It has been four years since Sharjeel Imam, the Islamist separatist, was arrested by the Delhi Police. On the 28th of January 2020, weeks before the Delhi anti-Hindu riots, Sharjeel Imam was taken into custody after his seditious speeches inciting violence against Hindus and the State. Subsequently, he was charge-sheeted as one of the main masterminds of the Delhi anti-Hindu riots and charged under the stringent UAPA. In an over 15,000-page chargesheet filed, the Delhi Police traced in painstaking detail how Sharjeel Imam, Umar Khalid and several others masterminded the Delhi violence since the 5th of December 2019.
From the very beginning, the corporate media ensured that the anti-Hindu rhetoric shaping since 2019 was pushed under the rug. Further, the media ensured that the pre-planned violence was branded anti-Muslim, when it was anti-Hindu. As for Sharjeel Imam – he was branded as an educated Muslim activist merely speaking up for the rights of his co-religionists. The whitewashing went to a point of claims that the seditious speeches that Sharjeel gave were a legitimate form of resistance and that there was nothing seditious about it. Further, his involvement in the planning of the violence was summarily glossed over. For example, retired Judge Madan B Lokur, along with others, released a “Citizen’s report” in October 2022 where the detailed WhatsApp chats, witness testimonies, photos etc proving Sharjeel’s involvement in masterminding the violence were completely ignored. Instead, the report focussed on mythical anti-Muslim rhetoric that led to the violence, the demerits of UAPA and other such rhetorical issues.
With 4 years of Imam being in custody, the shameless whitewashing raised its ugly head again with several Islamist journalists, leftists and their allied media houses demanding his release, claiming that his speech was not seditious and that he had nothing to do with the violence.
TheWire published a report headlined, “No Convictions, ‘No Support From Activists’ as Sharjeel Imam Spends Four Years in Jail” in which it tried to drum up sympathy for the accused. TheWire quoted his brother, Muzammil, saying “Four years of his life have been wasted. If he was out, he could have studied more, he could have researched more. He is yet to complete his PhD. But his morale is not low. He keeps smiling and gives our mother hope as well saying ‘Ammi, sab thik ho jayega’ (Mother, everything will be alright)”. Muzammil was further quoted as saying, “For any political prisoner who is in jail, a sense of stability is lost for their family. For my mother, it’s just the two of us. In a way life has come to a standstill since that sense of stability is lost.”
Muzammil further claimed that he was falsely implicated in the Delhi Riots conspiracy since his arrest came much before the violence was sparked in February 2020. The younger brother of Sharjeel Imam goes on to lionise Imam and also paint him as a victim of the system.
One more complaint that Muzammil had was that Imam was not getting enough support from the liberal ecosystem. That critique was echoed by another prominent individual, whose role in the Delhi Riots has largely been muted so far.
Aasif Mutjaba, the founder of Miles2Smile, who proudly displayed “Shaheen Bagh movement” in his bio as an accomplishment also took to Twitter to talk about Sharjeel Imam, his 4 years of being in jail and the supposed injustice of it all.
“The elites of political activism, the most renowned names…they refrained from speaking about Sharjeel or extending him any support. Today, whatever solidarity he has is a result of an organic support from the masses,” said Muzammil. (2/n)https://t.co/wsCfC3Dk1F
— Aasif Mujtaba (@MujtabaAasif) January 28, 2024
He called himself the “younger brother” of Sharjeel Imam, as he kept imploring people to stand in solidarity with him, painting him as an innocent scholar and also claiming that the state was prejudiced against him. He further claimed that Sharjeel Imam’s thoughts, words and ideology is being misinterpreted by many.
As his younger brother, I wanted to bring to a wider audience the ideas of Sharjeel Imam, which have been misinterpreted by different people as they wished. (9/n)https://t.co/edG49WVKF3
— Aasif Mujtaba (@MujtabaAasif) January 28, 2024
After the statements of Muzammil and Aasif Mutjaba, it becomes important to not only recall Sharjeel’s involvement in the planning of the violence but also, how Muzammil is lying and the involvement of Aasif, which was hitherto muted.
