JNU's Sharjeel Imam tried to imbibe sense of hopelessness in Muslims: Police tells court in sedition case

Delhi Police told a court here on Thursday that JNU student Sharjeel Imam, arrested in a sedation case under the stringent anti-terror law UAPA, tried to instil a sense of hopelessness in Muslims through his alleged inflammatory speeches.

Special Public Prosecutor Amit Prasad, representing the police, made the remarks during the argument in a case filed against Imam for speeches made by him during the protests against Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA)and National Register of Citizens (NRC) where he allegedly threatened to "cut off" Assam and the rest of the Northeast from India.

During the hearing, Prasad read out a January 2020 speech delivered by Imam in West Bengal's Asansol and said, "In past speeches, he has given a clear indication that everything is over, as Muslims you have no hope. This is what I am trying to say, he is trying to imbibe a sense of hopelessness that we have no hope left." He said that Imam challenged the sovereignty of India and made it abundantly clear that triple talaq and Kashmir were the real issues and not the CAA or NRC.

Prasad also referred to a portion of the purported speech where the JNU student had allegedly called for the detention camp to be set on fire. ''What could be more to say that he is inciting violence?'' Prasad asked.

On Wednesday, the prosecutor had said that Imam began one of his alleged inflammatory speeches with the 'As-salamu alaykum' salutation which shows that it was addressed to a particular community and not the public at large.

The alleged inflammatory speeches for which he was arrested were made at Jamia Millia Islamia on December 13, 2019, and at Aligarh Muslim University on December 16, 2019. He is in judicial custody since January 2020.

Imam is accused of offenses relating to sedition, promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race, place of birth, imputations prejudicial to national integration, and public mischief under the Indian Penal Code, and indulging in unlawful activities under the UAPA.

Delhi Police had filed a charge sheet against Imam in the case, in which it alleged that he allegedly gave speeches inciting hatred, contempt, and disaffection towards the central government and instigated the people which led to the violence in December 2019.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)