But—
The deaf snakes
Kept dancing
With their poisonous hoods
Laying their web of traps.
And—
The oppressed
Stood with their hands raised
On that pitch-black night…
—-
The court says:
Now that you have come
Make an appeal, but yes
It will take long
And by then, you will be exhausted.
Justice says:
I am precious
Hear me loud in clear
You may be destroyed/consumed
Seeking me
——
My beloved
My beloved,
For you,
Two hearts,
Beat within my chest
Locked in battle
When you were here
One heart would say—
“If only,
The entire life could pass
In these moments.”
But the other ruthless heart
Does not tolerate
Even a single moment of weakness.
One heart is restless,
For your touch
The other, a soldier,
Prohibits even looking at you
One heart is free,
In the captivity of imagination
The other locks away
Your memories
Please grant me this favor,
End this battle now.
Take away
One heart…