2020 Delhi riots: No call for violence, no connection with 'co-conspirators', Sharjeel Imam tells HC
New Delhi, Dec 12: Student activist Sharjeel Imam told the Delhi High Court on Thursday that he had no "connection" with any of the alleged co-conspirators of the communal riots here in February 2020 and that his public speeches repeatedly called for non-violence.
Imam said he has been in custody for more than four years and requested a bench headed by Justice Navin Chawla to grant him bail in the "larger conspiracy" case under the anti-terror law, Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA).
Umar Khalid, Imam and several others have been booked under the UAPA and provisions of the Indian Penal Code for allegedly being the "masterminds" of the February 2020 riots, which had left 53 people dead and more than 700 injured.
The violence had erupted during the protests against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) and National Register of Citizens (NRC).
"There are absolutely no chats between me and any of the co-conspirators. No chats, no calls with any of the co-conspirators in the case. Yet they rely on my chats to implicate me. There is nothing in my chats to remotely suggest that I intended to incite any violence.... I am the only one with no connection with anybody at all," Imam's counsel argued before the bench, also comprising Justice Shalinder Kaur.
"There is no call for violence in any of my speeches. There are repeated calls for non-violence," he emphasised.
It was also said that Imam had raised the protest site at Shaheen Bagh, which remained non-violent throughout, and "distanced" himself from the site in January, fearing violence.
Imam's counsel further said his client had left Delhi in the middle of January 2020 and was already in custody after his arrest by the Delhi Police on January 28 in connection with another FIR when the February 2020 meeting of the co-accused persons took place to "change the nature of protests" on account of the visit of then US president Donald Trump. Violence broke out later that month.
Imam's arrest in the case on August 25, 2020, the lawyer said, was based only on belated witness statements recorded to implicate him.
The bench questioned Imam's counsel if his reference to "Ghazwa-e-Hind", according to the statement of a witness, in one of his interactions with the public was not to instigate violence.
"The statement was made six months later just to implicate me. What I said is in the open," the lawyer replied.
"He has remained in jail for five years. He is a student. He had no running with the law in this set of cases," the lawyer said.
The court was also informed that Imam was on bail in four other cases registered against him over alleged inflammatory speeches.
The lawyer further said that at a meeting that Imam attended with Khalid in December 2019, there was "absolutely nothing on violence", but a general discussion on "how everyone has to come together" in the face of the citizenship law.
"There is a rich history of chakka jam being used as an effective method of protest in the country pre and post independence. There was no reference to any violence," he said.
Imam also requested the court to consider that other co-accused like Devangana Kalita and Natasha Narwal are already on bail in the case.
The bail pleas by other co-accused -- Khalid Saifi, Gulfisha Fatima and others -- are pending in the high court since 2022 and were heard by different benches from time to time.
Khalid's bail plea is also pending in the court.
The matter would be heard next on December 20.
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Rajnath to top commanders: Outmaneuver adversaries with strategic surprise
Jaipur/New Delhi (PTI): Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Friday directed the top military commanders of the three services to integrate an "element of surprise" into modern warfare to outmaneuver India's adversaries and bolster strategic posture.
In his address at the joint commanders conference in Jaipur, Singh also described the Operation Sindoor as a testament to the "swift, precise, and joint response" of the Indian armed forces to safeguard national interests and called upon the military to remain ready to deal with any security challenges.
In their two-day deliberations, the commanders carried out a comprehensive review of the combat preparedness of the military in the wake of the evolving regional security situation.
Operation Sindoor was a demonstration of India's growing capabilities and a symbol of the nation's collective resolve and new military ethos, Singh said, a day after the first anniversary of Operation Sindoor.
He also unveiled a 'Joint Doctrine for Integrated Communication Architecture' that is aimed at strengthening doctrinal clarity, interoperability and integrated communications across the armed forces in future multidomain operations.
The joint commanders' conference, themed 'Military Capability in New Domains', brought together the top leadership of the defence ministry and the three services to deliberate on emerging security challenges and future readiness.
Comprehensive deliberations were held on future warfare, multidomain operations, technological transformation and joint capability development.
The conference witnessed extensive discussions on cognitive warfare, cyber resilience against evolving quantum and AI-enabled threats, military capability development in emerging domains, indigenous innovation and AI-enabled warfighting concepts.
It was attended by Chief of Defence Staff Gen Anil Chauhan, Chief of the Naval Staff Admiral Dinesh Kumar Tripathi, Chief of the Army Staff Gen Upendra Dwivedi, Chief of the Air Staff Air Chief Marshal AP Singh and Defence Secretary Rajesh Kumar Singh among others.
In his remarks, Singh asked the commanders to remain "future-ready" by learning from the operation as well as the current global security landscape.
He underscored the need to strengthen capabilities in artificial intelligence, autonomous systems, data analytics and secure communication networks to stay prepared in the rapidly evolving geopolitical security scenario. He emphasised that future conflicts will increasingly be shaped by hybrid threats, information dominance and operations conducted simultaneously across cyber, space, electromagnetic and cognitive domains, according to an official readout.
Highlighting the transformative impact of emerging technologies, Singh stressed on the importance of ensuring integrated national preparedness across all spectrums of conflict, it said.
Singh's remarks at the conference came a day after the first anniversary of Operation Sindoor.
The defence minister appreciated the progress achieved in enhancing jointness, integration and technological adoption across the three services, the readout noted.
Singh said that jointness constitutes a pivotal dimension within the transformative changes sweeping across the global defence sector.
"Future wars will not be won solely through weaponry, but through innovative thinking and enhanced synergy," he said.
The defence minister exhorted the commanders to cultivate the "element of surprise" to remain unpredictable to the nation's adversaries and secure a strategic edge in any given situation.
He, however, urged them to remain vigilant of the element of surprise of the enemy and always stay two steps ahead.
Singh also reiterated the Narendra Modi government's commitment to enhancing the capabilities of the defence forces through state-of-the-art weapons and platforms. He added that special focus is being laid on research in niche domains.
During the conference, he released a documentary film on Operation Sindoor.
The film reaffirms the nation's and defence forces' commitment to operational preparedness and decisive national response capabilities.
Demonstrations of advanced systems and platforms developed for intelligence fusion, operational planning and information management were also showcased during the conference reflecting growing integration of cutting-edge technologies into joint operational structures, according to the defence ministry.
The discussions will contribute significantly towards shaping India's future military transformation and integrated operational preparedness, it said.
