Who Is Afreen Fatima And Why Was Her House Demolished By The Authorities?

By Ritu Sanghvi Updated June 13, 2022 7:06 PM

For those who are unversed with the current situation, let me bring you up to speed with what is happening in the country. On Friday, violent protests broke out in Prayagraj, Uttar Pradesh, for which Javed Mohammad, father of Afreen Fatima – a student activist, was blamed. Following this, their house was demolished and he along with his wife and daughter was arrested and later they were subsequently released. No sooner did this news get out, than people took to Twitter to come out and lend support to Afreen Fatima using the hashtag #StandWithAfreenFatima.

In UP's Prayagraj, demolition of Javed Mohammad's residence begins. As per police, he is one of the main conspirators of violence in the city on June 10. Javed is associated with Welfare pary of India and was arrested along with wife and one of their daughters. pic.twitter.com/1aE1HyP7on

— Piyush Rai (@Benarasiyaa) June 12, 2022

So, who is Afreen Fatima?

Well, she is a student activist who is also a student at the Jawaharlal Nehru University, Delhi. She was also a former president of the students union of Women’s College, Aligarh Muslim University. Afreen Fatima was active during the anti-CAA/NRC protest that took place in 2019-2020 at Shaheen Bagh in Delhi. She has even organised a 300 women protest against the ban on hijab.

As per reports, Afreen Fatima has formed a study circle named Muslimah Allahabad along with her younger sister Sumaiya Fatima. The study circle includes 70 girls as members and they have time and again held sessions on various topics like braving the hijab ban and state repression.

Also Read: Activist Jyotsna Siddharth At UNGA Event: Need To Make Room For Marginalised Castes In Feminism

What led to the demolition of their house?

Javed Mohammad, the father of Afreen Fatima, has been accused of being the mastermind behind Friday’s violent protest. On Friday, people burnt motorcycles and carts and attempted to set ablaze a police vehicle. They even pelted stones at police over Nupur Sharma’s comments on Prophet Muhammad.

The allegations allege that it was Javed who called for a bandh and asked people to reach the place of the incident through WhatsApp messages. Following this, he along with his wife and daughter, Afreen Fatima, were detained but later were subsequently released.

Also Read: Gold Medalist Boxer Nikhat Zareen Says Wearing A Hijab Is A Personal Choice. She Said It!

Now the authorities do say that the demolition orders were issued last month – i.e. before the current violent protest episode – people as well as government-affiliated persons do not believe that which led them to come out on social media and support Afreen Fatima.

This will be remembered.#StandWithAfreenFatima pic.twitter.com/owtubl4wyx

— Nabiya Khan | نبیہ خان (@NabiyaKhan11) June 12, 2022

Stand in unflinching solidarity with Afreen and her family. We stand against the intimidation tactics of the BJP-RSS.#StandWithAfreenFatima pic.twitter.com/yvNprnh6aS

— Aishe (ঐশী) (@aishe_ghosh) June 12, 2022

छात्र नेता आफरीन फ़ातिमा के घर पर बुलडोजर चलाने की प्रक्रिया शुरू, क्या यही इंसाफ़ है…?#StandWithAfreenFatima pic.twitter.com/9cgTTmjoKg

— Ashraf Hussain (@AshrafFem) June 12, 2022

https://twitter.com/jag_preetsingh/status/1535905851596079104?s=20&t=SpftA43hSRCXT8B8FFvzCg

The demolition of @AfreenFatima136's house y'day was carried out with forged back-dated demolition notices & was an entirely illegal act by UP govt.

Have asked DM Prayagraj to furnish all related papers.

If not punished in courts, this will never stop. #StandWithAfreenFatima pic.twitter.com/GhvBa7MA6t

— Saket Gokhale MP (@SaketGokhale) June 13, 2022

Only a heartless bigoted regime can demolish a young woman activist’s house just because of her religion. #StandWithAfreenFatima

— Ashok Swain (@ashoswai) June 12, 2022

One of the other reasons, the people do not believe the words of the authorities is because of Mohd. Uman, brother of Afreen Fatima, spoke to a daily and revealed that they were not given the notice on time nor was the notice issued in the name of the actual property owner – their mother. He even added that the notice was dated for June 10 but the authorities pasted it only on June 11 – even after the police has been constantly present at their house since June 10. He believes that the notice was hastily issued on a weekend night so as to ensure that they don’t get an opportunity for legal recourse.