Sharjeel Imam’s involvement in the planning of the riots
The Delhi Riots chargesheet number 59, which spans over 17,000 pages, tracks in excruciating detail the conspiracy to foment riots and unrest that started shaping on the 5th of December itself. 5th was the day after the Citizenship Amendment Bill was tabled in parliament. In short, on the 5th of December, Sharjeel Imam made WhatsApp groups of Muslim students and on the 6th of December, he started distributing pamphlets in mosques. Pamphlets which were written by Sharjeel Imam himself were distributed in the Jama Masjid area by the MSJ group. This fact was revealed by the chats recovered between Sharjeel Imam and Arshad Warsi. The pamphlets were communal and essentially aimed to incite hate in the Muslim community by invoking the Supreme Court decision in the Ram Janmabhoomi case. Some of the pamphlets read “Law of Allah above all else” and “The command of Allah is above every law”. The pamphlets had misinformation about CAB and also, spoke about the destruction of the illegal structure previously on Ram Janmabhoomi, called Babri.
In the subsequent days, there was misinformation spread about CAB, protest marches held by United Against Hate and Sharjeel Imam categorically talking about “doing something big” next week. It is pertinent to note that violence had broken out on the 15th of December as well.
There were several meetings that were held between these “intellectuals” who were spreading fake news against CAB. On the 8th of December, this meeting was held, a picture of which is added to the chargesheet.
On the same day, a WhatsApp group was formed called the ‘CAB TEAM’. The core members of the team were following:
- Yogendra Yadav
- Umar Khalid
- Sharjeel Imam
- Nadeem Khan
- Parvej Alam etc.
Thereafter, “minutes of the meeting” of this core CAB team was shared in WhatsApp groups made by Sharjeel Imam (who was present at these meetings).
There were a few extremely points that must be highlighted. These were:
- Avoid over-secularisation of this movement. They asserted that since the CAA is supposedly against Muslims, the nature and character of this movement should also have a ‘Muslim characteristic’.
- Contact AMU and Jamia. It is pertinent to note that here is where the violence was triggered in December.
- Contact international media like BBC, TRT and Al Jazeera.
- Make contact with local mosques through 2-3 leaders.
- United Against Hate called for a protest on the 19th of December, which was to be strengthened.
Interestingly, all these points had larger implications during not only the December violence but also the February riots. The fact that mosques were being mobilised and also international media which had sympathies with Islamists were getting involved were also factors that played a major role in perpetuating a false narrative after the February riots and also, helped in the coordination and execution of the riots.
Sharjeel Imam’s involvement in the planning of the riot is, therefore, not a mystery. He was involved right from the start in the planning of the violence and also incitement through his seditious speeches.
The transcript of his speeches where he clearly talked about Muslims taking to the streets and bringing India to a standstill is mentioned. He further talks about cutting off Assam, indulging in violence and tells Muslims even to be ready to face violence. He also talks extensively about how Nationalism is antithetical to Islam and that the Constitution must not be followed.
Here is a short excerpt that proves he was not only talking about Chakka Jam but violence against the State and also separatism.
It is our responsibility to cut off Assam. Assam and India should be cut and separated, only then they will listen to us. You know the condition of Muslims in Assam. CAA has been implemented there. People are being put in detention camps. Isn’t it? And there, well, the butcher of common people is going on. In 6-8 months it will be known that all the Bengalis were killed. Be it Hindu or Muslim. Ok? If we have to help Assam, then we have to block the way to Assam for the army. Do you understand? Whatever is being supplied for the army and whatever is being supplied from here, stop it. And we can stop it because chicken neck belongs to Muslims. That area is mostly Muslim. What will a leader like Kanhaiya do? They will go and raise slogans of the revolution, get photographs clicked, and come back. There will be applause from our people, but their faces will be there as leaders. And not a single productive thing has come out of it to date. Not a single productive thing has come out to date. Remember this thing. Remember this thing if the public is angry, then it is the responsibility of the politician, scholar, whatever it is, to make productive use of that anger. We can use it productively. Rather than waste in the photo session. Ok.
