No, Your Lordship, the baby was not protesting: apex court’s observation on infant’s death questioned

The Supreme Court took notice of a letter from a class VII student seeking directions to ban women from taking infants to protests and demonstrations. The letter referred to the death of a four-month-old infant who died at Shaheen Bagh, succumbing to the cold. The parents pleaded that the mother had no option but to take the child with her because she could not have left the baby behind.

While the Chief Justice of India served a notice on the central government to respond to the letter and fixed February 17 for hearing, some were clearly not amused. A few of the reactions to the CJI’s observations:

Tweeting a picture of Mahatma Gandhi being led by a child, one of the Tweeples said, “What kind of a mother takes a child to a protest? Mahatma Gandhi’s grandson Kanu Ramdas Gandhi, the kid who walked ahead of Mahatma holding one end of his stick at Dandi Yatra protest during the historic Salt Satyagraha of March-April 1930.”

The SC says it has the highest concern for children in context of the death of an infant at Shaheen Bagh. Can we request the court to also focus attention on Bidar’s children who have been charged with sedition. A child is being looked after by neighbours because the mother has been jailed?

So when is SC going to take suo moto cognisance of mothers carrying their 4 month old kids to work? While they work at construction sites and on roadsides, they just put their children in the sun and dust. They are helpless. Even the Shaheen Bagh mother was helpless.

Who will tell the judges that the reason women are protesting on the streets in Shaheen Bagh and elsewhere — with or without kids — is because they don’t trust the judiciary to dispense justice, without fear or favour, anymore.

The 4-month-old baby had passed away in his sleep on the night of January 30 after returning from Shaheen Bagh where his parents had taken him during the anti-CAA protest

The letter to the CJI was written by national bravery award winner Zen Gunratan Sadavarte, who said that minors be barred from participating in any type of protest and agitation.

“We do not want people to use this platform to further create problems. We are not considering whether some child is being Pakistani is not ours to address. We are not considering CAA, NRC or youth behaviour in schools. A four-month-child has died there? Has he gone for protest?” Chief Justice (CJI) S.A. Bobde said in court.

The Bench expressed anger at two women lawyers who made a statement that children who participated in the protests have been dubbed as ‘Pakistani’ and ‘anti-nationals’ in their schools. It further made it clear that it was not stifling anybody’s voice.

Zen Gunratan Sadavarte, a 7th grade student and a recipient of the ICCW national bravery award 2019, wrote the letter seeking investigation into the death of Mohammed Jahaan who was taken by his mother every day to sit at Shaheen bagh for the anti-CAA protest.