Musheera Ashraf, TwoCircles.net
Former student of AMU and a leading student voice of the struggle against CAA, NRC, and NPR Sharjeel Usmani was arrested from his house in Azamgarh today evening, his family said.
Sharjeel Usmani is one of the secretaries of the Fraternity Movement.
Speaking to TwoCircles.net, his family said that few men in civvies came to the house and took him away. “We are trying to know what is the matter but the police are not accepting that they have arrested him,” Sharjeel’s father Amir Usmani said.
“It’s very obvious that they are targeting all Muslim youth who have been vocal,” said Afreen Fatima, a student activist and student of JNU.
According to her, no information has been given to his family.
His books and laptop and other personal belongings have also been taken, she said.
Students and activists gathered at Kotwali police station to enquire about the whereabouts of Sharjeel Usmani.
“No information could be obtained yet,” they said.
Maskoor Usmani, former president of Aligarh Muslim University Student Union told TwoCircles.net said that “there are few students there at Kotwali thana but still we don’t know where the police have taken Sharjeel. We have been continuously trying to speak with DIG and SSP but we have not been able to get through them.”
Maskoor said that “those student leaders who have emerged as the faces of the anti-CAA movement are getting targeted by the Yogi regime of U.P. They are continuously witch-hunting students of AMU. They arrested Farhan Zuberi and Amir Mintoee and now Sharjeel Usmani. He is a student of political science. They are targeting such minds who have a sense of political understanding because they just want to curb the voices of minorities in U.P.”
Maskoor further said that “one side they are unable to catch Dubey for past five days and hundred teams of police are searching for Dubey in five states, including Rajasthan, M.P, Delhi and Haryana and during COVID-19 pandemic when the government should think of improving health infrastructure of U.P because the coronavirus is at the verge of community spread, the police and government are continuously targeting the students. This shows the failure of the system that a gangster is not arrested while students are getting arrested.”
Speaking on the arrest of Sharjeel Usmani to TwoCircles.net, National President, Fraternity Movement, Ansar Abubakar, said that Sharjeel’s arrest is illegal. “Police are denying any information about his whereabouts. U.P police is arresting anti-CAA protestors from the Muslim community. We demand the unconditional release of Sharjeel Usmani. We condemn the arrest and witch-hunt by the U.P government. We demand the immediate release of these protestors and student activists,” he said.
TwoCircles.net reached out to Azamgarh Police station but no information could be obtained regarding the arrest and charges.
The Fraternity Movement has released a statement demanding the immediate revocation of all charges against Sharjeel Usmani.
“We believe that legitimate protest is a constitutional right, which cannot be diverted through propaganda and lies that are Islamophobic in nature,” the Fraternity Movement said in the statement.