‘To raise your voice against injustice, political power is necessary’: Wife of key Nagpur riots accused Fahim Khan to contest civic polls

Alisha Khan, the wife of one of the key accused in the March 2025 riots, is contesting the January 15 Maharashtra municipal corporation elections in Ward 3D in Nagpur.

Speaking to The Indian Express, Alisha said her decision to contest the elections stems from what she describes as the injustice her family faced following the riots. Fahim was jailed for four months in connection with the Nagpur riots, and was granted conditional bail by a district and sessions court in July 2025.

“We have seen how political wars destroy entire families. This has happened to us today; tomorrow it can happen to someone else. But amid the chaos around me, I understood that to raise your voice against injustice, political power is necessary. If you speak up without political backing, you get crushed just like how my husband was silenced,” the 29-year-old said.

Explaining her decision to contest the polls on an AIMIM ticket, Alisha said the BJP would never field her, and accused the Congress of doing politics in the name of Muslims without nurturing leadership.

“The AIMIM gives people like us a chance to come forward, speak, and raise our voice,” she said.

The All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen has fielded 17 candidates in Nagpur.

Reflecting on her journey from being a homemaker to an election candidate, Alisha, who has studied only up to Class 10, said the four months when Fahim was in jail changed her.

“Before this, I was only a housewife. I didn’t know anything about politics or how the outside world works.

But in those four months while my husband was behind bars, I learned a lot, managing children, dealing with lawyers, and handling hardships,” she said.

“We were served a notice about the demolition of illegal construction at our house. On a holiday, our house was demolished, and despite a notice for 90 square feet, the entire structure was razed… After facing all this, I decided to fight elections so no one else goes through the same,” she said.

Fahim supported his wife’s candidature, saying she might not be a powerful public speaker but had “learned from experience”. “Those four months were new and difficult for her. She learned how to survive amid the hardship and now wants to work for people, serve society, and respond to those who question her,” he said.

Days after the Nagpur riots, Fahim’s house, which was registered under his mother’s name, was demolished, even before the Nagpur bench of the Bombay High Court stayed the demolition the same day.

Alisha flagged sanitation and healthcare concerns in the area.

“Filth and unhygienic conditions are at their worst here. The area lacks urgent medical facilities; the nearest hospital is 8 km away. Sanitation workers do not come regularly,” she said, adding that several 40-year-old settlements were yet to be regularised despite repeated assurances.

Fahim also said their ward faces long-standing civic challenges, particularly flooding during the monsoon. “Every year, there is severe flooding. We have been seeing this for almost 40 years. Even in childhood, we suffered floods, and the situation remains unchanged,” he said.

Fahim said support for Alisha was growing in the locality. “I am giving my 100 per cent, and people are fully supporting my wife too. In our prabhag, neither the BJP nor the Congress is in a serious contest; the support is largely for the AIMIM,” he said, adding that the ward comprises people from multiple communities.

Fahim also spoke about the perception surrounding him after the riots, alleging he was labelled “anti-national” and “Bangladeshi”.

“I have lived here all my life. I ran a computer institute where people from every religion came. Those who know us never believed those allegations. Today, they are standing with us for justice. This is not a religiously divided vote; people who know us personally, beyond media narratives, are supporting us,” he said.

The riots followed demands by right-wing outfits to remove the tomb of Mughal emperor Aurangzeb in Aurangabad.