Ex-JNU student Sharjeel Imam was denied bail in connection with providing an inflammatory statement at Jamia Millia Islamia on December 13, 2019, and inciting violence during protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and the National Register of Citizens (NRC).
While dismissing the bail, Additional Sessions Judge Anuj Aggarwal of Delhi’s Saket Court said that “A superficial and straightforward reading of the December 13, 2019 speech reveals that it is obviously divided along communal/divisive lines. The tone and tenor of provocative discourse, in my opinion, tend to have a damaging effect on public serenity, peace, and harmony.”
Sharjeel Imam, a JNU Ph.D. student at the Centre for Historical Studies, is researching modern Indian history (CHS).
Imam earned his master’s degree in computer science from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Bombay, and worked for a software company before quitting in 2017 to pursue his passion for history at JNU.
His father, late Akbar Imam, was a former Janata Dal(United) leader, and he comes from a political family. His father ran for Assembly in Bihar on a JD(U) ticket, and he is the elder of two brothers.
Sharjeel first gained attention on social media in January 2020, when a video of him purportedly ‘instigating people’ to split Assam off from India at a speech at the Aligarh Muslim University on December 16, 2019, went viral. Imam is claimed to have said that if five lakh people banded together, they could cut India’s northeast off.
Besides this case, Imam is also accused of being the “mastermind” of the February 2020 northeast Delhi riots, which had left 53 people dead and over 700 injured.
Imam is facing charges in five states — Assam, Uttar Pradesh, Manipur, Arunachal Pradesh, and Delhi — including under the strict Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA).
“We are what our ideas have made us; so take care of what you think; words are secondary; Thoughts live; they travel far,” said Swami Vivekananda, who was referenced by the Delhi Court today in dismissing Imam’s bail application.
According to Delhi Police, Imam gave a controversial speech on December 13, 2019, which sparked rioting two days later when a mob of over 3,000 people attacked police officers and set fire to multiple vehicles in the Jamia Nagar neighborhood.
