Woman, who lost infant to winter chill at Shaheen Bagh, to return to protest

Four-month-old Mohammed Jahaan who accompanied his mother every day to Shaheen Bagh, where thousands of women have staged protests against the CAA, will not be seen at the protest site anymore.

Jahaan died last week after getting a severe cold and congestion, probably due to the prolonged exposure to the winter chill at the outdoor protests. His mother is, however, undeterred and determined to participate in the protests, saying it is for the future of her children.

The infant parents, Mohammed Arif and Nazia, live in a tiny shanty in Batla House area along with their five-year-old daughter and a one-year-old son. Arif is an embroidery worker and also drives an e-rickshaw.

“With our baby’s demise, we have lost everything,” Arif said, showing a picture of little Jahaan wearing a woolen cap that read I Love My India.

Nazia said Jahaan passed away in his sleep on the night of January 30 after returning from the protests. “I had returned from Shaheen Baag at around 1 AM. After putting him and other kids to sleep, even I went to sleep. In the morning, I suddenly found him motionless. He was gone in his sleep,” she said.

The couple said they took their motionless baby to the nearby Alshifa Hospital on the morning of January 31 where he was declared dead on arrival.

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She said she didn’t realise that his congestion was so severe. However, the baby’s death certificate issued by the hospital does not mention any specific reason for the death.

Nazia said she strongly feels that the CAA and NRC are against the welfare of all communities and will join the Shaheen Bagh protests, but this time without her children.

One of the family’s neighbour said Nazia would gather all women in the bylane outside her house so that they could together walk to the demonstration, around 2 km away. Sometimes, Arif would drop some of them to Shaheen Bagh on his e-rickshaw.

“Why was I doing this? For my children and the children of all us who need a bright future in this country,” she told PTI.

“The CAA divides us on religion and should never be accepted. I dont know if there is politics involved but I know that I must question what is against the future of my children.”

Blaming the NRC and CAA for his child’s death, Arif said “Had the government not brought CAA and NRC, people would not have protested and my wife would not have joined them, my son would have been alive,” he said.

(With inputs from PTI)

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