Sedition case: Delhi LG gives sanction to prosecute Shehla Rashid for her tweets ‘against’ Army 

Delhi’s Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena has granted sanction to prosecute human rights activist Shehla Rashid in a 2019 sedition case related to her tweets about the Indian Army. Shehla is the ex-vice president of the Jawaharlal Nehru University students union and member of All India Students Association (AISA).

“Delhi LG VK Saxena grants prosecution sanction against Shehla Rashid, ex-Vice President of JNUSU & member of AISA, for making 2 tweets about the Indian Army aimed at promoting enmity between different groups & indulging in acts prejudicial to the maintenance of harmony,” Delhi L-G’s office wrote in a statement.

On August 18, 2019, Rashid had tweeted that Indian Army personnel had tortured four men in Shopian district of Jammu and Kashmir, placing a microphone next to them “so that the entire area could hear them scream, and be terrorised”. She the tweeted: “In Shopian, 04 men were called into the Army Camp and ‘interrogated’ (tortured). A mic was kept close to them so that the entire area could hear them scream and be terrorized. This created an environment of fear in the entire area.”

She had said that the case against her was “frivolous, politically motivated and pathetic attempt” to silence her. “In my tweets, I have clearly mentioned that these are based on information received from people in the state,” she had said.

Shehal has often criticsed the Narendra Modi government for its tirade against minorities, mainly Muslims, and rights activists.

An FIR against the Kashmir-born activist was registered under section 153A, at the Special Cell police station in New Delhi, on the basis of a complaint by one Alakh Alok Srivastava. Shehla had claimed in her tweets that the armed forces were “entering houses” in Jammu and Kashmir and “picking up boys”.

One of her tweets read, “Armed Forces are entering houses at night, picking up boys, ransacking houses, deliberately spilling rations on floor, mixing oil with rice, etc. ” She tweeted this in August 2019.

The proposal to prosecute Rashid was sent by the Delhi Police and supported by the Home Department. “The nature of the case, location to which the tweets refer and making false allegations against the Army makes it a serious issue,” the Home Department said, according to The Indian Express.

The department claimed that “religious fault lines have been created” in Jammu and Kashmir by people like Rashid. “The case is made for prosecution under Section 153A IPC [Indian Penal Code]. This relates to public order.”

– INDIA NEWS STREAM