Sharjeel Imam's five years in prison

It has been five years since Sharjeel Imam, a research scholar at Jawaharlal Nehru University, Delhi, intellectual, and activist, was imprisoned. His active participation in the Citizenship Amendment Act 2020 protests led to his arrest. Imam's arrest and imprisonment epitomises the attitude of the central and state governments and the helplessness of the Indian judicial system. The young man was accused mainly of speeches related to the 2020 Delhi riots. Apart from Delhi, there are also cases against him in the BJP-ruled states of Assam, Uttar Pradesh, Manipur, and Arunachal Pradesh. The current reality of Indian democracy is that once a government decides not to let someone out of jail, it is extremely difficult to overcome it. Sharjeel was granted bail on May 29, 2024, on the ground that a person can be granted statutory bail once he has served more than half of the seven-year maximum sentence - in his case four years - for the alleged offence. Even then, the fate of Sharjeel is to remain in jail as cases are pending in other cases filed in Delhi itself.

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The Hindutva political establishment is taking diligent steps everywhere to send out a warning that jail is the place for those who speak against it. On one side is the central government and on the other side are the smaller versions in the form of state governments. Apart from Delhi, other states have not yet arrested Sharjeel in the charges against him. In most instances in India, the arrest and the process of the case itself becomes a punishment for those accused over political reasons. The same pattern is repeated in Sharjeel's matter. Intellectuals and activists associated with Maharashtra's Bhima-Koregaon case - Varavara Rao, Rono Wilson, Prof. Hani Babu, Gautham Navlakha, and the late Stan Swamy and others - are all examples of the government's methods to silence critics.

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Sharjeel had shown signs of exceptional talent from an early age, and he was offered high-paying jobs after his B.Tech at IIT Bombay. But he was enamoured of none such attractions. So, he accepted a job in India and then switched from engineering to doing research in humanities at JNU. It was during this period that he came to the forefront of protests against the CAA and the sit-in movement at Shaheen Bagh. He is charged with offences under UAPA as well as making provocative speeches that caused disaffection among the people. He has also been charged with sedition. Neutral observers of his speech have vouched that none of them constituted anything attracting such provisions. That is why most civil rights forums and democrats strongly opposed his arrest. From the international human rights organisation Amnesty International to former Supreme Court judge Justice Markandeya Katju and teachers, students, and alumni of JNU, Aligarh University, Jamia Millia University, and various IITs protested against his arrest.

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The protest at Shaheen Bagh in Delhi was a peaceful one. Even the Supreme Court took a sympathetic approach when petitions came up regarding the traffic disruption caused by the protest. The court appointed a committee to ensure that freedom of expression and protest is not impaired at the same time facilitating smooth daily life and freedom of movement. The court was in an attempt to speak to the women who gathered there and to try to solve the problem. But in the meantime, the COVID restrictions came into effect and the protest was dismantled. Almost in parallel, widespread violence was unleashed against the pro-BJP volunteers. Meanwhile, the government tried to silence the protestors by trapping them in the case. Later, it transpired that on the one hand was a group that triggered and carried out the riot, and on the other was the innocent getting accused in the case. Even today, such cases related to the riots are pending in court. As for Sharjeel Imam,, he is still biding his time in prison reading books without being able to enjoy the benefit of the bail granted by the Delhi High Court. When his imprisonment completes five years, questions arise about India's democracy, freedom of expression, the government that should provide protection and care to the citizens, and the judiciary that should ensure that all this functions well.

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