2023 Parliament security breach: ‘Son not a criminal, only his actions were wrong’

LUCKNOW Sagar Sharma’s mother believes that the intentions of her son, who’s one of the six people accused of breaching the security of Parliament on December 13 last year, were not wrong. She, although, agrees that his method was.

“Our son was called a terrorist. But after knowing all the facts, we know that he is not a criminal. He’s the biggest disciple of Bhagat Singh,” says Rani Sharma outside her rented accommodation in Alambagh’s Ramnagar area.

“It’s been exactly a year since that day. Only we know what we went through over the last year... Our lives have turned upside down.”

Last year on this day, Lucknow’s Sagar and five others from other states launched a coordinated gas attack by opening colourful canisters both inside and outside the Parliament house during the Zero Hour. The breach happened on the anniversary of the 2001 Parliament attack.

While Sagar and Manoranjan D released yellow gas in the House, Amol Shinde and Neelam Azad sprayed coloured gases from canisters outside the Parliament premises around the same time, all while shouting “tanashahi nahi chalegi (dictatorship won’t be allowed)”.

Manoranjan, Sagar, Amol Shinde and Neelam Azad were arrested soon after their acts. Lalit Jha and Mahesh Kumawat were detained on December 15 and 16, respectively. All the accused are currently lodged in the Tihar jail and have been booked under sections 16 and 18 of the UAPA and provisions of the Indian Penal Code by the Delhi Police’s anti-terror unit, Special Cell.

An 1,833-page chargesheet filed by Parliament Street (Special Cell) police station, a copy of which is with HT, has added charges such as 186, 353, 153, 452, 201, 34, 120B of the IPC and section 13,16, and 18 of UA (P) Act.

Family in dire straits

Sagar’s arrest has cost dearly to his family of four already in dire straits. “After my son’s arrest, I have been the sole breadwinner of the family,” says Sagra’s father Roshan Lal Sharma, who works as a carpenter on occasions.

“Sagar earned by driving an e-rickshaw, and was doing so much for the family. Now I have to take care of not just of the house, but my young daughter’s education and my ailing wife.”

Originally from Purwa, Unnao, Sagar Lal and his family have been living in rented accommodations in Lucknow for the past 16 years.

Sagar’s younger sister Mahi says: “I will have to drop out of school after class 10 because of our financial crisis.”

“We can’t even afford to hire a lawyer for our son. We have not seen him in a year as we can’t afford to go to Delhi,” the mother says as she recalls her son as an ‘artist’ and ‘philosopher’. “I’m happy that he is not a criminal. He has no criminal history and was a favourite in the neighbourhood.” She adds that her son will be turning a year older on December 31.

“What he did was not wrong. How he did it was wrong. He is not a criminal,” Sagar’s neighbour Riki says.

Since the family wasn’t able to hire a lawyer, Somarjuna V M, the lawyer of another accused Manaronjan, decided to take Sagar’s case as well. “We have applied for his bail and the plea was to be heard on Friday. However, the court adjourned the hearing to December 21,” he says over the phone.

“Police have made 1,833-page chargesheet but did not mention the name of MP Pratap Sinha, on whose passes they had entered [Parliament premises]. The passes were given to them only a day before. So, their action wasn’t pre-planned as they only wanted to speak their mind regarding issues in the society.”

Pic caps:

Sagar’s mother Rani Sharma showing her son’s sketch

Sagar Sharma (File photo).