Delhi riots: Prosecution concludes arguments opposing Umar Khalid's bail plea in HC

The Delhi Police Wednesday concluded its arguments before the Delhi High Court opposing a bail plea of former JNU student Umar Khalid who was arrested in connection with a UAPA case related to the alleged conspiracy behind the riots here in February 2020A bench of Justices Siddharth Mridul and Rajnish Bhatnagar listed the matter for September 9 for hearing rebuttal submissions of Khalids counsel The high court asked the counsel for the prosecution and Khalid to submit their written submissions in the caseThe prosecution which had commenced its submissions on August 1 has opposed the bail plea of Khalid saying the speech delivered by him in Amravati in February 2020 was a very calculated speech which brought various points including Babri Masjid triple talaq Kashmir suppression of Muslims and Citizenship Amendment Act CAA and National Register of Citizens NRCOn Wednesday Special Public Prosecutor Amit Prasad referred to several statements given by the witnesses and also read out a portion of Khalids Amravati speechKhalids counsel had earlier said that mere membership of a WhatsApp group cannot make him criminally liable when nothing objectionable has been attributed to himAlso Read 2020 Delhi riots Court grants bail to man accused of burning ransacking houseHe had said out of five WhatsApp groups cited by the prosecution he was a member of two groups in which also he remained silent and only posted four messages in one of the groupsPolice had told the high court that the protests at Shaheen Bagh in the backdrop of CAA were not organic or an independent movement and that the locals did not support the protests at various places and people were transferred to these sites by certain persons who were trying to build a narrativeKhalid Sharjeel Imam and several others have been booked under the antiterror law Unlawful Activities Prevention Act 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 over 700 injuredThe violence erupted during the protests against CAA and NRC Police had argued that riots happened in two phases first in 2019 and then in February 2020 and that misinformation was spread during the riots apart from blockade of roads attacks on police personnel and paramilitary forces violence in nonMuslim areas etcIt was contended by the prosecutor that the speeches delivered by various accused in the case have one common factor the essence was to create a sense of fear in the Muslim populationWhile referring to certain speeches made by Khalid and other accused the prosecutor had said when you talk about Babri Masjid or triple talaq they relate to a religion But when you talk about Kashmir it is not an issue of religion it is an issue of national integrationHe had contended that these accused were connected with each other at the relevant time as a part of the conspiracy for riotingKhalid was arrested on September 13 2020 and has been in custody since thenBesides Khalid activist Khalid Saifi JNU students Natasha Narwal and Devangana Kalita Jamia Coordination Committee members Safoora Zargar former AAP councillor Tahir Hussain and several others have also been booked under the stringent law in the caseThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever