New Delhi, Jan 9 Amid the Delhi High Court's rap for Delhi Police over booking Umar Khalid, Sharjeel Imam and others under the stringent Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA), political parties including Congress and AIMIM, on Thursday launched a diatribe against the police as well as BJP-led Centre.
Congress said that every citizen has a right to differ and express dissent with government’s policies, while AIMIM questioned the motive behind their arrest terming it ‘cruel and politically motivated’.
Umar Khalid, Sharjeel Imam and some of their associates are accused in the 2020 North-East Delhi riots, resulting in over 53 deaths, and have been behind bars for several years. They sought bail on grounds of delay in trail, but the same has been contested by Delhi Police, with the latter claiming that a ‘well-planned conspiracy was hatched and executed by them with diabolical and ruthless intentions'.
Delhi High Court, hearing the bail pleas questioned the validity of invoking UAPA against them and asked: "Is it your contention that just establishing a protest site justifies UAPA charges?"
Reacting to this, Congress national spokesperson Pawan Khera said that dissent against those in power can’t be seen as sedition and the protesters can’t be dubbed as ‘terrorists'. He also called upon the need to draw a clear differentiation between dissent and insurgency.
Speaking to IANS, he argued, “If somebody is protesting against government policy, will you act against him depending on his caste and religion. In a democracy, everyone has a right to protest. The country’s constitution has given us this freedom.”
AIMIM leader Waris Pathan slammed the Delhi Police as well as BJP-led Centre for ‘abusing’ the legal process for its political advantage.
“Umar Khalid and many others are in jail today. This shows how the UAPA law is being misused. His bail plea is not being heard. UAPA should be imposed on any big terrorist. What will be the meaning of freedom of speech in the Constitution if it is invoked against students like Sarjeel Imam and Umar Khalid. He had protested against the wrong policies of the government. Will you impose UAPA on someone for protesting against govt policies,” he said.
Another Congress leader, Shaktisinh Gohil, took the opportunity to hit out at the Delhi Police and BJP government.
“BJP has a history of misusing the government machinery for furthering its politics. It doesn’t hesitate in utilizing the administration in driving a wedge between communities. It’s good that Court has pulled up Delhi Police and its political masters for vitiating the atmosphere,” he said.
Notably, Umar Khalid and Sharjeel Imam, along with others have been accused of hatching a pre-planned conspiracy to cause riots in Northeast Delhi between February 23 and 25, 2020. They were booked for offences under UAPA and have been in jail for over four years now.
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