×
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT

Who is Bilkis, Shaheen Bagh's ‘dadi’ listed among TIME’s most influential people of 2020?

On Wednesday, the TIME Magazine named three Indians — Prime Minister Narendra Modi, 'Dadi of Shaheen Bagh' Bilkis, and Actor Ayushmann Khurrana — among the 100 most influential people of 2020.
Last Updated 24 September 2020, 14:30 IST

One of the three "dadis of Shaheen Bagh" who led the anti-CAA agitation has been listed among TIME’s most influential people of 2020.

Braving icy winds during the months-long anti-CAA protests at Shaheen Bagh, 82-year-old Bilkis sat under a tent with hundreds of women and children. She emerged as the face of the protest against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and the proposed National Register of Citizens (NRC).

She is known for her fiery speeches. In February, she had said the protesters wouldn't move an inch even if someone fires a gun.

"We have not blocked the whole stretch. It is Delhi Police which barricaded the whole road in the name of security. Why don't you get that removed first? We never asked police or any authority to block the roads for us. It is they who did it and are now blaming us for the blockade," she had argued.

The sit-in protest at Shaheen Bagh was arguably blocking a critical arterial road connecting Delhi and Noida, causing trouble to commuters and schoolchildren.

"They call us traitors. When we pushed Britishers out of the country, who are Narendra Modi and Amit Shah? We won't move an inch even if someone fires at us. You remove NRC and CAA, we will clear the site in no time," she said as the crowd of about 100 people cheered on with her.

Her profile in the TIME’s most influential people of 2020 by an Indian journalist Rana Ayyub describes her as a "symbol of resistance in a nation where the voices of women and minorities were being systematically drowned out by the majoritarian politics of the Modi regime."

“I will sit here till blood stops flowing in my veins so the children of this country and the world breathe the air of justice and equality,” Bilkis told the journalist.

However, the protests at Shaheen Bagh ended in March this year in view of the Covid-19 outbreak and a subsequent lockdown announced by the government to contain the spread of the disease.

Narendra Modi and Ayushman Khurrana also named in the TIME most influential people list

Also on the TIME magazine's list from India are Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Bollywood actor Ayushman Khurrana.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi's feature on the TIME Magazine by the publication’s editor Karl Vick describes him as the only Indian Prime Minister, who has governed as if no one else matters apart from Hindus.

“First elected on a populist promise of empowerment, his Hindu-­nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party rejected not only elitism but also pluralism, specifically targeting India’s Muslims. The crucible of the pandemic became a pretence for stifling dissent. And the world’s most vibrant democracy fell deeper into shadow,” his profile reads.

Meanwhile, Ayushmann's profile says: "Where male protagonist roles often fall into the trap of stereotypical masculinity, Ayushmann has successfully and convincingly transformed into characters who challenge those very stereotypes."

Responding to his feature, National Award winner actor Ayushmann Khurrana said he has always aimed to bring a positive change in society through cinema.

(With agency inputs)

ADVERTISEMENT
(Published 24 September 2020, 08:59 IST)

Follow us on

ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT