Art Rookie: How Art and Literature Became A Form of Protest at Shaheen Bagh

When the women of Shaheen Bagh, a Muslim neighbourhood on the southern edge of Delhi, stepped out of their homes with their children and infant grandchildren in tow to occupy the roads and protest against the Citizen Amendment Act (CAA) and National Register of Citizens (NRC) on December 15 2019, few would have guessed the monumental impact these Muslim women would have on the course of the country's politics.

Even fewer would have predicted that these marginalised communities would reclaim their voices and agency through large-scale murals, poetry readings and alternative feminist libraries.

In retrospect, the initial moments that birthed the three-month-long movement reveal the socio-political shift the communal manipulation of the law by the government caused. The strong anti-muslim ideologies reiterated time and time again by the ruling party of India grew tenfold when the discriminatory and Islamophobic CAA was announced. The act would provide non-Muslim asylum-seeking minorities from neighbouring countries an opportunity to claim Indian citizenship. In tandem with the NRC, which would task citizens the responsibility to prove their ancestry and render those without the "right papers" stateless, these bills had the power to determine who was a lawful citizen and, more often than not, be against Muslims, indigenous people, trans people and Dalits.

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Nationwide protests calling for an expeditious overturning of these bills were met with police brutality and disapproval from mainstream (read: right-leaning) news outlets that labelled the riots and protests "anti-national". The breaking point for many Muslims, especially those based in Delhi, came through in the form of shaky video clips of students from Jamia Millia Islamia University. They were facing the wrath of the police ordered to detain and attack students participating in a peaceful protest. These videos circulated on Whatsapp and Instagram lit a fire under the women, who began the indefinite sit-in, which wrapped up on March 24 2020, because of the Covid-19 outbreak.

Shaheen Bagh became a portrayal of unflinching sisterhood, of these nanis who saw partition unfold in front of them and their dedication to protecting the rights of their community. As one of the Shaheen Bagh women shared with Seema Mustaf, the writer of Shaheen Bagh and the Idea of India: Writings on a Movement, "'We knew we had no choice left but to come out together if we wanted to survive."

The protest site turned into an open-air gallery of hand drawings, photography, graffiti, posters, murals and art installations that were in defiance of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's vision of India. Shaheen Bagh encompassed much more than politics but is closer to what The Caravan touted as a "square of liberation that offers a model of the future."

Posters and prints designed by artists and activists that reiterate the cause through witty slogans and strong messaging were a staple of Shaheen Bagh; hand-drawn posters by children were another. Straightforward in their copy, these posters were a criticism against a regime characterised by state-sanctioned violence that dates beyond 2019.

Installations at the site included the detention camp that reminded onlookers of the disastrous implications of the NRC, a 35-feet tall iron sculpture of the map of India, and a makeshift replica of India Gate etched with the names of protesters who were killed across the country.

Soumyabrata Choudhury, philosopher and teacher at Jawaharlal Nehru University, in her book Now It's Come To Distances, poignantly puts forward the significance of the political messaging that was in no short supply at Shaheen Bagh. She recounts, "Nothing challenges the government holding state and social power more than the upsurge of new ideas, principles, and thoughts in history that come from people and pass through them. Shaheen Bagh, then, is the intervention of history into the space of society governed by the fear of mortality and the regulation of the freedom of these very morals."

“A reminder of what is possible when communities come together, working towards a common goal and a reminder of the power of protest.”

Shaheen Bagh was not limited to static pieces of art. Resistance became a living, breathing cultural act through makeshift libraries and performance stages. People recited Urdu poetry and set up classrooms in local stores for children to learn, engage, and be cared for by the community. While their mothers protested alternative educational spaces in the form of feminist libraries. These spaces provided a respite and a space to sit and read for the children of Shaheen Bagh and daily visitors.

Volunteer teachers formulated inclusive lesson plans urging political discussions and critical thought. Younus Nomani, a student of Jamia Millia Islamia, shared the Read For Revolution- inspired project with LiveWire "Every day, we give them different prompts from the latest affairs and politics to draw or write about. We may be defying our present education system since we are urging our kids to talk about politics instead of keeping them at arm's length. From the Australian bushfire to the deadly attack on Jawaharlal Nehru University, the children present their opinions on everything and discuss everything. We often conduct storytelling exercises as well."

In March 2020, Covid-19 took out the same Shaheen Bagh that remained strong in the face of State intimidation and armed pigs. The graffiti-laden walls were quickly painted over in a sea of white. Adrija Ghosh writes about these white walls as a symbol of oppression and erasure "Some symbols are removed by governments out of fear that they might thwart the status quo; some monuments and statues are protected by governments out of fear that history might be re-written, or reclaimed. It depends on us, who are the resistance, to choose what history we might write for ourselves and the legacy we might want to leave behind."

I was drawn to write about Shaheen Bagh this month as I have been dissatisfied with the contemporary feminist movement that feels like less of a revolution and more of an aesthetic. Characterised by reductive slogans and cringier TikToks that, in my opinion, sanitises the radical power of feminism, looking back at Shaheen Bagh is a reminder of what is possible when we go beyond merely proclaiming a stance. A reminder of what is possible when communities come together, working towards a common goal and a reminder of the power of protest.

Words: Zara Afthab