Former Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) student leader Shehla Rashid has been relieved from the 2019 sedition case filed against her by the Delhi police.
The case was closed after the Delhi Police made a formal request for the closure. On February 27, Rashid was acquitted after the approval of chief metropolitan magistrate Anuj Kumar Singh of the Delhi Patiala House court.
The application filed by the Delhi police was earlier sanctioned by the Delhi Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena.
Rashid was booked by the Delhi Police over her 2017 tweets regarding the situation in Kashmir following the abrogation of Article 370 in 2019.
Rashid, who was then the Jammu and Kashmir People’s Movement leader, tweeted against the Indian armed forces for “torturing” civilians and “ransacking” houses.
She also alleged that four men were taken to an Army camp in Shopian, where they were “interrogated (tortured).” She claimed that a microphone was placed near them so their screams could be heard across the area, instilling fear among the people.
Shehla Rashid calls PM Modi ‘selfless’
In 2023, the world saw a very different face of Shehla Rashid who praised PM Modi a ‘selfless’ man.
“Right now, we see a really well-intentioned administration. The Prime Minister – he doesn’t care about criticism. He has taken so many radical decisions, even at the cost of his popularity. He doesn’t care about criticism. He is a selfless man who works for the national interest. You look at the Home Minister – he has ensured peace in Kashmir, regardless of what anyone criticised at that time,” she had said in an interview with ANI.
She went back on her earlier claims and said there were zero civilian casualties in Kashmir.
Once a staunch Modi critic, Rashid praised the prime minister and his decisions, particularly the abrogation of Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir.
Rashid was quoted by the ANI, “There have been court-martial of some army personnel who were involved in the fake encounter is it not what we were asking all along. There will be people who will say why you are saying this? They have not actually visited Kashmir recently. They have not seen the kind of change, the visible change. That’s why I decided to speak out.”
“Right now, we see a really well-intentioned administration. The Prime Minister – he doesn’t care about criticism. He has taken so many radical decisions, even at the cost of his popularity. He doesn’t care about criticism. He is a selfless man who works for the national interest. You look at the Home Minister – he has ensured peace in Kashmir, regardless of what anyone criticised at that time,” she was quoted by ANI.
Follow on Twitter | Posted by Veena Nair | 
