'The Hindu Who Went to Jail for Us': How Chandrashekhar Azad Went from Poster Boy to Hero at Shaheen Bagh

Moments before the Bhim Army chief reached Shaheen Bagh, 12-year-old Rukaiya jostled her way through the crowd to get the best spot, right in front of the stage. She was holding a poster.

"This is Chandrashekhar Azad," she announced before revealing her plan. "I want to meet him, so I am going ahead". That poster of Azad has been a part of the Shaheen Bagh protests since he was arrested. On Wednesday evening, the crowd that has been on a 24x7 sit-in protest for over a month was waiting to meet the 'poster boy'.

When Azad finally arrived, moving along with a band of supporters, there were loud cheers from the peripheries of the makeshift tent. The women stood up, despite all the "baith jaiye" pleas from volunteers.

The Bhim Army chief was released on bail on January 15 on the condition that he can't visit protest sites. Six days later, after his bail was modified following a court order and the restrictions lifted, he first visited the protest outside Jamia and then arrived at Shaheen Bagh, the anti-CAA protest that has become a symbol of resistance, inspiring women across the country to take to the streets.

Azad finally waded through to the stage. He took off the garland and wrapped the blue scarf, now synonymous with him, around his neck. Holding the Constitution in his hand, Azad greeted the crowd, "Jai Bhim".

Immediately after, a middle-aged woman sitting in the crowd asked the woman next to her, "Ye Bhim kaun hai? (Who is this Bhim)." The woman responded, "Jaise humare liye Bismillah hai, waise unke liye Bhim (The way we say Bismillah, they say Bhim)".

Azad's speech was disrupted when the sound system failed. For the next 10 minutes, Azad waited patiently, surrounded by his supporters on stage, as the volunteers tried to fix the microphone. Finally, Azad spoke even as the microphone continued making warbling noises.

"I congratulate those who have participated in this protest. This is not just a political agitation. We have to save the Constitution and the unity of the nation," he said.

Many of the protestors at Shaheen Bagh had not heard of Azad till his arrest in December after his outfit organised a march from Jama Masjid to Jantar Mantar against the amended Citizenship Amendment Act. The Bhim Army chief was arrested along with 15 other people.

"Bohot maar padi thi (He was severely beaten up)," one of the protestors told another at Shaheen Bagh. The other protestor asked, "Par wo toh Hindu hai, usko kyon maar padi? (But he's Hindu, why did he get beaten up?)"

"Woh Hinduon ko bhadka raha tha (He was instigating the Hindus)," said another protestor.

These protestors are the first women in their families to take to the streets. "The Prime Minister has given us a new address -- Shaheen Bagh's streets," said 48-year-old Fakhrunnisa.

Azad's voice was still barely audible when he said, "I promise you that in the coming days, there will be at least 5,000 Shaheen Baghs across the country." And immediately there was a thunderous applause and shouts of approval.

The young girls and the elderly dadis of Shaheen Bagh waved his poster amid the continuing cheers. “BR Ambedkar framed the Constitution and now the Bhim Army chief will fight along with us to defend it,” said Ghazala, a resident of the area.

One eight-year-old boy kept waving the Tricolour, intermittently saying "azadi" as his mother tried to shush him. "Let me listen to Chandrashekhar," she said sternly. "Who is Chandrashekhar?" he asked. "The man on the stage. He was beaten up by the police," the mother responded. "But, isn't his name Azad?" he asked.

Azad continued to speak. He spoke about the Delhi Police’s insistence on clearing the Shaheen Bagh road citing traffic issues and commuter complaints. "Show me a road in Delhi where there's no congestion. It took me one-and-a-half hours to reach here. Is traffic more inconvenient than demonetisation? Everyone stood in the queue then."

Zubeida, Afreen, Asifa and Khalida continued their conversations on Azad. "He is the one who went to Tihar jail, and hours after being released from Tihar Jail, he visited the Jama Masjid where he read out the Preamble. He is for all."

Reshma, a student of Delhi University, said, “There are people who won’t be affected by the religious discrimination of the Act so they don’t understand what it means to us Muslims. I go to college where some people think the protests are misplaced by Muslims. In this kind of narrative, Azad is an inspiration. His presence tells them the fears are not misplaced. In fact, he stands by us in our demand for the recall of such an Act.”

The idea of Azad was different for everyone in there though. Fakhrunnisa pointed at the framed photograph of Ambedkar that hung from the roof of the tent and remained in the backdrop of Azad. "Do you see that fair man in the blue tie? He is BR Ambedkar. He wrote our Constitution. Azad is his follower," she told another woman.

"Those who did not know who Ambedkar is have learned it in the last one month of protests," said Fakhrunnisa.

Among the young protestors of Shaheen Bagh, there was an overwhelming sentiment for Azad, the man who went to jail for leading protests and was barred by the authorities from participating in anti-CAA rallies. “He is working for the oppressed, so the powerful people are scared. He is blurring the lines between Muslims protests and other protests. With his presence, it is a fight for all. A fight for equality that BR Ambedkar enshrined in the Constitution,” said Huma, who is a regular visitor to the protests.

Huma said that this is the time to raise voices. "I am sitting here for my four children who have no other country to go to. This is their home. And people like Azad give strength to it," she said.

Azad got one more round of cheer as he said, "Ambedkar said women will lead. Today, when the Constitution is in danger, women are leading the country and fighting for it."

At the end of the speech, the man who went to jail fighting against the “unconstitutional” Citizenship Amendment Act had turned into a hero for the Shaheen Bagh protestors. As he stood on the stage for the next couple of minutes for the shutterbugs, a bunch of young women pleaded, "Don't go Azad."