People gather at Azad Maidan on Saturday. Nirmal Harindran
A student of Tata Institute of Social Sciences on Tuesday moved court for anticipatory bail, a day after the Mumbai Police booked her for sedition. Her plea is likely to be heard at the Bombay City Civil and Sessions Court this week.
Urvashi Chudawala was among the 51 people who allegedly raised slogans at the LGBT Solidarity Gathering at Azad Maidan on Saturday in support of Sharjeel Imam, the Jawaharlal Nehru University student arrested on charges of sedition.
A senior Mumbai Police official said Chudawala is yet to present herself for questioning. “The statements she has made are very clear in the video recordings of the event,” the official said. “We want to ask her about her justifications and examine whether her stand is seditious.”
Soon after the slogans were raised, Queer Azaadi Mumbai, which had organised the gathering, had issued a statement distancing itself from the sloganeers. The annual Pride Parade, which begins at August Kranti Maidan, had to be cancelled after police claimed to have received credible information that a protest against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act and National Register of Citizens would also be held there.
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