Well, I understood one more thing – even the matter of sensitization is not in our control till now. It is under the control of those who worship the Indian nation. Whether it is Left or Congress. Everything is under their control. It will come under our control if we form a group of Muslim scholars. And make such a group in which there is no debate among ourselves whether we are nationalist or not. Ok? The mask to be kept in the front is a different matter.
There are two interesting excerpts from his speech in Gaya, Bihar, delivered on the 23rd of January. It should be remembered that this speech was uploaded to Sharjeel Imam’s own Facebook page.
The first excerpt is: “तो इस चीज को याद रखें कि अभी बोहोत Urgent मामला है, बोहोत urgent मामला है। हमारे पास 4 हफ्ते है, 28 दिन है, अगला जो hearing है । अगले hearing तक सरकार तो छोङो Court को उसकी नानी याद आ जाये, ये आप की जिम्मेदारी है |”
In this, Sharjeel Imam asks his Muslim brethren to remember that the matter is very “urgent” and that they specifically have 4 weeks – 28 days. After that, he says, that not just the goverment, but even the court should shiver – and this responsibility he squarely places on the shoulders of Muslims.
It is pertinent to note that this speech was delivereed on the 23rd of January. It was exactly after a month – on the 24th of February – that Delhi anti-Hindu riots started – just as predicted by Sharjeel Imam when he told Muslims that they have only 4 weeks (28 days) to ensure that there is enough mayhem to scare the government and the courts.
In the second excerpt, he says, “िल्ली में तो वैसे भी, दिल्ली को ये कश्मीर बना नहीं सकते आपको भी पता है | इन्हीं की जलालत होगी, हमारी नहीं होगी, अगर ये दिल्ली में गोली चलवायें, Army लगवायें तो ये जलालत किसकी है ? मुसलमानों की नहीं सरकार की जलालत है। सरकार को जलील होना पङेगा।”
Here, is it clear that he is predicting enough mayhem for there to be a Kashmir-like situation where the government would be pressed to deploy the Army. But he also says that since it is Delhi, they will not be able to do so due to the glare of the media. They can’t turn Delhi into Kashmir. He also says that they will be beaten up a little (Muslims) but then, the Army cannot be deployed. The fact that he predicted enough mayhem that the centre might consider deploying the army itself reveals his real plans of violence. That, coupled with the fact that he mentioned the exact timeframe (4 weeks) in which the mayhem would reach its peak, reveals that he was an intrinsic part of the planning of the Delhi anti-Hindu riots.
How Sharjeel Imam’s younger brother, Muzammil, is lying
In the 59/2020 chargesheet which details the conspiracy of the Delhi anti-Hindu riots, there is a specific WhatsApp chat which was recovered from the phone of Sharjeel Imam. This is one where he is talking to his younger brother – Muzammil – the same one who is now claiming that Imam had nothing to do with the violence or the incitement to violence and is but an innocent scholar.
In this chat, Muzammil shares a Reuters article on the Shaheen Bagh protests and rues that they have only taken a quote from Aasif Mujtaba and not Sharjeel Imam. Sharjeel Imam then categorically responds to Muzammil saying that it does not matter since they are the “masterminds” (Sharjeel Imam and Aasif Mujtaba).
Here is the quote by Aasif Mujtaba that Muzammil was talking about:
“The masterminds of the intricately organized operation are two young engineers, trained at the elite Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) – Aasif Mujtaba and Sharjeel, who gave only one name. Mujtaba said he and Sharjeel identify volunteers, delegate tasks, bring in speakers from outside the area, and made sure the protesters avoided any confrontations with police”.
