April 9, 2024 marks four years since Gulfisha Fatima, an MBA graduate, student activist and history enthusiast, was arrested by the Delhi Police. Fatima was active during the nationwide protests against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, and was arrested by the police on charges relating to the communal violence in North-East Delhi in February 2020. While several rights activists were arrested on similar charges – in cases seen as a way to silence dissenters while letting those who instigated violence go scot-free – Muslim student activists like Fatima are still in jail. Their bail petitions have gone unheard and undecided for years. Fatima applied for bail before the Delhi high court in mid 2022. The court is yet to deliver its verdict on her plea.Below are poems Fatima has written while in prison, translated into English. Some editorial notes and translations have been added in square brackets.Read her letters from prison here.§Forgetting*For the history exameverything I would learn by heart,but would always forgetthe dates.I forget now almosteverythingbut rememberonly the dates.**[*Here the Hindi word bhul can mean both a mistake or the act of forgetting, there is a wordplay in the use of the word bhul which is not possible to translate.**The reference here is to dates in court for bail hearings and trial proceedings.]§These walls around meThese walls around methese four wallshave been standing silentfar too longholding on their headsthe burden ofstorms, tempests, scorching sunI wonder, why don’t they speak?No! maybe, they do.Whenever the walls weather,and sands and flakes fallthey say something for sure.But everytime, the masterrepairs the wallsand plasters their mouths.Finally! one day,these burdened walls collapseand erected in their placeare new silenced walls.§My love*My love,for you beattwo heartsin my bosomforever in strife.When by your sidea heart of minepinesif only!these momentscould last my eternity.But the othercruel, brutal heartwould not endureeven a moment’sproximity.A heart restlessto be touched by you,the other self-appointed sentinelforbidding the briefest rendezvous.A heart unfetteredin the confines of its fantasy,the other turns the keyof a heavy lockon your very memory.Just show me this final mercyput an end to these hostilitiesjust take away one ofthese beatinghearts fromme…[*Humdum is an Urdu word that cannot be translated very specifically, but has connotations of a friend, a companion, a loved one.]§In the darkness of last night*In the darkness of last night,on the gates of the prisonthere was, a knockof innocent winds,of echoes of loved ones,the lightning too,screaming and appealing for mercy,demanded our release,the mourning of delicate brancheswere also present.Publicly,after several failed attempts,unrestrainedstarted flowingthe tears of fragile rain,bumping into, the drum of earth,the beats of raindropraised anuproar of complaints.Regardless,the deaf serpentskept dancingunfurling their venomous fangsspreading their barbed websandraising their handsthe oppressed remainedin the darkness of last night…[*The translation of this poem has been published in Suchitra Vijayan and Francesca Recchia’s How Long Can the Moon Be Caged. This translation adapts from the version published in the book.]§Listen FaizListen! Faiz,do you know?the difference between your’s and my waitingit’s onlythe finiteness of time“faqat chaand roz aur” (Just a few more days)*you knewthis.Like the morning squadthe mute clouds alsodon’t tell me anythingwhen Iask them“how many seasons like this?”“how many seasons more?”[*The reference here is to Faiz Ahmed Faiz’s famous poem “Chand roz aur, meri jaan” that he wrote when he was imprisoned in Pakistan in 1951. The poem reflects Faiz’s feelings of longing and separation from his loved ones during his incarceration.]§The ADaLaT (Court) pronounces:A – As you stand at my doorD – demand but do knowL – long is the waitT – that will eventually exhaust youInSaF (Justice): is my name, I am elusive, that isI – inexorably human youS – should clearly understand that in my pursuitF – fathom yourself nigh finished![These two poems are difficult to translate. They use the Hindi letters that constitute the word Adalat and Insaaf to write corresponding phrases whose first word has the same letter. The specificity of the form hence gets somewhat lost in translation.]§Sahab Ji[1]Its true, that I am but a girlBut I too am rooted in this landI reject you because maybeYou, I understand.Or, let me believe you to be the bestLet me believe you lead the restLet me believe you brought us boonsLet me believe you gave us no woundsLet me believe you a magicianLet me believe you innocent of those demolitionsLet me believe that you did everythingLet me believe that you did nothingLet me believe that we are flourishingLet me believe that we are truly freeLet me believe you the powers that beLet me believe you make our times proudLet me believe you stand above the crowdLet me believe you to be God to allJust show me that you believe meto be one of your ownThat’s all.
