Hardline separatist leader Syed Ali Geelani called the sedition charges against JNU student and DU Prof SAR Geelani preposterous and asks to arrest Chidambaram too if pro-Afzal slogans are seditious.
While calling for shutdown across Kashmir on February 27 against arrest of Jawaharlal Nehru University students and former Delhi University Professor SAR Geelani, hardline separatist leader Syed Ali Geelani today termed sedition charges against them as preposterous. He said they were protesting against “judicial murder” of the parliament attack convict Mohammad Afzal Guru.
Syed Ali Geelani, who heads his faction of separatist amalgam All Parties Hurriyat Conference, termed a statement of P. Chidambaram on Guru as belated “confession of the crime.” Chidambaram has said it is possible to hold an honest opinion that the Afzal Guru case was perhaps not correctly decided.
“If speaking truth in India is sedition then let BJP should book P. Chidambaram under the sedition law as they did with SAR Geelani, Kanhaiya Kumar and Umar Khalid,” Geelani said.
“Whatever the reason behind Mr. Chidambaram’s statement about hanging of Afzal Guru, his confession has placed a big question mark over the government and judiciary of India,” Geelani added.
“Though many legal experts and human rights activists previously raised objections and questions about fair trial of Afzal Guru, importance of the statement of P Chidambaram cannot be ignored,” the Hurriyat chairman said in a statement from New Delhi.
“Mr. Chidambaram is big name in Indian politics and he was holding very important place and portfolios in the UPA government. Being an insider Mr. Chidambaram must be known to reality of the Indian parliament attack and also about involving Afzal Guru in that case,” he added.
“His statement has given credence to all those doubts which were being raised about hanging of Afzal Guru. The statement of Mr. Chidambaram has proved that the Indian judiciary is not an independent institution and at the same time his revelation has confirmed that the hanging of Afzal Guru was murder of justice,” Geelani alleged.
On February 9 this year, he said, the students of JNU expressed same views as stated by Chidambaram. “If such expression amounts to sedition in India then Mr. Chidambaram should also be detained on these charges and be lodged in Tihar,” Geelani said.
Meanwhile, following the call of Geelani, protests at various places were held against the arrest of JNU students.
Various separatist leaders held a protest demonstration in press enclave here after Friday prayers. Geelani had called for “solidarity protests in Kashmir” with the Kashmiri students in Delhi and against the detention of Professor Geelani, Kanhaiya Kumar and others.
