'Twice as Vulnerable as a Muslim Woman': Lucknow Women Recall 2019 CAA Violence

Video Editor: Subroto Adhikari

In December 2019, Uttar Pradesh saw massive protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), along with the rest of the country. But the protests in UP were crushed in the violence that ensued following the protests, in which 21 men were killed, and several others were arrested. Posters of ‘wanted’ men with their photographs were slapped across the state. The UP police had at the time said that over 1,100 people were under arrest and 5,558 kept in preventive detention in the state. But what wasn’t discussed as much was the trauma suffered by the Muslim Women, who found themselves twice as vulnerable, by virtue of their Muslim and female identity. This is part of The Quint series in UP called ‘Everyday Communalism’. This is the fifth report in the series.

In Lucknow’s Daulatganj area, Ikhtara Khatoon vividly remembers hiding in the kitchen with her 3-year-old son, watching her 65-year-old mother-in-law being beaten as she peeked from inside. Scared and helpless, Ikhtara had no option but to bite her tongue and stay hidden, even as she heard her mother-in-law's screams.

“I was worried that if I step out to help her, they could breach my honor, or hurt my kid. So I stayed put,” Ikhtara said.

This was in December 2019, as violence erupted across different parts of UP, in the aftermath of the anti-CAA protests. Many civilians had alleged that the police barged inside their homes, vandalised their property and beat them up. Ikhatara’s mother-in-law, Razia, was sitting on the bed in their living room, when two men, stormed inside as the police chased them. “I had no idea who those two men were. They were strangers to us who just used our house as an escape route to run from the police,” Razia said.

While the men climbed up the roof and escaped, Razia, who is weak in the limbs, says she was beaten black and blue by the police officers.

“They gave me the worst kinds of abuses. They hit me on my knee, my shoulder. For several days my body parts were blue,” she said, recalling that time.

The police officers then went upstairs, and broke their AC, fridge, and the toys belonging to the child, before they left to go to other houses, Razia said.

Razia said the worst part of the incident wasn’t the beating, but what followed afterwards.  “We didn’t sleep for many days after that incident. I kept crying, thinking whether we should leave this place. But where can we possibly go? This has been my home since I came here after getting married over 40 years ago. This is where I brought up my children, and am now bringing up my grandchildren,” she added.

Man Killed Leaves Behind Interfaith Love Story

Of the 21 men and boys of UP who lost their lives in the violence, one of them was a resident of Lucknow— 32-year-old Mohammad Wakeel. He left behind his Hindu wife, Savita, and their interfaith love story.

Speaking to The Quint, Savita recalled that fateful day. “He knew the administration might announce curfew any minute now, as violence was rising. So he stepped out to buy some medicines for me, before all shops are shut down. But while on his way back, he was shot down,” Savita said. She also goes by the name “Sabeena”, as she used to adhere to practices of both Hinduism and Islam, after their marriage.

“He never forced me to practice anything. I followed both religions, and he was the most loving husband,” she said. Two years since his death, Savita a.k.a Sabeena, has refused to get married again, despite her parents trying to convince her otherwise. “He was my husband, I can’t just move on from him,” she said, adding that her life is “stuck” in that moment he was killed.

Back in Wakeel’s parents' home, his mother, Nagma said the house has fallen silent ever since his death. “It’s been over two years, and we still don’t know who killed him,” she said.

“Earlier, if I used to go missing even for a few hours, he used to get anxious and repeatedly ask for me saying ‘Where is amma’. And now, he is gone forever,” she added.

Plight of Muslim Mothers

For three entire days, Reshma Ali did not know where her brother and 15-year-old son were. The police had barged into her house, and dragged out the only two men who were there at the time. When she didn’t hear from them for a few hours, she was certain they would be dead.

“It was after 3 days that I got to know that they have been arrested and then I found out the name of the police station they were kept at,” she said.

It took over two months before the two were finally released on bail. “We would get them bail in one case, and they would slap them with another one. This went on for months,” she added.

For Reshma, the trauma felt in those months hasn’t left her since. “First, I am a woman. And on top of that, I am a Muslim. So I felt twice as vulnerable and at risk in those days, it was horrible,” she said.

Speaking to The Quint, DCP of West Lucknow said that “whatever cases were made at the time, are being investigated by the top courts.”

'A Woman in Burqa Can Do Anything She Wants'

Despite the violence, abuse and trauma faced by the Muslim women at the time, the anti-CAA movement also threw up protesters from the community, who came from ordinary walks of life.

One such protestor, Uzma Parveen, became the face of the protests at Lucknow’s iconic ghanta ghar.

A mother of two, Uzma was just 28 years old at the time, and would manage her household chores along with the sit-in protest.

“I used to wake up in the morning, finish the household work, bathe my children and get them ready. I used to pack my younger one’s child’s milk and pampers and take my child along with me to the protests on my scooty,” she said.

Uzma felt passionate towards the protests, because she felt it was her “responsibility” as a citizen of the country.

But it wasn’t easy. Uzma was under enormous pressure by her in-laws to quit the protests, and just stay at home. After repeated run-ins with the local police, her family one day told her to leave the house.

“They told me that if If want to participate in the protests, then I should just go stay at the ghanta ghar. I was told there is no place for me at home,” she said.

Even though the protests came at a grave personal cost for Uzma, she doesn’t regret her participation.

“I want the world to know that a woman in a burqa can do everything that people think she can’t. I am this nation’s daughter, a responsible daughter. I want to take my country along with my family, because I love my country as much as I love my family,” she said.