Amulya Leona, a journalism student and a student activist hailing from Koppa in Chikkamagaluru district has been charged with sedition after she shouted “Pakistan Zindabad (long live Pakistan)” at a protest against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act or CAA. She had tried to say more but was stopped and dragged away from the stage by police before she could. A video from the said protest went viral on social media and was flashed on TV screens wherein the presence of Hyderabad MP and AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi, Amulya is seen shouting “Pakistan Zindabad “. Mr. Owaisi and other men, rush to stop her; they try to take away the microphone from her.
“Kya bol rahein hain aap (What are you saying)?” the AIMIM chief says as she tries to continue on the mic. She manages to pull herself free and shouts “Hindustan Zindabad“. Just before she is dragged away, she says: “The difference between Hindustan Zindabad (Long Live India) and Pakistan Zindabad (Long Live Pakistan) is…”
Amulya wrote a Facebook post in Kannada on 16th February, which appears to be the actual speech she wanted to deliver Thursday, as reported by The Indian Express.
(Here are the words of the speech in English)
Hindustan Zindabad
Pakistan Zindabad
Bangladesh Zindabaad
Srilanka Zindabad
Nepal Zindabaad
Afghanistan Zindabad
China zindabad
Bhutan zindabad
Whichever country it is – zindabad to all countries.
You teach the children that the nation is its soil. We children are telling you – nation means it is its people. All people should get their basic facilities. All of them should be able to avail of their fundamental rights. Governments should take care of the people of these countries. Zindabad to everyone who serves the people.
I don’t become a part of a different nation just because I say zindabad to that nation. As per law, I am an Indian citizen. It is my duty to respect my nation and work for the people of the country. I will do that. Let us see what these RSS guys will do.
The Sanghis will get annoyed by this. Start your series of comments. What I have to say I will say.
Leona was arrested soon after the event. “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. She was denied bail and sent to judicial custody for 14 days. A local court will hear her bail petition on Monday.
“Neither me nor my party has any link with her. The organizers should not have invited her here. If I knew this, I would not have come here. We are for India and we, in no way, support our enemy nation Pakistan. Our entire drive (against CAA) is to save India,” the AIMIM Chief Mr. Owaisi was quoted as saying by news agency PTI.
Whereas, Karnataka Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa said Amulya has links with Maoists. “Her own father has said – ‘break her arms and legs. she should not get bail. I will not protect her’,” the BJP leader said.
“Secondly, and very importantly, the groups behind these people, the ones who are growing people like Amulya…. action has to be taken against them and they should be investigated properly. It will then be known who is backing her. There is proof that she has connections with Naxals. She should be punished and action was taken against those organizations,” he told reporters.
A mob attacked Leona’s residence in Koppa on Thursday night. Later in the night, some unidentified men were seen in a video demanding Amulya’s father to say ‘Bharat Mata ki Jai’. In the video, he is heard saying: “Every single word my daughter said was wrong. I have tried to make her understand several times, however, she doesn’t pay heed to it. I have not spoken to my daughter for the past five days.” A case has been filed against the miscreants, linked to a right-wing group, responsible for the vandalism.
Amulya’s Father denied any legal support to his daughter. “Let my daughter rot in jail. Let the police break her legs. I have no objection. She has caused so much misery to my family,” he added.
A day after the incident, on Friday, a young woman was spotted among the participants of the protest organized by the Hindu Jagaran Vedike against Amulya, holding a “Kashmir Mukti (liberation), Dalit Mukti, Muslim Mukti” placard. Though she did not raise any slogans but was taken into custody for her own safety.
Earlier, a sedition case was filed against a school teacher and a student’s mother over a play critical of the citizenship law staged at a school in Bidar last month.
The country has seen massive Anti-CAA protests in the last two months. As per critics, CAA, when clubbed with NRC, can be used to target the Muslim population of the country. The Government, on the contrary, claims it to be necessary in order to safeguard the minorities who faced religious persecution in the neighboring Islamic Nations of Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Afghanistan. The government has repeatedly assured people that Indians don’t have to worry about CAA as it doesn’t affect them.
Image Source – The Print
