After Assam, Arunachal Pradesh and Manipur Police have lodged FIR against the alleged mastermind of Shaheen Bagh protest and former Jawaharlal Nehru University student Sharjeel Imam on January 25th, 2020 for his alleged statement that Assam, Northeast should be cut off from the rest of India.
Informing about the development, Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Pema Khandu took to the microblogging site Twitter and wrote, “Crime branch Itanagar have registered Case no.2/2020 U/S124(A)/153(A)153(B) IPC.”
Sharing the controversial video from one social media user, Khandu further wrote, “This kind of provocation inciting secession of Assam & other NEstates from rest of India, creating communal disharmony, hampering severeignty & territorial Integrity of India will not be tolerated.”
Similarly, Rajat Sethi, adviser to Manipur Chief Minister Nongthombam Biren Singh, tweeted that taking cognisance of the objectionable video of Imam, the Manipur Police has filed an FIR (No. 16(1)2020 IPS) under sections 121/121-A/124-A/ 120-B /153 IPC.
Sethi further wrote that the people of Manipur are especially hurt by the message of Imam threatening to impose a blockade on the Northeast region. “The state has suffered severely due to economic blockades in the past and won’t let anyone use its soil for cheap political thrills,” Sethi wrote.
Assam Police has been lodged an FIR against Imam on January 25th, 2020 for his speech and inter alia commission of offence u/s 13 (1)/18 of the UA(P)ACT read with section 153 A, 153 B and 124 A IPC at Guwahati Crime Branch Police Station.
In a shocking video shared by BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra, Imam is seen making controversial statements saying that Muslims are in such numbers that they can cut out the entire Northeast from the rest of India “if not permanently than may be for few months”.
Assam’s Finance Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said the “seditious” statement was made to create a law and order situation in the state.
Assam Police told reporters that Imam will face charges including those amounting to criminal conspiracy, sedition and promoting enmity between groups on basis of religion. Delhi and Uttar Pradesh Police have also registered FIRs against former JNU student Imam. The speech was made during a public speech at Aligarh Muslim University on January 16th, 2020.
In the video, Imam says, “If we have 5 lakh organised people then we can permanently cut North-east from India or at least for one-two month. Put so much (unclear) on the roads and tracks that they cannot even remove it for a month. It is our responsibility to isolate Assam from India, then only they will listen to our voice.”
He adds, “It is our responsibility to cut Assam from India. You know what is happening to the Muslims in Assam…NRC is already applied there, they have been put in detention centers. We may come to know that in the coming six-eight months all Bengalis have been killed either Hindu or Muslim. If we want to help Assam, then we will have to stop the way to Assam for the Indian Army and other supplies. We can do it because the Chicken neck of India (Siliguri Corridor) belongs to the Muslims.”
Photo credit: /sharjeel.imam/
