The Delhi court on Thursday rejected Jamia Millia Islamia scholar Safoora Zargar’s bail plea for the third time. Safoora, a four-months pregnant student, has been booked under the UAPA in a case related to to communal violence in northeast Delhi during anti-Citizenship Amendment Act protests in February.
The Additional Sessions Court judge Dharmender Rana stated that the court found no merit in her application and rejected the plea.
The Delhi Police Special Cell claim that Safoora made an inflammatory speech on February 23 at Chand Bagh which incited violence that later turned into communal riots in North East Delhi.
The scholar is not just booked her under provisions of the Indian Penal Code, but also the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act 1967 (UAPA). After her arrest, social media was flooded with disrespectful and derogatory comments pertaining to her pregnancy and her husband.
In no time, the verdict was out on social media.
A Pregnant Woman’s Plight
The courts and Delhi Police continue to keep a four months’ pregnant woman in one of the most overcrowded prisons amid the COVID-19 scare.
Several journalists pointed out at the discrepancies of the UAPA which let the cops and courts to imprison individuals without any accountability.
Some people also took to social media to question judiciary over BJP leaders Kapil Mishra and Anurag Thakur who were caught on tape instigating violence.
SHAME!!!!!!! #StopWitchhuntingStudents https://t.co/xRiJlhL4Ii
— Swara Bhasker (@ReallySwara) June 4, 2020
Pregnant Lady, Safoora Zargar’s Bail application rejected by Judge saying ‘There was conspiracy to Blockade road’. When Pointed she wasn’t in the area, Judge said ‘mere absence doesn’t matter’. Meanwhile those who openly gave slogans to Kill and openly lynched are moving freely
— Joy (@Joydas) June 4, 2020
Pregnancy is a metabolic storm. It changes a woman more than physically. Pregnancy is a privilege. Now imagine what happens when this storm is brewing inside & you are incarcerated. Thrown in prison. Denied any concessions. Yeah that’s the tweet.We are so sorry Safoora Zargar.
— Shah Alam Khan (@shahalam13) June 4, 2020
Supreme Court advocate Karuna Nundy pointed at the hypocrisy and the ‘selective outrage’, highlighting the nationwide anger over the death of a pregnant elephant in Kerala, while allowing a pregnant woman to rot in jail.
Read the 9 pg order denying Safoora Zargar bail, linked to in this blog. In the judge’s breezy endorsement of Safoora’s continued imprisonment, is the judge’s own statement that the evidence prima facie shows only ‘blockade of roads’ or ‘chakka jam’. https://t.co/q9LRxV9olV
— Karuna Nundy (@karunanundy) June 5, 2020
Many said that the death of an elephant garnered massive attention and response from VVIPs, resulting in immediate action by the government, however, no efforts have been made for a living being.
‘Her jaw was broken and she was unable to eat after she chewed the pineapple and it exploded in her mouth,’ says chief wildlife warden Surendra Kumar. The outraged official tells local media he’s certain the tampered-with pineapple was meant to kill the animal #elephant pic.twitter.com/B84TmkbXWs
— nobody (@ZinaChef) June 5, 2020
Cruelty to animals is not about animals, it is about the powerful victimising the weak. All life is connected. An elephant’s life or a cow’s life is of the same value karmically as any human: those who don’t see this don’t understand God.
— Varun Gandhi (@varungandhi80) June 4, 2020
In a tragic incident in Palakkad dist, a pregnant elephant has lost its life. Many of you have reached out to us. We want to assure you that your concerns will not go in vain. Justice will prevail.
— Pinarayi Vijayan (@vijayanpinarayi) June 4, 2020
While we widely shared the images of pregnant elephant, her foetus, demanding justice for the inhumane horror, how many of us bother to know how a 21-week pregnant scholar is holding up behind the bars since April?
We seem to live in a country now where its ok to communalise the death of a pregnant elephant while we keep a pregnant mother in jail accusing her of inciting communalism. Have we stopped thinking altogether or lost the ability to empathise? #ElephantDeath #safoorazargar
— Mohan Kumaramangalam மோகன் குமாரமங்கலம் (@MKumaramangalam) June 5, 2020
But no one cares for her #safoorazargar aren’t we blind….#ReleaseSafooraZargar pic.twitter.com/TE3CVfTtFO
— Umar Zargar (@UmarZar18375479) June 5, 2020
Also Read: Kerala: Medical Fraternity Fears Community Transmission As COVID-19 Cases Without Source Link Emerge
