
Activist and student leader Sharjeel Imam on Tuesday, January 28, completed five years in prison. He was arrested during the intense nationwide protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and the National Register of Citizens (NRC) on January 28, 2020.
An IIT-Bombay graduate, Sharjeel Imam hails from Jehanabad district in Bihar. A software engineer and a versatile writer, he has been charged under sedition and the draconian Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) for calling for chakka jam (roadblock) against CAA and NRC back in 2019.
UAPA is a stringent ‘anti-terrorism’ law that allows an accused to be designated as a ‘terrorist’ and detained for months without bail.
His 100-day peaceful protest in Shaheen Bagh brought him under the radar of many Hindutva leaders and right-aligned Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) which resulted in FIRs from five different states – Uttar Pradesh, Manipur, Arunachal Pradesh, Assam and Union Territory Delhi.
It is important to mention that all the mentioned states are governed by the BJP. In Delhi, the police comes under the Union government led by senior BJP leaders Narendra Modi and Amit Shah.
According to the FIRs, Sharjeel Imam’s speeches led to the infamous 2020 Northeast Delhi riots which claimed the lives of 45 people, mostly Muslims and displaced several. The police also charged him in connection with the Jamia Millia Islamia protests.
Soon after the FIRs were registered, an intense hate campaign began against Sharjeel Imam. Several notices were sent to him. The 35-year-old finally surrendered before the Delhi police on January 28, 2020.
At the time of his arrest, Imam was pursuing PhD from the prestigious Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU).
Over the years, Imam was granted bail in six of these cases. However, he continues to languish in jail under the UAPA. Moreover, his bail plea has been pending for nearly three years, with no hope of resolution anytime soon.
Last year, Maktoob Media published an article by Imam written from the confines of the jail where he mentioned that he had anticipated his arrest for protesting against the Union government’s policies but certainly did not expect to be labelled as a ‘terrorist’.
“I have already spent nearly four years in jail, and while I did anticipate being imprisoned on trumped-up charges due to my involvement in Shaheen Bagh, I had mentally prepared myself for it. What I did not expect, however, was to be accused of “terrorism,” especially for riots that occurred a month after my arrest. This speaks to the lengths the current regime will go to to suppress dissent and keep people like me behind bars,” Sharjeel Imam wrote.
The piece also describes his daily routine spent in jail and his frustration of being unable to look after his ailing mother.
“The only real anguish I feel in this prolonged and unnecessary incarceration is the thought of my ageing and ailing mother. My father passed away nine years ago, and since then, it has just been me and my younger brother to support her. Apart from this, I submit to God’s will and spend my time reading as much as I can. As long as I have meaningful and interesting books, I find solace, and the world outside doesn’t affect me much,” added Imam.
On January 25 this year, the Delhi High Court came down heavily on the police and said it cannot “endlessly” hear the submissions in the bail hearing of Umar Khalid, Sharjeel Imam and others in a February 2020 riots’ case under UAPA.
Noting there was “nothing” against the political prisoners, the bench told the police counsel, “This has to end. This can’t go on like this.. This needs to end now. We can’t give you endless time.”
“As Ghalib wrote, “ḳhana-zad-e-zulf hain zanjir se bhagenge kyuun hain giraftar-e-wafa zindan se ghabaravenge kya” (“Why should the prisoner fear the chains of loyalty, when those bound by love run from them?”),” read Imam’s article.