Sharjeel Imam Arrested for 'Cut Assam from India' Remark

Jehanabad, January 28, 2020:

Anti Citizenship (Amendment) Act activist Sharjeel Imam, one of the main organizers of the ongoing protest in Shaheen Bagh, was arrested from Jehanabad on Tuesday in sedition case.

On Sunday, central agencies and Jehanabad Police raided the activist's Bihar residence and detained two of his relatives after Delhi police had booked him for 'inflammatory speech'.

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Imam was slapped with sedition charges for allegedly delivering inflammatory speeches against the amended Citizenship Act and the planned National Register of Citizens, officials said.

Earlier, Assam Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma had stated that the Government had taken cognizance of the comment by a certain Sharjeel Imam in which he had stated that the main goal of the Shaheen Bagh protest is to cut off the Northeast Indian states from the rest of the country.

Arunachal Pradesh and Manipur Police had also registered a First Information Report (FIR) against Shaheen Bagh protester Sharjeel Imam for his recent provocative statement about separating Assam and other Northeastern states from India.

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Sharjeel had recently landed in the soup for suggesting that those belonging to the Muslim faith should cut off Assam and the Northeast from the rest of the country to protest against the Government's move.

“If 5 lakh Muslims are organised, then we can cut off the North-east from rest of India. If we cannot do permanently…at least we can cut North-east from India for months”, Sharjeel Imam had said.

“Our responsibility is to cut the Assam from India then Govt will hear our voice. If we have to help Assam, then we will have to cut the Assam from rest of India”, the student leader had further appealed.

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