He was arrested by the authorities on January 28, 2020 after being accused of inciting communal violence through speeches made by him in December 2019 and January 2020 at peaceful protests opposing the Citizen Amendment Act (CAA). Sharjeel Imam, the Muslim student leader, spent well over four years in prison before he could even get a bail. It was on May 29, 2024 that the Delhi High Court granted him bail in the case but additional charges against him prevented him from being released from prison.Imam was accused of orchestrating the February 2020 Northeast Delhi riots which claimed at least 53 lives, mostly Muslims who were part of the anti-CAA protests.Soon after his arrest, Sharjeel Imam was slapped with the draconian, The Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act or UAPA. Ironically, Sharjeel Imam, along with other students, human rights activists and politicians was arrested one month before violence rocked northeast Delhi. The Guardian had called the Delhi riots as the “worst religious conflict to engulf the capital in decades, but hastened to note that “questions have persisted about the role that the Delhi police played in enabling the violence, which was predominately Hindu mobs attacking Muslims…” The catalyst for the riots, according to The Guardian, is widely acknowledged to have been a comment by Kapil Mishra, a BJP leader, who on February 23 issued a public ultimatum declaring that if the police did not clear the streets of a protest against a new citizenship law seen as anti-Muslim, his supporters would be “forced to hit the streets”.UN experts have said that Imam’s incarceration seems “clearly designed to send a chilling message…that criticism of government policies will not be tolerated.”Imam’s thoughts in the form a letterIn a letter written from prison 1.5 years ago, Imam dwelt at length about his years in prison, concerns about his family, community and the country and the books he has been reading inside the prison.Speaking of his arrest, Imam wrote that though he had anticipated being imprisoned on “trumped-up charges” due to his involvement in the Shaheen Bagh protests, he did not expect to be accused of “terrorism,” especially for the riots that occurred a month after his arrest. “This speaks to the lengths the current regime will go to to suppress dissent and keep people like me behind bars,” he wrote. In the letter, published by Maktoob Media, Imam stated that his only real anguish during the “prolonged and unnecessary incarceration” is the thought of his 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…as the years drag on, I do worry about my mother, my brother, and the world outside. I wonder if my presence could have made any difference, or if I have missed something that can never be recovered,” he wrote.Setting aside the worries, Imam said that he has been trying to find solace in prayer and books. “I think of Ali Shariati, the Iranian revolutionary, who spent two years in prison and was under house arrest before his death. From him, I learned this powerful dua: “O God, grant me strength to change what I can change, and accept what I cannot.” It is with this prayer that I try to work on myself,” the letter read.”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,” Imam wrote.
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