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The 2020 communal riots in Delhi were orchestrated with the ultimate aim of a regime change and economic strangulation in the country and were timed to coincide with the visit of Donald Trump, who was serving as the United States President at the time, to garner international media attention, the Delhi Police reiterated in the Supreme Court on Thursday as it opposed the bail pleas of the accused. The police flagged the alleged inflammatory speeches delivered ahead of the violence and the “danger” posed by “intellectuals when they become terrorists”.
Appearing for the Delhi Police, Additional Solicitor General (ASG) S V Raju said, “I must point out… intellectuals when they guide and become terrorists, they become more dangerous than those working at the ground…. Because of state support-state fundings and subsidies, they become doctors and activists — these types of activists are dangerous.”
He played purported video clips of inflammatory speeches by accused Sharjeel Imam, in which he is allegedly seen calling for chakka jam, and severing of Chicken’s Neck corridor in Assam’s Siliguri that connects mainland India to northeastern states. “He is an engineering graduate. They are not conducting their profession but indulging in anti-national activities…These are all inflammatory speeches,” the ASG told a bench of Justices Aravind Kumar and N V Anjaria, adding that these statements are part of the chargesheet.
“…. Their entire arguments have collapsed because of the truth. It’s not a simple protest. These are violent protests. They are talking about blockades,” the ASG contended.
As senior advocate Siddharth Dave, appearing for Sharjeel Imam, claimed that the prosecution was only showing parts of the speech, the ASG said he was not showing the entire tape as it was very long. “The entire chargesheet has been filed, which includes the entire transcript. The member of this conspiracy, Sharjeel, says…it should be a violent protest, and you should separate Assam from India.”
When Justice Kumar pointed out that he had not used the word violence, Raju said “he said ‘you should be able to take lathi’… and it is used by police when a mob is a little violent. He says it’s an issue of four countries, including Nepal and Bangladesh. He also targets Chicken’s Neck…— ‘if that 16 km goes, it will separate Assam’. Third thing he says about Kashmir — trying to provoke Muslims. Fourth, he talks about triple talaq — maligns the court. He talked about Babri Masjid. The ultimate aim was regime change.”
“He says ‘we will stop milk, vegetables in Delhi’, ‘we will choke essential supplies…’ — economic security is a part of the UAPA Act. Donald Trump was visiting India, and therefore it was planned so that it can be covered by international media — this was the nature of conspiracy,” the ASG said.
Pointing out that the riots led to the death of 59 people and lynching of a police officer, the ASG referred to the recent uproar in the neighouring countries, and underlined that “something that happened on the scales of…Bangladesh or Nepal (was) played.”
“…To achieve their goals, Umar Khalid and Sharjeel Imam broke the secular fabric of Jawaharlal Nehru University and created a communal WhatsApp group — Muslim Student of JNU (MSJ) and also used Student of Jamia (SOJ), a visibly and explicitly communal group in an integrated manner, to instigate and mobilise the students of these institutes in large scale under their leadership,” said the ASG.
To a query from the bench, Raju said that “due to the serious nature and gravity of the offence, as many as 47 witnesses have been granted protected status. Of them, 38 have recorded their statements under Section 164 Cr.P.C., while the remaining have given their respective statements under Section 161 Cr.P.C.”
Even as the accused, the ASG added, have been saying that there are as many as 900 witnesses, “…a perusal of the list of witnesses would demonstrate that there are approximately 155 public witnesses out of whom 58 have on oath given their respective statements before the Magistrate under Section 164 CrPC.”
The arguments remained incomplete and will continue Friday.
Nine accused — Umar, Sharjeel, Gulfisha Fatima, Meeran Haider, Athar Khan, Abdul Khalid Saifi, Mohd Saleem Khan, Shifa-ur-Rehman, and Shadab Ahmed — moved the Supreme Court after their pleas for bail were rejected by the Delhi High Court on September 2.
Three other accused — Natasha Narwal, Devangana Kalita, and Asif Iqbal Tanha — were given bail by the High Court in June 2021. Another accused, former Congress councillor Ishrat Jahan, was granted bail in March 2022.
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