Soumyabrata Choudhury, Associate Professor at School of Arts and Aesthetics in Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), speaks in JNU on how vital it is to unconditionally support Sharjeel Imam, a research student of JNU taken in custody under seditious charges for calling on CAA protesters to ‘block roads in Assam’ in a controversial speech.
Sharjeel was arrested by the Delhi Police’s Crime Branch from Jehanabad in a sedition case and he is being questioned by police for his speeches in Aligarh and at the Jamia Millia Islamia University here. The cases are based on a speech he allegedly made at Aligarh Muslim University, on January 16. In a video recording of the speech, Sharjeel called on protesters to organize protests in the form of roadblocks and shutdowns in Assam. Police officials and many BJP owned media outlets claimed that Sharjeel purportedly said that India and the North East could be “permanently cut” if “five lakh people can be organised” in his speech. While the police said the speech promotes violence and secessionism, Sharjeel clarified he was asking for a blockade.
