Muslim, pregnant and in jail as coronavirus sweeps through: India says this woman is ‘key conspirator’ in citizenship act riots

Police claim Safoora Zargar was a ‘key conspirator’ in riots against the Citizenship Amendment Act

Activists accuse authorities of a cynical attempt to silence dissent under the cover of lockdown

Reading Time:3 minutes

Published: 8:47pm, 14 May 2020Updated: 10:01pm, 14 May 2020

As coronavirus infections sweep through its prisons India has in the past month released tens of thousands of inmates.

But Safoora Zargar, four months pregnant with her first child, is not one of them. Instead she languishes in the Tihar jail complex of New Delhi.

The 27-year-old PhD student is one of five Muslim students and activists arrested since India’s lockdown began on March 25 for their role in protests against a law that would make it easier for non-Muslims from neighbouring countries to gain citizenship.

Critics say the law entrenches rising Hindu nationalism and openly discriminates against Muslims, who form just over 10 per cent of the population.

Safoora, who is studying sociology at Jamia Millia University, has spoken to her husband twice from jail since she was detained on April 10. Both times, the call lasted for five minutes before automatically disconnecting, her husband said.

She has told him and her family that she is keeping well. “She is a tough character. But at the end of the day, there can’t be enough care that can be given to a pregnant woman. It is keeping us up at night,” he said.

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