Bilkis, an 82-year-old woman who was at the forefront of the Shaheen Bagh protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) in the national capital, has been named in the list of ‘100 Most Influential People of 2020’ by the Time Magazine.

Bilkis, one of the ‘dadis’ of Shaheen Bagh, was the face of the Shaheen Bagh anti-CAA protests that later inspired similar protests in other cities like Kolkata, Mumbai and many more for months.

The protesters at Shaheen Bagh camped in makeshift tents on the streets for months, demanding the government to revoke the contentious CAA law. The 82-year0old woman’s courage inspired thousands across the country who carried on the anti-CAA protests for months.

The Time Magazine article authored by journalist Rana Ayyub mentions how Bilkis refused to step down from the site of protest even in the harsh winters and after increasing threats from supporters of CAA.

‘Bilkis became the voice of the marginalised… Became the symbol of resistance in a nation where the voices of women and minorities were being systematically drowned out by the majoritarian politics of the Modi regime,’ the article read.

With smiles on their faces and shawls wrapped around their shoulders, hundreds of women sat under a tent at Shaheen Bagh’s anti-CAA/NRC sit-in protest for over three months, becoming a symbol of resistance and hope.

Bilkis had been demonstrating ever since the protests had begun and had said that they wouldn’t step back an inch even if someone opens fire.

‘They call us traitors. When we pushed Britishers out of the country, who are Narendra Modi and Amit Shah? We won’t move an inch even if someone fires at us. You remove NRC and CAA, we will clear the site in no time,’ Bilkis had said.

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