A viral claim about Shaheen Bagh dadi Bilkis Bano languishing in jail for the 19th consecutive day, is fake.
BOOM spoke to Bilkis Bano's son Manzoor who confirmed to us that his mother is at home. Manzoor also told BOOM that Bilkis Bano was detained on December 1, 2020 when she was on her way to participate in the ongoing farmers' protest at the Delhi-Haryana Singhu border. She was however allowed to go home on the same day.
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The octogenarian Bilkis Bano had become the face of the anti-CAA protest held in Delhi's Shaheen Bagh in December 2019. Fondly known as Shaheen Bagh dadi, Bilkis Bano also featured in the Time magazine's Time 100 list of 100 most influential people in 2020, and the BBC's list of 100 influential and inspiring women of 2020.
Bilkis Bano had been in news again when she had extended her support to the ongoing farmers' protest earlier this month.
Bollywood actor Kangana Ranaut, among others, had shared a set of two pictures - of Bilkis Bano and another old woman - claiming that Bilkis was being paid to participate in the farmers protest. BOOM had identified the other old woman in the viral post as Mohinder Kaur, an octogenarian farmers' union member from Bhatinda.
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A tweet from the Twitter handle of Aabid Mir Magami, who calls himself the state spokesperson of Jammu and Kashmir Youth Congress, claims that the '86-year-old Bilkis dadi is still in jail'.
The claim is viral on Twitter and Facebook with similar captions.
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As we could not find any credible news report about Bilkis Bano being lodged in jail, BOOM contacted her son Manzoor who told us that the viral post was fake.
Manzoor told BOOM that his mother was detained on December 1, 2020 when she was on her way to Singhu border to join the farmers protests. The news had made headlines back then.
"My mother was escorted back from Singhu border to Sarita Vihar police station on December 1. Ever since, she has stayed at home," Manzoor told BOOM.
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