‘Will take you to Taj Mahal’: Shaheen Bagh’s Bilkis Bano responds to Gal Gadot

As 2020 ended, Bilkis Bano, the octogenarian known for protesting the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) at Shaheen Bagh in Delhi, was in the news again. This happened after Hollywood actor Gal Gadot shared a social media post hailing Bilkis Bano as one of her ‘personal Wonder Women’. Now, Bano has responded to Gal, saying that she will show the Wonder Woman actor the Taj Mahal when she comes to India.

In an interview with Tarafdar Zamran, who told the 82-year-old about Gal calling her one of her personal wonder women, Bano wished Gal a happy new year. She also said that she hopes Gal’s upcoming film, Cleopatra, does well worldwide.

“Tarafdar Zaman told me that Gal Gadot has written good things about me. When I saw Gal Gadot’s photo, I felt she is like my daughter. I send her good wishes for the new year,” she said.

Bano also warmly invited Gal to come to India. “Whenever you come to India, I will make gushtaba with my hands and feed you. I will also take you to see Agra’s Taj Mahal,” Bano added.

Watch the video here:

The 82-year-old was among the photos of 10 young girls and women that Gal shared, which included her friends and family, US Vice President Kamala Harris, New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ahern, Romanian activist Sofia Scarlet among others.

Bano had become the face of the Shaheen Bagh protest, and was also featured in the TIME magazine’s top 100 most influential personalities of the world last year. “Bilkis gave hope and strength to activists and student leaders who were being thrown behind bars for standing up for the unpopular truth in a democracy that was sliding into authoritarianism, and inspired peaceful copycat protests across the country,” journalist Rana Ayyub said about Bano, in her piece in TIME.