Sharjeel Imam Said 'As-Salamu Alaykum', Indicates Who He Addressed: Delhi Police

The prosecution also added that Imam had "challenged the sovereignty of India".

File photo of Sharjeel Imam.

(Photo Courtesy: Wasif Hasnain)

Representing the Delhi Police, Special Public Prosecutor (SPP) Amit Prasad told the Delhi High Court on Wednesday, 1 September, that JNU student Sharjeel Imam commenced one of his allegedly inflammatory speeches with "As-salamu alaykum", indicating that it was only addressing a specific religious community.

He added, "The people called upon to take action were also from one community. 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," news agency PTI reported.

The argument came during a hearing of the case regarding Imam's speeches in Aligarh Muslim University and the Jamia area in Delhi in 2019 against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA).

The Delhi Police had filed FIR 22/2020, under Sections 124A (sedition), 153A, 505 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), along with Section 13 of the contentious UAPA.

'Challenged Sovereignty of India'

The prosecution added on Thursday, 2 September, that Imam had "challenged the sovereignty of India" and also tried to imbibe a "sense of hopelessness and insecurity" in Muslims that they have no hope left in India, LiveLaw reported.

Reading out the speech made by the activist on 22 January 2020 in Asansol, he argued that the northeast Delhi Riots had occurred after four weeks of speeches at Asansol and Jharkhand.

He submitted, "He has made it abundantly clear that CAA or NRC is not the issue. Issues were triple talaq, Kashmir, for which the mobilisation was happening. Also in past speeches, he has given a clear indication that everything is over, as Muslims you have no hope," LiveLaw quoted.

He also underlined a particular part of Imam's speech – agar aawam gusse me hai, toh is gusse ka productive use karna hai (public anger must be used) – to say that he knew what he was doing ahead of the riots.

"He is someone who has done his these on riots," the Delhi Police's counsel said.

What Imam Has Said

Imam, on the other hand, had argued that his speeches were not seditious, nor did they aim to incite violence. During a bail hearing, he had asserted that the speech was made in front of a group of scholars, and was a party of an intellectual exchange, LiveLaw reported.

The PhD scholar surrendered to the Delhi police in January 2020, amid a lookout for him after he was charged with sedition. He was later charged under the UAPA in April 2020.