I am glad #safoorazargar is out. I know how hard everyone has worked consistently push for this. This feels like a small but exhausting victory. But a few things to remember. 

1. She should never be in jail, to start with.

Her arrest is a direct assault on the constitutional guarantees of the right to protest and unequivocally criminalizes dissent of any kind. 2. Remember there is still no proof of any wrongdoing by Safoora, except that She is a student leader. #Safoora_Zargar #UAPA

Police named #Safoora_Zargar as a "key conspirator" in anti-Muslim riots that swept Delhi in February. But there is no proof of this.

As a member of the Jamia Coordination Committee (JCC), a student group at her university, she was active in organizing peaceful protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act in north-east Delhi.

3. Also, SG-Tushar Mehta states that “without going into the merits of the plea, and without considering this as a precedent, the state has no problem with Safoora being released on bail provided she doesn't indulge in activities she's being investigated for.”

What does this mean? First, he has refused to acknowledge the “merits” i.e the fact that there is no evidence to jail her or that the entire case against her is a farce.

Also clearly hinting that “humanitarian grounds” won’t be applied for other UAPA political prisoners. Many of whom are old, ill, and high risk of contracting COVID19.

4. We are now pushed into the corner of negotiating on unsure grounds.

5. Also, Safoora applied for bail on 4 different occasions. It shows how our lowers courts have been completely defanged or stacked with the foot soldiers of the State. And how UAPA laws are designed to deny due process &allow state terror to flourish without any possible checks.

6. Also earlier today #GulfishaFatima's bail was denied. The Delhi High Court has dismissed a plea seeking the release of Gulfisha Fatima who was arrested in the Delhi riots case. As I type this only one legal portal has even covered this.

7. It’s a long battle ahead— even in this moment of great fear and fatigue, I am still glad that Safoora is out. I can only hope that her freedom and that of others is not contingent on the whims of our dear leader.

Finally, I am sharing two of @BagchiAsh 's images that lays bare the realities of India today. / End