Aarfa steals the show in Shaheen Bagh
When bulldozer arrived in Shaheen Bagh on Monday for anti-encroachment drive amid heavy security presence, some Okhla Congress leaders rushed to the spot to sit in front of the vehicle with the intention to stop. Among those leaders in the crowd there was one woman, with bandaged leg, who grabbed the headlines. Advocate Aarfa Khanam, a Congress leader, landed on the spot with her lawyer husband, and started raising slogans with others. Her photo standing on the bulldozer has gone literally viral as on Tuesday it has made to the front page in several national Hindi and Urdu dailies.
She and other Congress leaders were detained and released after hours on Monday. Even 24 hours after the incident, her photo has become talk of the social media. Okhla-based YouTuber told the OT over phone that many journalists have shared her photo with comments that the picture shows resistance of a woman. Shaheen Bagh is famously known for anti-CAA protest when many women were at the forefront of more than 100 days of peaceful sit-in. And who can forget the iconic dadis of Shaheen Bagh. One among them, Bilkis dadi was named by Time magazine as 100 most influential people.
Many on social media started calling Aarfa a modern-day Jhansi Ki Rani. An advocate by profession, Lucknow-born Aarfa is a Congress leader who this time around was ticket seeker from the party from Abul Fazal Enclave seat. The local election got postponed due to merger of the civic bodies.
Aarfa husband Muzzakir told the OT over phone that despite fracture in her leg which she sustained after the e-richshaw on which she was travelling days ago turning turtle she insisted on visiting the site after coming to know about bulldozer landing on the as part of the SDMC’s anti-encroachment drive. In a photo seen on the social media and shared by Muzzakir, Aarfa can be seen moving with a crutch after being released from a police station with Congress Delhi president Anil Chaudhury on her side.
Her photo has gone viral with many calling her the face of resistance.
