On Friday, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) led Delhi government cleared the path for the prosecution of youth leader Kanhaiya Singh for sedition. The sudden move by the Delhi government has led to a flurry of speculation as to the motive behind suddenly throwing Kanhaiya under the bus despite their carefully cultivated image as a party of the people.
AAP MLA and spokesperson in a statement on the subject said, “The Delhi government, as a matter of policy and as a matter of principle, does not and has not intervened in any of such cases. Our government has not stopped prosecution in any case, whatsoever, in the last five years.” He also dubbed it a purely procedural matter. This is significant because AAP had refused this permission last September. Moreover, in December the Delhi High court refused to give the Delhi government directions to give sanction for prosecution.
Hours after the Delhi Government granted sanction for his trial, Kanhaiya Kumar questioned the timing of the move and alleged that this was being done with an eye on Bihar elections that are due later this year, “According to law the chargesheet should be filed within 90 days. They took years and timed the filing of the chargesheet with the Lok Sabha elections. Now, Vidhan Sabha elections are coming up and they have sanctioned a trial.” However, Kumar did not blame Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal. “The Delhi Police reports to Amit Shah. Now I urge that a speedy trial be conducted in a fast track court, so that the truth can come out quickly,” he said.
Kanhaiya further made a series of tweets:
दिल्ली सरकार को सेडिशन केस की परमिशन देने के लिए धन्यवाद। दिल्ली पुलिस और सरकारी वक़ीलों से आग्रह है कि इस केस को अब गंभीरता से लिया जाए, फॉस्ट ट्रैक कोर्ट में स्पीडी ट्रायल हो और TV वाली ‘आपकी अदालत’ की जगह क़ानून की अदालत में न्याय सुनिश्चित किया जाए। सत्यमेव जयते।
— Kanhaiya Kumar (@kanhaiyakumar) February 28, 2020
सेडिशन केस में फ़ास्ट ट्रैक कोर्ट और त्वरित कार्रवाई की जरुरत इसलिए है ताकि देश को पता चल सके कि कैसे सेडिशन क़ानून का दुरूपयोग इस पूरे मामले में राजनीतिक लाभ और लोगों को उनके बुनियादी मसलों से भटकाने के लिए किया गया है।
— Kanhaiya Kumar (@kanhaiyakumar) February 28, 2020
The case deals with alleged seditious slogans raised on February 9, 2016 at the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) during a protest to condemn the hanging of Afzal Guru. The other youth leaders accused in the case were Umar Khalid and Anirban Bhattacharya.
Khalid and Bhattacharya tweeted their joint statement:
(1/3) Statement by Me and Anirban:
The news of Delhi govt granting sanction to sedition case against us doesn’t trouble us at all. We are confident of our innocence, have full faith in the judiciary & have ourselves been demanding the case against us to be tried in the courts.
— Umar Khalid (@UmarKhalidJNU) February 28, 2020
(2/3) The ensuing trial will vindicate us & prove that the media trial at the behest of the ruling regime was false, malicious & politically motivated. We have lived under the shadow of these false charges for far too long. Finally, sab doodh ka doodh aur paani ka paani hoga!
— Umar Khalid (@UmarKhalidJNU) February 28, 2020
(3/3) And as we will defend ourselves in the court, we will expose the lies of the ruling regime and its fake claims of being nationalist.
— Umar Khalid (@UmarKhalidJNU) February 28, 2020
The Delhi government’s move granting saction for prosecution has drawn condemnation from all secular and liberal quarters. Senior Congress leader P Chidambaram tweeted:
Delhi Government is no less ill-informed than the central government in its understanding of sedition law.
I strongly disapprove of the sanction granted to prosecute Mr Kanhaiya Kumar and others for alleged offences under sections 124A and 120B of IPC.
— P. Chidambaram (@PChidambaram_IN) February 29, 2020
Filmmaker Onir pulled no punches as he tweeted:
Shame @ArvindKejriwal . Most disappointed turncoat . With #KanhaiyaKumar @UmarKhalidJNU . The hypocrisy of the govt will be unmasked pic.twitter.com/cjv0XIwziM
— Onir (@IamOnir) February 29, 2020
Talk show host and former Bollywood diva Simi Garewal also appeared disheartened by the move as she tweeted:
In this one step towards prosecuting #KanhaiyaKumar I have lost all the respect I ever had for @ArvindKejriwal and @AamAadmiParty. I regret that I ever defended or supported them.
— Simi Garewal (@Simi_Garewal) February 28, 2020
Meanwhile, it is also curious that the move comes close at the heels of stones, acid pouches and petrol bombs being recovered from the terrace of a property owned by AAP leader Tahir Hussain. While Hussain maintains that he had been forced to flea the location fearing for his life well before the discovery and that he is being framed, it cannot be denied that this has generated negative publicity for AAP. This is a highly politically charged atmosphere where AAP is already facing flak for not being seen on the ground during the initial days comforting victims of violence or making any statement condemning the attack or appealing for peace until much later.
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