Radical Islamist Sharjeel Imam Wanted Attention From International Media, Was Disappointed With Muslim Leaders

The Delhi Police have found that Sharjeel Imam, Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) student arrested for making inflammatory speech, was spreading false information over the new citizenship law (CAA).

He was also trying to instigate people by claiming that Muslims were being put in the detention camps and killed in Assam.

The police sources related to the probe said, here on Monday, Imam was trying to spread fear among Muslims by stating that they were on the government's radar. He also tried to provoke Muslims by raising the issues of Babri Masjid and J&K.

On 28 January, Imam was arrested by a Delhi Police team from his village in Jehanabad district of Bihar after four days of search.

On Monday, his custody was extended for three days after the initial five-day police custody.

The police seized pamphlets, laptop and mobile phones from Imam's Delhi house. In one pamphlet, Imam had called the Muslim political and religious leadership "disappointing".

In one pamphlet, a copy of which is with IANS, Imam said, "The Citizenship Amendment Bill was passed last week. This law is unconstitutional and intends to discriminate Muslim and put them in detention camps. It has started in Assam and will follow elsewhere."

Muslims across India must reject the NRC and the CAA unitedly, it added.

On abrogation of Article 370, Ayodhya verdict and the CAA, Imam said, "There are more than enough grounds for an strong reaction from Muslims across India".

Imam wanted international media attention and staged a protest to cause disturbances in Delhi, the source said.

"Assam has started burning and the people are being killed. But the role played by our religious and political leadership has also been disappointing. Thousands of Muslim youths are ready to disrupt Delhi, which will attract international media attention to our issue.

"The students of Jamia Millia Islamia have given a protest call from the Jamia Jama Masjid. We Muslim students of JNU, request you to join the protest in large numbers and plan for a disruptive chakka jam," he appealed in the pamphlet written in English as well as Urdu.

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