FIR Against Student Leader Sharjeel Usmani Over Derogatory Tweets

A BJP leader alleged Usmani’s tweets against Lord Ram and late journalist Rohit Sardana were defamatory.

Former Aligarh Muslim University student leader Sharjeel Usmani was booked by the Delhi Police.

(Photo: Altered by The Quint/Erum Gour)

Former Aligarh Muslim University student leader Sharjeel Usmani was booked by the Delhi Police on Thursday, 20 May, for allegedly posting “objectionable tweets.”

Naveen Kumar, head of the Delhi Bharatiya Janata Party’s media team, lodged a complaint that Usmani’s tweets against Lord Ram and late journalist Rohit Sardana were “defamatory”, “mischievous” and were intended to hurt religious sentiments.

A case against Usmani has been filed under IPC 295-A (malicious act outraging religious feelings) and the Information Technology Act.

“The tweet is likely to cause fear and generate a feeling of insecurity and hatred among members of religious communities,” read the complaint.

Usmani had recently posted several tweets demanding justice for a Muslim gym trainer who was killed in Haryana’s Mewat.

“Aasif Khan, a Muslim gym trainer from Mewat district, Haryana, was lynched to death by Hindu vigilante groups on Sunday night, after forcing him to chant 'Jai Shree Raam’, a prayer turned war-cry by the Hindu nationalist militants (sic),” he had said in a tweet.

In another tweet, he wrote that ‘Jai Shree Ram is a war cry for killing Muslims.’

In February 2021, an FIR was filed against Usmani, accusing him of sedition, at Pune and Lucknow, for his speech at 2021 edition of Elgar Parishad. Section 153 (A) deals with promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race, place of birth, residence, language, etc.

He was accused of having given the example of mob lynching, expressing regret over the changing mentality of the Hindu society and also of making objectionable statements pertaining to the Hindu society.