"Sharjeel Imam Said 'As-Salamu Alaykum', Which Shows...": Police To Court

The prosecutor representing Delhi Police said Sharjeel Imam attempted to create complete anarchy and gave divisive speeches during the protests against CAA and NRC.

Delhi Police Wednesday said JNU student Sharjeel Imam began one of his alleged inflammatory speeches with "As-salamu alaykum" salutation which shows it was addressed to a particular community and not the public at large. Special Public Prosecutor (SPP) Amit Prasad, representing the police, made the remarks during the argument in a sedition case filed against Imam for speeches made by him at two universities in 2019, where he allegedly threatened to "cut off" Assam and the rest of the Northeast from India. During the hearing, Mr Prasad apprised Additional Sessions Judge Amitabh Rawat that Imam attempted to create complete anarchy and gave divisive speeches during the protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and the National Register of Citizens (NRC). The SPP read out a January 16 speech given by the JNU student in Aligarh and said, "He [Sharjeel Imam] begins this speech by saying "As-salamu alaykum", which shows that it is only subjected to one community."