Sharjeel Imam’s inciting speech aimed at one community: Police
NEW DELHI: Delhi Police on Wednesday said that JNU student Sharjeel Imam began one of his alleged inflammatory speeches with ‘As-salamu alaykum’ salutation, which shows it was addressed to a particular community and not the public at large.
Special Public Prosecutor (SPP) Amit Prasad, representing the police, made the remarks during the argument in a sedition case filed against Imam for speeches made by him at two universities in 2019, where he allegedly threatened to ‘cut off’ Assam and the entire Northeast from rest of the country.
During the hearing, Prasad apprised Additional Sessions Judge Amitabh Rawat that Imam attempted to create complete anarchy and gave divisive speeches during the protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and the National Register of Citizens (NRC).
Prasad said, “Imam began the speech by saying ‘As-salamu alaykum’, which shows that it is only subjected to one community”. He added that, “The speech was definitely divisive. It was not made for the general public at large but a specific community. He is attempting to create complete anarchy.” The speeches were made at Jamia Millia Islamia on December 13, 2019 and at Aligarh Muslim University on December 16, 2019. He has been in judicial custody since January 2020.