criminalising dissent

'Activist Sharjeel Imam, who has been charged with sedition for calling on protestors to “cut off Assam from India” during protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act, on Sunday clarified that he had asked people to peacefully block roads wherever possible, The Indian Express reported. Imam, a former student of Jawaharlal Nehru University, is facing sedition cases in Assam and Uttar Pradesh for a speech he had given at Aligarh Muslim University on January 16.

'A letter found on Delhi-based activist Rona Wilson documenting an alleged plot to assassinate Prime Minister Narendra Modi appears to be a “spoof” that was obtained from suspicious sources, Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar is believed to have told the Pune police during a review of the chargesheet filed in the “urban naxal” cases. The particular e-mail exchange between Maoists and the alleged “urban naxals” had only a single time stamp and not two — from both the receiver and the sender — thereby raising doubts over its authenticity...'

'Raising slogans of ‘azadi’ (freedom) “in the name of protests” will amount to sedition and invite harsh action, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath said on Wednesday while speaking in support of the Citizenship (Amendment) Act. Addressing a rally in Kanpur, he said “people living on Indian soil will not be allowed to conspire” against the country. “In the name of dharna and demonstration, if you raise slogans of azadi that were once raised in Kashmir, it will come under sedition and the government will take the harshest action,” said Mr. Adityanath...'

'Mysore Bar Association on Tuesday announced that they will not represent the woman who was holding a ‘Free Kashmir’ poster during a protest in Mysore against the violence in Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU). Nalini Balakumar was booked for sedition days after she was photographed holding the poster during the protest on January 8. "Some members of our bar association wrote to us saying we must not represent the person who was involved in an anti-national activity. Even her lawyer has withdrawn from representing her.