And she waits for Gautam Navlakha

Writer Sahba Husain rattles out from memory all the dates of twists and turns during her ongoing struggle to keep the flame of love and resistance burning She remembers the date August 28 2018 when the Pune Police raided her home to arrest her partner and human rights activist Gautam Navlakha an accused in the Bhima Koregaon case Sahba can recall what petitions were filed when in different courtsmdashand the dates of each verdictEtched in Sahbarsquos memory is April 8 2020 the day the Supreme Court gave Navlakha a week to surrender before the National Investigation Agency As the thrum of life sounded like a guitar out of tune she remembers with admiration Navlakha writing his last media column on April 13 A day later she bid him goodbye as he disappeared into Delhirsquos NIA headquartersIt is obvious Sahba has rewound and replayed the scenes of the last four years over and over again to draw strength from what she had been through in order to endure what may still lie ahead Her anxiety springs from the question When will Navlakha win his freedom and they be united again Call it the suffering of separation made unbearable because it has been scripted by the State which invokes the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act to torment bravehearts who articulate their opposition to its imperious ways as Navlakha has done through most of his lifeBut then her eyes suddenly acquire a sparkle and voice a joyous ring as she narrates the happenings of November 24 2021 She had come to know that Navlakha on that day would be brought from Mumbairsquos Taloja Jail to JJ Hospital for a checkupHe saw Sahba standing in the corridor He lunged forward and hugged herThey hugged long enough to prompt the constable to ask Who is she ldquoYeh to meri zindagi haimdashshe is my liferdquo replied Navlakha Since the constable looked befuddled Navlakha said ldquoMy wiferdquo As he underwent routine tests Sahba teased ldquoHey in our 26 years together you have never called me your wiferdquoSahba is not Navlakharsquos wife Theirs is a livein relationship She is 70 years old He is 69 Both have children from their first marriages Both have grandchildren Living in different corners outside India the family incessantly worries over Sahba and Navlakha each battling alone their sadness of separatenessWhat do they know of love who only hate knowTheir love was born in the crucible of activism It involved agitating together against the Babri Masjid demolition fighting for the rights of Kashmiris and Adivasis of Chhattisgarh faulting the State for siding with corporate giants and its penchant for militarising Indian societySahbarsquos inheritance is activism Her father Alam Khundmiri was elected in 1939 as President of the Comradesrsquo Association in Nizamrsquos Hyderabad The organisation was a counterfoil to the Razakars who wanted Hyderabad to accede to Pakistan A peasant rebellion broke out under the aegis of the Communists who after the annexation of Hyderabad were ruthlessly suppressed by the nascent Congress regime Khundmiri was dubbed a ldquokafirrdquoThe kafirrsquos son Javed Alam who taught at Delhirsquos Salwan College married Jayanti in the 1970s Economist Prabhat Patnaik reminisced that the Jana Sangh pasted posters accusing Alam of abducting her evident from their line ldquoWhere is Jayantirdquo The couple was summoned by Prime Minister Indira Gandhi Jayanti told Gandhi that she had married Alam of her own volitionPoliticians come and go talking of love jihad But now the Prime Minister keeps silentYet the familyrsquos past did not prepare Sahba for the trials and tribulations of the changing times For instance on November 12 2019 Sahbarsquos book Love Loss and Longing in Kashmir was to be launched On the same day within 15 minutes of the Pune Sessions Court dismissing Navlakharsquos application for anticipatory bail the Pune Police swooped down on her apartment to arrest Navlakha who was not at home Sahba refused to cancel the launch for it would have implied letting the State harass them Navlakha returned home two days later after the High Court gave him protection from arrestOn November 26 2021 she was not allowed to meet Navlakha in Taloja after it was opened postCOVID to visitors The reason she was not his wife but partner a legally flawed argument the NIA court subsequently set aside Quite ridiculously Navlakha was denied a replacement of his spectacles that were stolen and books by PG Wodehouse until media and court interventions compelled jail authorities to relentThe harassment of four years has had Sahba overcome shock and disbelief and the very deep grief that clung to her skin after the incarceration of Navlakha She cried and cried until her tears dried up ldquoBut sadness still overwhelms me at timesrdquo she saysNarendra Modi recently suggested that expeditious bail be granted to undertrials Jumla Sahba would make the riposte Just how many years must a person spend in jail for the system to declare he is innocent Until that happens Sahba will continue to sign off her letters to Navlakha thus ldquoI love yourdquo Take it from Sahba Love is defianceThe writer is a senior journalistSend your feedback to mailbagmiddaycomThe views expressed in this column are the individualrsquos and donrsquot represent those of the paper