Picturing Shaheen Bagh — A Breathing Revolution

Roshan Abbas Naqvi on the iconic sit-in at Delhi

The Bagh, as they call it, is gone. But its memories remain — every single one of its defiant symbols live on. The government might have used the Covid-19 catastrophe to its advantage to quell the protest or at least postpone its physical existence, but places like Shaheen Bagh live on, they never die. They gain a place on the front pages of history; they are not at all forgotten, neither by the rulers nor by the protestors.

As an on-ground witness who saw it all unfold, I can say that it was a spectacle to behold.

“You want proof that the sun exists so you stay up

All night talking about it. Finally you sleep

As the sun comes up”

– Jelaluddin Balkhi ‘Rumi’

The protests proved that the oppressed minority stood for their rights, no matter how they are maligned by the Right-wing media or by the trolls on social media. There were multiple attempts to discredit the movement but they were not strong enough to affect its spirit. The Dadis of the Bagh had achieved so much within a span of 100 days that any other movement might not have mustered in decades. The Fatima Sheikh-Savitribai Phule Library was a living ode to its originality. The people in it were a living revolution.

As a photographer, my experiences on the ground were somewhat unique, witnessing people coming together to voice their dissent fearlessly.

The photographs here were captured in January and February 2020, on three different visits to Shaheen Bagh.

ROSHAN ABBAS is a student of business and a documentary photographer from Bijnor, Uttar Pradesh. He photographs to bear witness and to tell stories to people, in his own style. His work can be found at @roshan_photos_ on Instagram or at www.photographernextdoor.online