It is, therefore, evident that Muzammil knew about the exact extent of Sharjeel Imam’s involvement in the planning of the violence. His cacophonous chest beating and victim playing now is only post-facto rhetoric knowing fully well that his brother was the mastermind and stands to be in deep trouble if the court proceedings are conducted without pressure. Something is to be said about The Wire too, which seems to be running the tear-jerking lies of Muzammil without any sort of due diligence about what the chargesheet in the violence says. It is, of course, entirely possible that The Wire knows the extent of Imam’s involvement and is actively trying to save the culprit, given their shameless defence of Tahir Hussain in the past as well.
Aasif Mujtaba – the mastermind along with Sharjeel Imam
Aasif Mujtaba is the founder of Miles2Smile, an NGO supposedly working for the upliftment of Muslims. He also mentions Shaheen Bagh proudly in his Twitter bio.
Miles2Smile Foundation is a dubious organisation that gained popularity for its “relief work” for illegal Rohingyas and Muslim victims of the Delhi anti-Hindu riots in 2020.
The organisation, founded by Aasif Mujtaba (named by Sharjeel Imam as his co-conspirator), came into existence in June 2020 (with their Twitter ID being created in April 2020), right after the Delhi anti-Hindu riots, in which, Sharjeel Imam was arrested and chargesheeted.
On the website of Miles2Smile, as one of their first efforts, it mentions that they ran a medical camp at Al-Islah public school for those Muslims affected by the Delhi anti-Hindu Riots.
Interestingly, a Scroll report from 2020 also mentions how Harsh Mandar was involved in this same school, giving “relief” to Muslims affected – after the anti-Hindu violence.
The scroll report reads:
‘The local effort is now shored up by volunteer networks, like those run by activist Harsh Mander’s Karwan-e-Mohabbat. They have arranged an emergency camp at Al Islah school in Babu Nagar, where medical and legal aid is dispensed”
It is pertinent to remember here that Harsh Mandar had also delivered a speech inciting Muslims over CAA.
The Rohingya and Nuh connection of Miles2Smiles Foundation
According to Aasif Mujtaba, the founder of the Miles2Smiles Foundation, the organisation had set up a learning centre at a Rohingya camp at Nuh in Haryana. The organisation had raised funds for the construction work for the Rohingya Refugees at Nuh in Haryana and had also built housing units, he had claimed on Twitter. It is worth noting that Nuh belongs to Mewat in Haryana, the region that is notoriously known as “Mini Pakistan“, where tales of abduction, rapes and forced conversions of Hindus have been routinely reported.
OpIndia had reported how it is likely that Aasif Mujtaba built the structures to house Rohingyas illegally without taking permission from the government given that he had cried foul when the government was carrying out an anti-encroachment drive.
Miles2Smile has worked with illegal Rohingyas since its foundation and up until recently.
On their website, they have listed their work with illegal Rohingyas extensively.
Even after the Nuh violence against Hindus, Mujtaba was talking about the plight of illegal Rohingyas.
For the past 2 years, there has been many occasions when I had a long conversation with Mews ( Muslims of Mewat). While going for Rohingya relief works or for other educational projects, we would often stop at a tea shop for tea and good conversations. I can say it without any… pic.twitter.com/h3LgB6zB8V
— Aasif Mujtaba (@MujtabaAasif) August 8, 2023
The AltNews and Mohammad Zubair connection
A fundraising campaign was started in 2022 to help the ‘victims’ of anti-encroachment drives across the country. Various state governments, including Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat and the New Delhi Municipal Corporation authorities in the national capital, had razed down buildings belonging to encroachers, following which a campaign has been launched, apparently to help the ‘victims’ of the anti-encroachment drive.
Mohammed Zubair, the co-founder of the alleged ‘fact-checking’ website Alt News, put out a tweet initiating a fundraising campaign to “help people whose buildings and shops” were demolished. He asked local volunteers to help in collecting the names of the people who would need help.
