By Ghazala Ahmad, TwoCircles.net
Aligarh: Aligarh police Thursday arrested Farhan Zuberi, former member of Aligarh Muslim University Students Union along with his friend Ravish Ali Khan.
The arrest of Zuberi is the latest in the ongoing spree of arrests of student leaders and Muslim activists across the country.
On the afternoon of Thursday, May 28, Farhan Zuberi, a final year Masters student in Social Work at AMU was arrested along with one of his friend Ravish, who was released later by the police.
Zuberi is an active voice on the AMU campus and was a participant in the anti CAA protests and would always challenge discrimination against Muslims.
On April 16, 2020, Amir Mintoee, another student activist of AMU was arrested by police while he was providing food to the patients stuck at Jawaharlal Nehru Medical College and hospital in Aligarh. He was also a part of anti CAA protest and was arrested for being critical to the government’s anti-Muslim activities.
Student activists see the latest arrest as an act of silencing dissenting voices before the lockdown is over and anti CAA protests resume.
Mashkoor Ahmad Usmani, former President of Aligarh Muslim University students’ union said, “Farhan and I shared the same union tenure and I look at him as an emerging leader of our community. Government is targeting leaders and activists based on their religious identities, be it Asif Tanha, Umar Khalid, Safoora Zargar or Farhan. They want to terrorize the idea of dissent and want to make us learn that we will face the repercussions if we don’t bow down to their ideology or policies.”
Usmani said the arrest of Zuberi comes at a time when courts are closed and other legal proceedings are not taking place and it will be very difficult for prisoners to get bail or be released. “Government is taking advantage of this lockdown to lock the voices before they start questioning the government again,” he added.
Imran Zuberi, brother of Farhan Zuberi told TwoCircles.net that his family has no idea why Zuberi was arrested. “Farhan has always been vocal about the issues concerning justice. We don’t even know the sections that have been registered against him,” he said, adding, “But one thing is very clear that this government is punishing dissenters. They don’t like a single voice criticizing or questioning them”.
Imran said that they are yet to be given the reason for his arrest. “We will fight legally to get him released as soon as possible”, he said.