Want to continue fight: Pinjra Tod activists Natasha, Devangana after release from Tihar | Exclusive
In an exclusive interview to India Today TV after their release from Tihar Jail, Pinjra Tod activists Natasha Narwal and Devangana Kalita said they aren't afraid and will continue their fight.
Student activists Natasha Narwal, Devangana Kalita and Asif Iqbal were released on bail from Delhi's Tihar Prisons on Thursday after a Delhi High Court order. They had been arrested under anti-terror law UAPA for their alleged role in the anti-CAA protests and the Delhi riots last year. India Today TV Consulting Editor Rajdeep Sardesai spoke to Natasha Narwal and Devangana Kalita soon after their release. Excerpts:
Q: How does it feel to be finally out of jail? Your initial reactions...
NATASHA NARWAL: Right now, I'm just overwhelmed... by the media here. And the challenge in the Supreme Court is still pending. It's still, like, fingers crossed. The kind of Delhi High Court order that's come really gives us a lot of hope and strength, restores our faith in the Indian judiciary that we will stand for the people's right and democratic dissent in the country.
Q: It's been a tough 13 months for you. During this period, you lost your father; you couldn't be by his bedside. Is there anger?
NATASHA NARWAL: Of course, there is anger, there is sadness. That's the only thing. Otherwise, I don't think surviving this year has been anything more difficult than that. It's because of being incarcerated... it must have wrought on him, his health... I mean, he succumbed to Covid-19.
I'm angry of every life lost during the pandemic due to the failure of the State to provide adequate health services to the country. My heart goes out to everyone who has lost their dear ones.
Q: Any regrets about your involvement in last year's anti-CAA protests, which the police said were part of this wider conspiracy that you, Devangana and Asif were accused of during the Delhi riots?
NATASHA NARWAL: I don't think I have any regrets for my participation in this movement for asserting our democratic right to dissent and demanding accountability from the State. The only regret is we could not carry the movement forward and it was suppressed in a brutal way. I hope the struggle still continues in other ways and we get justice.
Q: How has the period in jail changed you?
NATASHA NARWAL: I don't know how it has changed us exactly. It will take a while for us to understand all the changes we have gone through. There's realisation of how the system of incarceration really works, and how it dehumanises everyone who is inside these gates, as if they are not human beings anymore, they don't have any rights anymore.
Q: Your initial reactions now that you're finally out on bail?
DEVANGANA KALITA: Disbelief that we have stepped out of these gates and walls. Almost in some sense shocking because the bail order had come two days back and we were still locked inside for procedural reasons or whatever was going on. It's not over. We're still waiting for what the Supreme Court will say. But at least tonight we're glad to be standing on a free street under the open sky.
Q: I spoke to your mother two days ago. She said she is very proud of you. What do you want to say to your mother?
DEVANGANA KALITA: It wouldn't have been possible for me to survive jail if she hadn't, like, sent me those letters, if she hadn't given me her unflinching support. Maybe, I'm here today outside these gates is because of the values she taught me to be an independent woman, to never bow down to anybody, to always think for myself.
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Q: Any regrets about your involvement in the protests?
DEVANGANA KALITA: Definitely no regrets for my involvement in the movement for which we were inside the jail. The women, the protesters who supported us during that time and protested... I think it's their prayers that have gotten us out of the doors. And thank you to the fantastic order of the Delhi High Court.
Q: The Delhi High Court virtually called your arrests wrongful and illegal. Do you feel that the State owes you something?
NATASHA NARWAL: There is a lot of anger for what we have lost in this one year. I really don't think anything can compensate for that. Especially, as you mentioned, my father's death. It's something that cannot be compensated by any means. I speak not just for myself.
As I said earlier, so many people have met the same fate. At least, I was allowed to go out afterward and be with my family. But so many people were not granted any consideration. They are also human beings and they wanted to be with their families in these difficult times. It's such a huge struggle to call their family members. For any contact to happen. They don't have proper legal representation. The anger comes not just from out wrongful incarceration.
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DEVANGANA KALITA: I guess cases of political prisoners get highlighted. But there are many people who are incarcerated. Trials have been going on forever. When courts are not functioning, people are languishing.
Q: What was the most difficult thing for both of you in jail?
DEVANGANA KALITA: To witnesses the helplessness that surrounds you. The people who end up in jail are the people who cannot afford legal representation, who cannot afford to bribe the police to escape long incarceration. Inexplicable pain and helplessness. We tried to address to the extent possible, to grieve somebody's death inside the locks. The cries - khol do, bahar jana hai - it's injustice, it's unimaginable.
NATASHA NARWAL: And to witness children who haven't seen the outside world. When inmates hear rihai (release) is happening, they pack their bags... some of the most heartbreaking things.
Q: It's Devangana's birthday tomorrow. How are you going to celebrate?
NATASHA NARWAL: To be with friends and family, finally. And, well, rest will follow, I guess.
DEVANGANA KALITA: I just want to sit under the sky for the whole night.
NATASHA NARWAL: And look at the moon.
Q: Your mother said you were missing her fish curry...
DEVANGANA KALITA: Oh, yes, of course. I want to eat non-vegetarian food after one year. No fish curry in jail for a year.
NATASHA NARWAL: I think that was one of the most difficult things for Devangana.
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Q: You have a message for those opposing your views?
NATASHA NARWAL: We will not be sacred by any kind of attacks or whatever they say to us. The worst they could do to us and we have survived.
DEVANGANA KALITA: Sare pinjro ko todenge, Itihas ki dhara modenge.
NATASHA NARWAL: We will continue to fight, we will continue to struggle.
Q: You don't seem intimidated... You were branded terrorists, put in jail...
DEVANGANA KALITA: One thing that helped us was we were together. And also having a community inside prison. And all the overwhelming support outside. I think all of it together allowed the survival to happen.
Q: Your father must be a proud man...
NATASHA NARWAL: Yes, he would have been the happiest.
DEVANGANA KALITA: One thing I would like to say about Uncle. He had been an amazing support for us. It made the survival possible.
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