“When I developed, I protested a foreign concept for myself,” he told VICE News Bilkis Bano, 82, a staunch critic of india’s new citizenship law.
TIME magazine named Bilkis Bano one of the 100 most influential people in the world this year. “Some other people tried to kill my voice by trying to dispel the protests. Now other people visit me to hear my voice again. feel lucky,” he says.
The octogenarian, along with a lot of women, participated in a protest sit-in in New Delhi’s Shaheen Bagh community opposed to the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) that passed through the Indian government in December 2019.
The debatable law speeds up the procedure to allow non-Muslims in neighboring Muslim-majority countries to discharge Indian citizenship, but does not include provisions for the naturalization of Muslims. Many laws are discriminatory against Muslims and do not agree with India’s secular traditions. .
“Bilkis, along with thousands of women who joined him in Shaheen Bagh, a community in New Delhi, has a symbol of resistance in a country where the voices of women and minorities were systematically drowned out by the majority politics of the regime of Modi “. TIME NOTED.
Peaceful protests in Shaheen Bagh made headlines in world and national newspapers over the resistance of Muslim women.
Older women like Bikis Bano have popular as Shaheen Bagh’s dadis (grandmothers).
Earlier this year, the protest had to be cleaned up due to COVID-19.
Bilkis Bano has never obtained a formal education. Originally from a small village in the state of Uttar Pradesh in northern India, it has been dedicated to raising its six children, developing and raising livestock.
Sitting in a cot in a small apartment in Shaheen Bagh, she seemed as determined and resilient in her protest as she used to be. “I will wait until COVID-19 leaves the country to resume my protest. The pandemic can’t help our struggle,” he said.
The demonstration in Shaheen Bagh began after widespread repression against academics at Jamia Millia Islamia University in New Delhi protesting against the citizenship law.
“They (the government) do not give money to our young people for their livelihood or fundamental education. What right do you have to hit them?” Bilkis Bano trista.
Bilkis Bano (centre) with participants in Shaheen Bagh in February 2020 holding copies of the preamble with nonviolent messages while protesting against the Indian Citizenship Photo Act through Himani Singh.
Muslim attends the anti-CAA demonstration in Shaheen Bagh, New Delhi, in February 2020. Photo via Himani Singh.
Bilkis Bano, the protest sit-in in Shaheen Bagh, New Delhi, India, in February 2020. It was the longest demonstration in opposition to the proposed citizenship law in the country. Photo via Himani Singh.
Bilkis Bano interacts with members of a local NGO in Shaheen Bagh, New Delhi, India, in September 2020. Photo via Himani Singh.