Radical Islamists took to Twitter to trend ‘ReleaseSharjeelImam’ after he was arrested by Delhi Police over his seditious speech where he urged Indian Muslims to cut off the northeastern states from India. Sharjeel Imam, the Shaheen Bagh mastermind and columnist with The Wire, was arrested from his ancestral home in Bihar by Delhi Police early in the day.
JNUSU Councillor Afreen Fatima claimed that Imam had ‘surrendered’ to Delhi Police in ‘good faith’.
Same views were echoed by another radical, Sharjeel Usmani, who had earlier defended Imam’s views to cut off Assam and northeastern states from rest of India also endorsed these views.
His views were echoed by Aysha Renna, Jamia Millia Islamia student who was hailed as a ‘shero’ by controversial journalist Barkha Dutt.
Sharjeel Imam has surrendered in good faith to Delhi Police, in Bihar.
Release #SharjeelImam
— Aysha Renna (@AyshaRenna) January 28, 2020
Another Barkha Dutt’s ‘shero’ Ladeeda Sakhaloon alias Ladeeda Farzana also demanded Sharjeel Imam be released.
#ReleaseSharjeelImam pic.twitter.com/iDik7sH4pW
— Ladeeda Farzana (@ladeedafarzana) January 28, 2020
Aligarh Muslim University students have also hosted an event demanding his release and urged students to gather in large numbers to demand his release.
Meanwhile, NewsClick journalist Alim Jafri claimed that Imam was arrested to ‘satisfy the so-called collective conscience of the majority’.
Satisfying the so-called collective conscience of the majority.. is now called
J U S T I C E! #SharjeelImam arrested from Bihar and those chanted ‘Desh ke gaddaron ko goli maaro saalon ko’ and threatened to rape Muslim women are roaming freely! Democracy my foot! pic.twitter.com/6ES3kbxiAe— Alim Jafri (@alim_jafri) January 28, 2020
‘Journalist’ Saba Naqvi claimed that Imam was arrested to ‘discredit an entire movement’.
Really robust hard work by all the bhakts to paint an upsurge where people read the #constitution as an anti national conspiracy.
One #SharjeelImam now arrested being used to discredit an entire movement.
But Truth has it’s own power.— Saba Naqvi (@_sabanaqvi) January 28, 2020
Sharjeel Imam, the mastermind of the Shaheen Bagh protests, has been arrested by the Police from Bihar’s Jehanabad. Sedition charges had been filed against him in multiple states for his remarks urging Muslims to cut off North East India from the rest of the country by blocking the Chicken’s neck. The arrest was made by the Delhi Police Crime Branch after he was absconding for four days.
