Twitter
Advertisement

JNU Sedition row: Clear 'azadi' reference used for Kashmir not poverty, says Delhi Police charge-sheet

Slogans raised for ‘freeing’ Kashmir, charge sheet says

Latest News
article-main
FacebookTwitterWhatsappLinkedin

E-mail exchanges between former JNU students Umar Khalid and Anirban Bhattacharya has proved that when they raised slogans of 'azadi' in February 2016, they meant Kashmir, and not poverty and starvation as claimed. Khalid and Bhattacharya are two among 10 students from Jawaharlal Nehru University charged with sedition by Delhi police.

The charge sheet reproduced these emails, and the police will be banking on them as proof to prove the guilt of the accused.

Read: Event was planned for a long time says, Delhi Police's charge-sheet

On Monday, the police filed a charge sheet naming former JNU students union (JNUSU) president Kanhaiya Kumar, Khalid, Bhattacharya and seven others in the sedition case. The three were arrested in February 2016 for their involvement in a protest in which several students allegedly shouted anti-national slogans, demanding freedom for Kashmir from India and glorified Afzal Guru, the mastermind behind the 2001 Parliament attacks.

The e-mails also contain evidence that Khalid, Bhattacharya, Aswathi Nair and Komal Mohite organized the event 'The country without a post office' at Sabarmati Dhaba in JNU on February 9, 2016.

A total of 14 e-mails have been referred to in the charge sheet. And police officers have concluded that the organisers invited various persons to participate in the program and were primarily responsible for the seditious turn of events.

"It is also found that the accused consider Afzal Guru and (National Liberation Front founder) Maqbool Bhat Kashmiri freedom fighters and martyrs," says the charge sheet. "It is also clear that word 'azadi' used in the sloganeering and pamphlet stand for 'azadi' of Kashmir from the Indian State and not for 'azadi' from poverty, starvation, etc."

On February 11, 2016, an e-mail sent from Anirban's account to five people, including Umar Khalid and Aswathi Nair contained an attachment named 'Umar FB'. The e-mail reads as follows: It is important that we come out with our statement and please do not panic. We need to be resolute. Once this statement goes out, things will be much more easy for us."

The contents of the attachment showed the organizers were aware that anti-national slogans were raised. "Some slogans were raised by some people as an angry outburst against the Indian State's continuing brutalities in Kashmir," the attachment read, "Those slogans were deemed irresponsible and the organizers asked the concerned people to stop giving those slogans, which they did.

Find your daily dose of news & explainers in your WhatsApp. Stay updated, Stay informed-  Follow DNA on WhatsApp.
Advertisement

Live tv

Advertisement
Advertisement