A Twitter campaign spearheaded by students was scheduled to roll from 7pm to 9pm on Sunday seeking the release of Natasha Narwal from jail on bail, given the worsening health of her father and Covid patient Mahavir Narwal.
Around 6pm on Sunday, Mahavir Narwal passed away in a Haryana hospital.
Natasha, a Jawaharlal Nehru University student who led the women’s student group Pinjra Tod, has been in jail for almost a year for several cases related to the protests against the new citizenship regime, including the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA).
She has secured bail in two cases, and the order in her bail plea for a third under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) was reserved by Delhi High Court on April 27. Several students are in jail in the case.
During her time as an undertrial in Tihar Jail, she has served in the prison library, taught yoga and moved court for online meetings of prisoners with their families and non-vegetarian food. Last week, on a petition by Natasha and her fellow JNU student Devangana Kalita, the high court had ordered Covid vaccination for those aged 18 to 45 in jail.
Her father, a 71-year old retired agriculture scientist, was in the intensive care unit of Rohtak’s Positron Multi Speciality and Cancer Hospital, where he was admitted on May 3.
Mahavir Narwal had taught for decades at Hisar's Chaudhary Charan Singh Haryana Agricultural University, and led the Haryana unit of the CPM-backed Bharat Gyan Vigyan Samiti, an NGO that promotes scientific temper and knowledge.
Mahavir Narwal had stood by his daughter when she was arrested. Author Natasha Badhwar tweeted an old interview of him and wrote: “Natasha Narwal’s father, Mahavir Narwal, has died without being able to meet his daughter. ‘There is nothing to fear about being in jail’, he had said about his daughter’s wrongful arrest. ‘My daughter will cope with positivity and come back stronger’.”
As a student, Mahavir Narwal had spent 11 months in jail during the Emergency. His son Aakash is also diagnosed with Covid and is under home isolation in Rohtak
The CPM’s Haryana and Delhi units have condoled the death of Mahavir Narwal.
CPIML-Liberation politburo member Kavita Krishnan tweeted: “Modi regime tortures feminists, forcing them to be in prison while loved ones die of Covid-19. Young @PinjraTod activist Natasha Narwal is in prison for the crime of protest -- under the UAPA law which does not allow for bail. Her lovely father Mahavir Narwal just died of Covid-19.”
Maharashtra minister and NCP leader Jitendra Ahwad described Mahavir Narwal as “the bravest, most compassionate man”. The father of Natasha Narwal “has died without being able to meet his daughter. #RAGE”, he tweeted.
After youth activists were rounded up for the riots cases last year, Mahavir Narwal stood out among parents for his serene yet relentless and unequivocal defence of the right to dissent, even at the cost of his daughter's incarceration.
Several people pointed out the callousness of the State in such matters.. Last year, Maoist convict G.N. Saibaba's ailing mother passed away four days after he was denied bail to meet her.
Film critic Anna Vetticad tweeted: “A double whammy of cruelty has been visited upon this family by the Indian government – while Natasha Narwal is in jail for battling injustice, her father has succumbed to a disease the government failed to control.”
