New Delhi: The families of student activists who were granted bail by the Delhi high court in the Delhi riots case expressed joy, and said their faith in the judiciary has been restored. Nearly a year after they were arrested, Pinjra Tod activists Devangana Kalita and Natasha Narwal and Jamia Millia student Asif Iqbal Tanha were granted bail by the Delhi high court in connection with the Delhi riots case. They were charged under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA). 

While Narwal and Kalita are PhD scholars at JNU and associated, Tanha is a student of the BA (Hons) Persian programme at Delhi’s Jamia Millia Islamia. Narwal and Kalita were arrested in 2020 for allegedly being part of a “premeditated conspiracy” behind the communal violence that broke out in northeast Delhi in February 2020 during protests against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA). 

Narwal recently lost her father to COVID-19 and was granted three weeks’ interim bail. Following that, she returned to Tihar Jail. While mourning the loss of his father, Narwal’s brother Akash Narwal told The Wire that his faith in courts and the judicial system has been restored after his sister was granted bail. “I am very grateful and relieved today. Through this process, Natasha has been so strong and given us so much hope. I hope soon everyone who has been wrongly accused will be released.”

On the other hand, Devangana Kalita’s mother, Kalpana Kalita, is in shock. She told The Wire that the news of her daughter’s bail came when they were least expecting. “The whole family was scared because it was UAPA that they had invoked. We had prepared to fight a long battle. And we had also prepared Devangana for a long battle through our letters too,” she said while recalling her husband’s recent letter to their daughter, in which he told her to stay “hopeful” by drawing inspiration from Nelson Mandela, who was in jail for 27 years. 

She also thanked the lawyers and media houses that “honestly” reported on the matter. Jahan Ara, Asif Iqbal Tanha’s mother, said that she was awake since the night before her son’s bail plea hearing took place, praying for his safety. “I want to thank all the activists who supported my dear son. Also, the ones who silently supported him, their blessings have reached him,” she told The Wire.

She said that she could only drink water after her son, Tanha, called her at about 10:30 am to tell her about his bail. “Abhi hota yahan mera bacha toh usko kaleje se sata lete (If he was here, I would have given him a tight hug),” she said, expressing her joy.   

“But he is giving his papers right now,” she added. Last week, Tanha had been granted interim bail for a period of two weeks to complete his B.A. (Hons.) (Persian) Programme at Jamia Millia Islamia University. 

Meanwhile, the All India Students’ Association (AISA) welcomed the judgment by the Delhi high court granting bail to activists. A statement issued by AISA said the judgment exposed the legal and moral corruption of the Modi government in imposing the UAPA against anti-CAA protesters.

The students’ body said the struggle against UAPA and the release of all political prisoners will continue. It demanded immediate release of Umar Khalid, Sharjeel Imam and other anti-CAA protesters arrested in Delhi violence case under UAPA. 

The Students Islamic Organisation of India also welcomed the bail granted to student activists. It said that the activists were “unjustly put behind bars over a year ago on false charges in an attempt to suppress the young leadership of the anti-CAA movement and shift blame for the Delhi pogrom”.

“We hope that this verdict will serve as a precedent in curbing the long and unjust incarceration of innocent persons under draconian laws,” a statement from Students Islamic Organisation of India read.