The Delhi Police has filed a supplementary charge sheet against radical Islamist Sharjeel Imam for instigating violence during the Anti-CAA protests at New Friends Colony near Jamia Millia Islamia University on December 15, 2019. He was booked under IPC Sections 124A (sedition) and 153 A (Promoting enmity between different groups) by the Delhi Police.
Sharjeel Imam was arrested for instigating & abetting Jamia riots by his seditious speech, delivered on 13th December 2019. On the basis of evidence, sections 124A and 153A of the IPC (sedition and promoting enmity between classes) were invoked in the case: Delhi Police https://t.co/bhOW1fQkcV
— ANI (@ANI) April 18, 2020
The charge sheet was filed at the Saket Court on 17th April for giving “seditious speech” and “abetting riots” in Jamia on December 15 last year.
“In the case of FIR no. 242/19 PS New Friends Colony, Sharjeel Imam was arrested for instigating and abetting the Jamia riots, due to his seditious speech delivered on December 13, 2019. During the investigation, on the basis of evidence collected, sections 124 A IPC and 153 A IPC (Sedition and promoting enmity) were invoked in the case. In this case, the first charge-sheet was filed against the rioters arrested by the SIT led by Shri Rajesh Deo. A Supplementary charge-sheet in continuation of the earlier charge-sheet has now been filed in the court of MM Saket court,” a statement issued by Delhi Police said.
According to police, riots broke out “in consequence to the protest march organised by Jamia students” against the CAA in December.
“The mob indulged in large scale rioting, stone-pelting and arson, and in the process destroyed many public and private properties. Cases of rioting, arson and damage to public properties were registered in both the police stations. Many policemen and public persons were injured in the riots,” the Delhi police added.
Four public buses and two police vehicles were set ablaze during the violent protests. DCP (Southeast) Chinmay Biswal had claimed that around 1500 demonstrators blocked the road and did not listen to the people who urged them to clear the road.
Eventually, the cops had to resort to lathi-charge and tear gas shells to pacify the mob. The clash left 60 people injured including students, police, and firefighters. Sharjeel Imam has been charged giving provocative speeches that ultimately culminated in the violence.
Earlier, a Court had sent Sharjeel Imamd to 14 days in judicial custody, till March 3. As per reports, the police had attached CCTV footage, call detail records and statements of over 100 witnesses as evidence in the charge sheet that was submitted before Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Gurmohina Kaur.
Threat of Separating Assam from India
In a viral video, Sharjeel Imam could be heard saying, “If five lakh Muslims are organized then we can cut off the North-east from the rest of India. If we cannot do so permanently, then at least we can do it for months. Our responsibility is to cut Assam from India, only then will the Government will hear our voice. If we have to help Assam then we will have to cut Assam from the rest of India.”
More disturbingly, he spoke of isolating Northeast India by blocking the Chicken’s Neck. The Chicken’s Neck is a narrow stretch of land of about 22 kilometers located in West Bengal, that connects the northeastern states to the rest of India, with Nepal and Bangladesh lying on either side of the corridor. Thus, Sharjeel had made his intentions very clear, he wanted a Civil War in the country and ultimately, another partition.
Sharjeel Imam wanted to Burn the Constitution
Shaheen Bagh protests were widely circulated as ‘organic’ protests in a bid to ‘save the constitution’. Except, like every drama, there’s a twist here. For this, we will have to go back to a few weeks when the Ram Janmabhoomi verdict was out. A conversation in a WhatsApp group of JNU students right after the Ayodhya verdict gives a clearer picture of how the Shaheen Bagh ‘organic’ protests blocking the highway culminated.
Sharjeel Imam said that how he would like to burn the constitution as the 1500 page Ram Jamnabhoomi Supreme Court verdict is too much to burn. On November 9, 2019, the Supreme Court ruled in favour of Ram Lalla and gave the land rights to the Hindus, paving way for construction of Ram Mandir where Babri Masjid was built after demolishing the temple. The Supreme Court also ruled that the government should give the Muslims a plot of 5-acre land to build a mosque, should they so wish.
Some tried to reason with Sharjeel by putting out a disclaimer that they are not being ‘constitutionalist’, but burning it may attract legal consequences. Sharjeel then said how he would like to have a ‘constitution burning ceremony’ in JNU. He explained how this verdict is a ‘watershed moment’ and that the Muslims who are ‘singing praises of the constitution’ must send a ‘clear message’ that ‘we do not believe in the constitution’.
