Sedition case: India’s unity not a reed that can bend to slogans, says Allahabad high court in bail order
Three Kashmiri students were charged with sedition after raising pro-Pakistan slogans following Pakistan’s victory in a T20 Cricket World Cup match against India last year.
PRAYAGRAJ: The “unity of India is not made of bamboo reeds which will bend to the passing winds of empty slogans”, the Allahabad high court has said, granting bail to three Kashmiri students who were charged with sedition after raising pro-Pakistan slogans following Pakistan’s victory in a T20 Cricket World Cup match against India last year.
The three students — Inayat Altaf Shekh, Shokat Ahmad Gani and Arsheed Yusuf — were pursuing engineering in Agra, and were arrested on October 27, 2021. They were booked under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code on charges of sedition and cyberterrorism.
In their bail application, the students’ counsels contended that they were falsely implicated due to student rivalries over trivial issues. “The applicants are young students with a bright future. The trial is moving at a snail’s pace and is not likely to conclude any time soon. The inordinate delay in the trial will lead to indefinite detention of the applicants,” one of the counsels said.
The state government’s counsel, however, said students cannot exhibit disloyalty to the country and spread disharmony in society.
After hearing the parties concerned, justice Ajay Bhanot granted them bail on March 30. “The unity of India is not made of bamboo reeds which will bend to the passing winds of empty slogans. The foundations of our nation are more enduring. Eternal ideals bind the indestructible unity of India. Constitutional values create an indissoluble union of India. Every citizen of the country is the custodian, and the State is the sentinel of the unity of India and the constitutional values of the nation,” said the bail order released on Thursday.
“Students travelling freely to different parts of the country in the quest for knowledge is the true celebration of India’s diversity and a vivid manifestation of India’s unity. It is the duty of the people of the hosting State to create enabling conditions for visiting scholars to learn and to live the constitutional values of our nation. It is also the obligation of the young scholars to imbibe and adhere to such values,” the court order said, adding that “in the light of the preceding discussion and without making any observations on the merits of the case, the bail application is allowed.”
