Asif Iqbal Tanha, born in an orphanage run by his great-grandfather in Hazaribagh in Jharkhand, was shuffling between submitting assignments at Jamia Milia and delivering food to migrant workers during the lockdown. This was after the Delhi riots and he was also being summoned by police in the interim. This did not deter him though and whenever his phone rang for help, he would go and give food not just to migrant workers, but to anyone who was hungry. His friends knew him as easy, natural, respectful and polite. In 2019, Tanha was part of the group leading anti-CAA movement and eventually he was the youngest student to be arrested in the case.
Mujeebullah, Tanha’s father said that they told him not to be at the forefront but could not stop the young man. Tanha was born in the same orphanage where his mother grew up after losing her parents at an early age. Tanha started his studies to St Augustine School. Seeing him more inclined towards cricket rather than studies, his parents sent him away to Jamia Misbah Uloom madrassa in Siddharthnagar district in Uttar Pradesh. Tanha’s mother was strict with rules and wanted him and his sister to concentrate on studies and nothing else. When Tanha got into to Jamia, his parents could not afford to pay for his room and board but arranged for money somehow. But his father got very sick after 2 years and Tanha was told that he would have to manage on his own and he started working at the counter at an eatery in exchange for food and a place to live. Tanha’s father hoped that Tanha would become a translator of Arabic and Persian into English and it would get him a job and good salary in the Gulf countries.
Tanha was first booked for rioting and attempt to murder on 15 December. On 17 May, he was arrested in FIR 298/2019 at the Jamia Nagar Police Station. Two days later, Delhi Police arrested him in FIR 59/2020. While granting him bail in FIR 298, the Judge said that eight of the 10 people arrested in the case were out on bail, and Tanha was a 24-year-old student with no prior criminal record. However he remained in jail for the other FIR. While denying him bail on 4 September in FIR 59, Judge said that his name appears in witness statements as one of the main coordinators. Tanha reapplied for bail on 5 October. Tanha had 75% attendance and always secured either 1st or 2nd division. His heart though was in activism. Tanha’s father said that his son was not an orator when he was growing up in Jharkhand, and his friends say that he turned into an activist in Jamia. Before his arrest, Tanha regularly posted messages on social media, asking for release of arrested activists.
