Usmani to be arrested for speech from wherever he is: Minister

Former AMU student SharjeelUsmani, accused of hurting religious sentiments with hiscomments at last week's Elgar Parishad conclave in Pune, willbe arrested from whichever state he is in, Maharashtra HomeMinister Anil Deshmukh said on Wednesday.

He said police have conducted a probe into the videoclippings of the conclave, held on January 30, and a case hasbeen registered against Usmani, a Uttar Pradesh resident, forhis ''offensive remarks''.

The Pune police on Tuesday registered a case againstUsmani, a former student leader of the Aligarh MuslimUniversity (AMU), under IPC Section 153 (A) (promoting enmitybetween different groups on the ground religion, etc), asenior official said.

The opposition BJP in Maharashtra had demanded actionagainst Usmani, accusing him of ''hurting religious sentiments''with his speech at the event.

Deshmukh, in a tweet, said, ''Police have investigatedthe video clippings of the Elgar event held on 30th in Pune &a case has been registered against Sharjeel Usmani for hisoffensive remarks.

''He is not currently in MH (Maharashtra) but we willarrest him from whichever state he is in be it Bihar, UP,Gujarat or elsewhere,'' the minister added.

Earlier, Pradip Gavade, a local leader of theBharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha, the BJP's youth wing, had fileda complaint against Usmani at the Swargate police station inPune, an official said.

Meanwhile, Maharashtra BJP president Chandrakant Patilon Wednesday wrote a letter to Uttar Pradesh Chief MinisterYogi Adityanath seeking his help in arresting Usmani.

Patil, who made contents of the letter public, urgedAdityanath to give orders to authorities in his state to filean FIR against the former AMU student.

Patil, in the letter, also came down heavily onMaharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray over the issue.

Sharjeel Usmani, in his January 30 speech at ElgarParishad in Pune, had allegedly hurt the sentiments of Hindus.

We appeal you (Adityanath) to give orders of filing an FIR andarresting him.

''He should face the strictest possible action. Itshould set an example in the country so that no one dares touse such words again in the future, the former state ministersaid.

The state BJP chief said Usmani is an alumnus of theAligarh Muslim University and a resident of Sidhari town inAzamgarh district.

Patil said Usmanis speech was seditious in nature.

He made his speech with an intension to spreadhatred. The use of such language against Prime MinisterNarendra Modi and other constitutional institutions is notless than an act of sedition,'' Patil said.

''The 12.5 crore people of Maharashtra are convincedthat Uddhav Thackerays government would not take any actionagainst him as the incident took place five days back,'' hesaid.

Senior BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis on Tuesdaydemanded action against Usmani, alleging that he ''insultedsentiments of the Hindu community''.

During the January 30 conclave, writer-activistArundhati Roy, Justice (retd) B G Kolse Patil and former IPSofficer S M Mushrif were among those who addressed thegathering.

Three years ago, several Left-leaning activists werearrested by police for alleged Naxal links following theDecember 31, 2017, Elgar Parishad conclave and the casteviolence at Pune's Koregaon-Bhima war memorial the next day.

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