sAfura Zargar is learning to deal with the pain of losing friends and facing hate online. Nargis Saifi hasn’t heard her kids laugh for a long time. and P. Pavana watches her father battle one debilitating illness after another. All three women have one thing in common: they have interacted with the police, prison authorities and the judiciary over the past two years, either as political prisoners themselves or on behalf of their loved ones.
There is a constant sense of concern about financial security and social stigma in their stories. The lack of adequate medical care and neglect in prisons is another. Thinking about how it will all end is only adding to the mental anguish.
“I’ll come out, right? Will it take decades?” Khalid Saifi asks his wife Nargis in jail. Nargis tells me, “I didn’t know how to give her hope. KhalidThe founder of United Against Hate was arrested in February 2020 after the Delhi riots. He has been in jail since then, under the allegation that the family is ‘concocted’.
“One day we will get justice. But till then we have to destroy our business, the suspicion with which people look at us or the fact that my children are growing up without their father. Who will be accountable for our struggle? I am sure Khalid will be acquitted, but our debt will remain on the judicial system,” says Nargis.
Khalid Saifi please listen this video
Call to phone and chat to communicate with me.
support me..#staystrongkhalidsafi #KhalidSafiKorihakaro #Release All Political Prisoners pic.twitter.com/bIiJWWqUBo— Khalid Saifi (@KSaifi) 23 July 2022
Safoora was arrested in April 2020 under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act in connection with the anti-CAA protests and spent around two and a half months in jail. Though he is out on bail now, this could be a temporary respite. to arrest Human rights activist Teesta Setalvad, one of the petitioners challenging the clean chit to Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the 2002 Gujarat riots, is a reminder that these cases simply ‘never go away’.
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poor medical care
As if the trauma of being imprisoned under the harsh UAPA isn’t bad enough, the inhumane conditions inside make the ordeal unbearably painful. The three women talked about the pathetic condition of prisons, poor infrastructure and lack of basic medical care.
“When we went to Taloja Jail last time, there were three doctors for over 3,000 prisoners, two of whom were Ayurvedic practitioners, while the third was a specialist in homeopathy. Of the three doctors, two had retired, and one did not have MBBS,” said Pawana.
She is struggling to get permanent medical bail for her father, 84-year-old Telugu poet Varavara Rao. Rao is an accused in the 2018 Bhima Koregaon violence case and was arrested under the UAPA for allegedly conspiring to assassinate Prime Minister Modi.
The death of Jesuit priest and tribal rights activist Fr. Stan Swamy is a reminder of how bad things can be. Before his death in April 2021, The special NIA court had rejected Swamy’s bail application on medical grounds. they have died described In the form of ‘institutional’ and ‘judicial’ murder by social activists, human rights organizations and their families.
Varavara Rao, who was granted interim medical bail in February 2021, has been denied permanent bail. “If he is sent back to jail in his present condition, I fear his health may deteriorate. Doctors suspect that he may be suffering from dementia and early stage Parkinson’s,” Pavana said.
“Prison is for reforming people. But those in the ruling class clearly see it as a place of punishment. There are a lot of rights available to undertrials, which even the officers with jail manuals are not aware of,” Pawana said.
Safoora Zargar described Tihar Jail as a prison for women working under the principles of a male prison. “It is difficult for a pregnant woman to lie on the floor. There are no basic facilities like pre-natal and post-natal care for women.
His experiences in prison are in stark contrast to the landmark 1979 Supreme Court judgment. the court Held That the people in jail do not lose their fundamental rights. However, Safoora alleges that human rights are being violated every day inside the jail. “We don’t even dare to talk about the violation.” Since coming out on bail, she has been trying to highlight the lack of healthcare for prisoners.
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impact on children
Empathy is a rare currency within the legal system and children are often confused by the whole experience, if not traumatised. When they meet their father Khalid in court during the trial, Nargis’s three children immediately rush to hug her or hold her hand. This is natural. But according to Nargis, the policemen on duty stop them, sometimes physically pricking the children’s hands with their father’s fists. “The kids ask me, ‘What kind of danger can we pose to Abbu?’ What should I tell them?” Nargis says.
Nargis tells her children that the police is just doing their job. “I explain to him that the police is protecting his father from some bad people. I always tell them that we need to trust the administration and the courts.”
His attempt to protect his children by restricting their access to the news doesn’t always work. Although she had put a complete ban on watching television at the time of her husband’s arrest, her eldest son found videos on YouTube. “He came running to me with a question. ‘Did my father really do all this,’ says Nargis.
In Khalid’s absence, she single-handedly raises her three children, facing stigma and judgment. “When Khalid’s bail application was rejected before Eid, my children lost hope. They have become even more silent now.”
This system also does not take into account how parental incarceration can negatively affect a child’s behavior – its social, emotional and psychological effects. Researchers from the Center for Youth and Criminal Justice in the United Kingdom found it That due to financial constraints, children are often unable to participate in regular activities. Some caretakers admitted that their wards had isolated themselves from the rest of society.
Pawan was also saddened and disappointed by the lack of empathy within the system. when her children visited her Grandfather (Grandfather) In Pune Jail, an official there turned down his request saying only ‘son’s children’ are allowed and not ‘daughter’s children’. “It seems like every prison has its own rules,” she says.
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toll on mental health
These experiences take a toll on not only their physical health but also their mental health. The ‘stigma’ of being in jail never goes away and the onslaughts of social media never go down.
For example, Nargis has come out in open about her constant battle against suicidal thoughts. in social media Post, he wrote: If you really need to kill then kill me, my kids and Khalid at once. Why are you forcing us to die one by one?”
Whenever Safoora consults a doctor and gives her medical history, she can do nothing but worry about their reaction. “What will the doctor think of me? Will she consider me a criminal? These are the thoughts that run through my mind,” she says.
After Safoora’s arrest, a Hindutva group shared fake pictures on social media, which were of obscene nature. Although the videos and pictures were proved to be fake, they are still attacked through this. “Even today when I share my opinion on some social media platforms, these people keep targeting my marriage and my baby,” she says.
One Amnesty India report It shows that Muslim women politicians in India have been subjected to 55 percent more trolling than others. According to Safoora, the way Muslim women are being trolled shows their deep hatred towards them. “This dehumanization of Muslim women is happening all around us. This is being done in an organized and systematic manner,” she says.
The kindness of friends and strangers is a ray of hope in these dark times. Nargis said that her husband’s business came to a standstill after his arrest, but friends helped him financially. NGOs such as United Against Hate help families in need of financial aid, while lawyers and activists reach out with valuable insight and legal help. These acts of kindness, along with their commitment to the truth, keep them going.