Plan is to start one single campaign which would have all the names, The raised amount should directly go their accounts from the platform. Request local activists/Reporters to DM.
— Mohammed Zubair (@zoo_bear) April 20, 2022
According to the fundraising platforms Ketto’s links shared by Mohammed Zubair, the rehabilitation work is being carried out by Miles2Smile Foundation.
Zubair had also congratulated Miles2Smile for the donation drive.
Of 1Cr+, @miles2smile_ received 30L from Ketto yesterday ( Pending funds would be transferred by Ketto tomorrow), They've distributed 19.5L today to 10 people. Remaining would be transferred as an when they receive (at the earliest). Thanks to one and all. ❤️🙏 https://t.co/SwHADhRZEX
— Mohammed Zubair (@zoo_bear) April 27, 2022
Miles2Smile is the same foundation led by Aasif Mujtaba, the man was called a co-conspirator by Sharjeel Imam.
Recently, Mujtaba, the co-conspirator according to Sharjeel Imam had also heaped praises on Mohammad Zubair.
Congratulations @zoo_bear bhai. Another feather in the crown of fact checking & misinformation busting. https://t.co/pW6xFqfnVt
— Aasif Mujtaba (@MujtabaAasif) January 26, 2024
Right after the Delhi anti-Hindu Riots, AltNews and Mohammad Zubair were at the forefront of whitewashing the roles of Islamists in unleashing violence against Hindus.
Alt News, known for dubious fact-checking and whitewashing Islamists under the garb of fact-check, had hopped on the opportunity to help prove Tahir Hussain’s innocence. In a bid to verify a video wherein Hussain was seen as seeking ‘police help’, Alt News concluded, “Unlike the claim on social media, Alt News could not spot any signs of the video being edited in the high definition version.” Further, giving credence to his claims, the fact-checking website noted, “In conclusion, the video of AAP councillor Mohammed Tahir Hussain appealing for help was sent out on February 24.”
OpIndia had earlier reported how Tahir Hussain had confessed in a disclosure statement that he chose his own house as a launchpad for the riots. Given that his house was a high-rise building and was under construction at that time, it was easy to collect stones and bricks without raising any suspicion.
He confessed that he and his co-conspirators had started collecting stones, bricks and other ammunition, well in advance so that they could teach those, who were in support of the CAA, a lesson when the time was right. To that end, 2 to 3 days before the riots broke out, he had also got his licensed pistol released from the police station.
While gearing up for the riots and collecting ammunition to teach Hindus a lesson, Tahir Hussain said that he had instructed his supporters to be “ready for anything and in every manner” and also ensure that all the CCTV cameras, private and government-installed, in the area, were broken so the evidence of the riots could not be captured.
It must be mentioned that all of this was done well before the anti-Hindu riots broke out in Delhi. Tahir Hussain admitted that he, along with his brothers Shah Alam, Arshad, Abid, Shahid, Irshad and several others were present at his residence.
Given the role of Sharjeel Imam in planning and inciting the riots, it is evident that Muzammil and Aasif Mujtaba’s pleas of innocence are driven by far more than their sense of community with Imam. From the chargesheet itself, it is evident that Muzammil knew that his brother was the mastermind of the violence and also knew about the involvement of Aasif Mujtaba. Further, Mujtaba himself was named as a co-conspirator by Sharjeel Imam. Despite this, the corporate media along with elements like AltNews, who gave covering fire to Tahir Hussain, the murderer of Ankit Sharma, have been eulogising him and his organisation, Miles2Smile, without delving into the specifics of the case against Sharjeel Imam. It is, therefore, evidence that there seems to be a sinister ploy afoot to whitewash the criminals who planned and executed the violence against Hindus, violence which started in December 2019 and culminated in the 2020 Delhi anti-Hindu Riots.
