Caped Crusader
Abrilliant student from the start, Nida Khan finished schooling from St Francis Convent Bareilly with honours. In 2012, she enrolled for a B.Com degree in Bareilly College. In her third year, she received a marriage proposal from the prominent Ala Hazrat family. Ahmed Raza Khan was the founder of the Barelvi Movement and has over 300 million followers around the world. Nida got married to Sheeran Raja Khan on February 18, 2015. “My parents and I felt fortunate to be associated with a family that had a great reputation among Muslims in the world,” says Nida. “I wanted to complete my master’s in commerce and they said they would let me.”
Once they were married, however, Nida says her husband did not let her continue her studies. A month after their marriage, when Nida was appearing for an entrance exam for M.Com, her husband allegedly dragged her away from the examination hall. “He demanded a car from my father. I refused. One night I was assaulted so badly I had a miscarriage,” claims Nida. “On July 17, 2015, I was thrown out of my husband’s house. I am now living with my father.” A year later, Nida says her husband tried to remarry, but she warned the girl and the proposal fell through. Furious, he allegedly came and threatened her.
Refusing to cow down, Nida approached the police to lodge an FIR but was refused as the authorities were unwilling to act against the Hazrat family. Nida then filed a case in the Bareilly district court and managed to get an FIR registered in June 2016 on the court’s orders. Her case was also referred to the family mediation cell. However, on the final day of the hearing, Nida’s husband pronounced triple talaq. With all the maulvis she approached upholding its validity, Nida went back to the district court to challenge the triple talaq. In September 2018, the district
court held that the triple talaq was invalid and also ordered a case to be registered against Nida’s husband under Section 133 of the IPC (causing miscarriage without a woman’s consent).
Her fight against triple talaq inspired hope in other women who had suffered in a similar way. Among them was Sabina Khan, who was being forced into a nikah halala (a practice in which a woman who has been given triple talaq can remarry the same person only after she gets married to a second person and he gives her triple talaq) with her father-in-law. It was Nida who came to Sabina’s aid and helped her find legal support.
Alarmed at Nida’s growing influence, the Dargah-e-Ala Hazrat issued a fatwa against her in July 2018 for speaking out against Islamic practices. Soon after, the Faizan-e-Madina Council announced a cash prize of Rs 10 lakh to get her thrown out of the country. It was again the district court that came to Nida’s aid, ordering an FIR be registered against all such fatwas. Meanwhile, in September 2018, Nida set up the Ala Hazrat Helping Society, a non-profit providing counselling and legal aid to Muslim women victims of regressive practices. ■
“I WAS A SURVIVOR, NOW I AM A FIGHTER. I’LL FIGHT FOR THE RIGHTS OF MUSLIM WOMEN”