Woman charged with sedition
BENGALURU: A 19-year-old woman who raised pro-Pakistan slogans at an anti-Citizenship (Amendment) Act, or CAA, rally in Bengaluru has been booked for sedition and remanded to judicial custody, the police said, as a controversy over the incident spiralled on Friday. Karnataka chief minister BS Yediyurappa demanded action against organisers of the event.
Amulya Leona was seen raising “Pakistan zindabad” slogans in the presence of All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) chief Asaduddin Owaisi at a “Save the Constitution” rally on Thursday. Shortly after, AIMIM distanced itself from Leona, saying the party had no links with her.
After being removed from the stage, she was arrested on charges of sedition and produced before a magistrate’s court, which remanded her to 14 days in judicial custody.
The controversy comes on a day another woman in Bengaluru was detained and booked for holding a “Kashmir Mukti (liberation), Dalit Mukti, Muslim Mukti” placard at a protest in the city. The woman has been booked for offences under the Indian Penal Code, including creating enmity between different groups.
On Friday, the police had to provide security at Leona’s residence in Chikkamagaluru district, some 250km from state capital Bengaluru, after some unidentified people allegedly attacked the house on Thursday evening, officials told news
agency PTI.
Chief minister BS Yediyurappa on Friday alleged that Leona had links with Maoist rebels in the past. “Importantly, the organisations that are behind people like Amulya and nurturing them, if we don’t take action against such organisations, such things won’t end,” he told reporters in Mysuru.
“If organisations that are behind her are inquired into, things will come out. It is clear she had links with Naxals in the past,” the CM said, adding: “In this backdrop, she should be punished and action taken against organisations that are behind her.”
Leona’s father Wazi said she had made an “unforgivable mistake” and caused “pain to Indians”.
Since Thursday’s incident, videos have emerged online purportedly showing a group of people questioning Wazi about his daughter’s conduct and making him chant “Bharat Mata Ki Jai” slogans.
In a Facebook post dated February 16, purportedly by Amulya, she can be heard saying “zindabad” to the names of several neighbouring countries; doing so does not make her belong to them, she says.
State home minister Basavaraj Bommai said all angles, including the woman’s Facebook posts, would be looked into to find out if any organisation was behind her.
“Let’s look into what comes out of the investigation and accordingly action will be taken...” he said, criticising the Opposition for “supporting” such elements and asking them to act responsibly.
On Thursday, Janata Dal (Secular) leader Imran Pasha had alleged that the controversy had been planned by some rival group to disrupt the protest against the CAA, which seeks to fast-track grant of Indian citizenship to non-Muslim minorities from the Muslim-majority countries of Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan.
Leona, he said, was not in the list of speakers at the event and demanded that the police investigate the matter seriously.
Bengaluru police commissioner Bhaskar Rao said on Friday: “Making a statement somewhere is different, but calling someone for a stage event and for them to make divisive comments, is it right?”
Action would be taken against the organisers, he said. Bengaluru Police on Friday also registered suo moto (on their own) case against a woman — identified as Arudra — for holding the “Kashmir Mukti, Dalit Mukti, Muslim Mukti” placard at a counter protest, deputy commissioner of police Chetan Singh Rathore said. She was holding the placard at the site of a counter protest organised by the Hindu Jagaran Vedike against Leona.
AFTER BEING REMOVED FROM THE STAGE, AMULYA WAS ARRESTED ON CHARGES OF SEDITION AND PRODUCED BEFORE A MAGISTRATE’S COURT, WHICH REMANDED HER TO 14 DAYS JUDICIAL CUSTODY