Bengaluru: A sedition case has been filed against a woman in Bengaluru after she raised pro-Pakistan slogans at a protest against Citizenship (Amendment) Act or CAA. Hyderabad MP Asaduddin Owaisi, who was present at the event, distanced himself and his party – All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) – from the sloganeering, saying, “We, in no way, support our enemy nation Pakistan.”
The young woman, identified as Amulya, is seen in a video urging the crowd to shout “Pakistan Zindabad (Long live Pakistan)” at the event organised under the banner of “Save Constitution”. Asaduddin Owaisi and two other men, apparently the organisers, rush to stop her from chanting the slogan; they try to take away the microphone from her.
“Kya bol rahein hain aap (What are you saying)?” the AIMIM chief tells Amulya as she persists. “The difference between Hindustan Zindabad (Long Live India) and Pakistan Zindabad (Long Live Pakistan) is..,” the woman, in her mid-twenties, is heard saying but several men stop her midway.
Amulya was arrested last evening soon after the event; a sedition case has been filed against her. “We have filed a suo moto case against her under sections 124A(sedition), 153A and B (promoting enmity between different groups) and imputations, assertions prejudicial to national integration),” senior police officer B Ramesh said.
Several men rushed to stage to stop Amulya from chanting “Pakistan Zindabad”
She was denied bail later and sent to judicial custody for 14 days. A local court will hear her bail petition on Monday.
Meanwhile, a case has also been filed against several men, linked to a right-wing group, who threw stones at her home after the protest.
In a Facebook post last week, Amulya had praised all the neighbouring countries, including Pakistan. “Long Live India! Long Live Pakistan! Long Live Bangladesh! Long Live Sri Lanka! Long live Nepal! Long live Afghanistan! Long Live China! Long Live Bhutan!,” she posted in Kannada as she wrote about love for one’s own country and respect for other nations.
In the last two months, massive protests have been held in Karnataka and rest of the states across the country against the citizenship law. Critics say the law makes religion a test of Indian citizenship for the first time in violation of the constitution and, when used along with the planned National Register of Citizens, can be used to target Muslims who cannot prove their lineage.
