Student activist says police suppressing his voice

Days after the Pinjara Tod activists were granted bail, student activist Asif Iqbal Tanha in an interview with ETV Bharat said the police in Delhi suppressed their voice.

New Delhi:Days after Pinjara Tod activists Natasha Narwal, Devangna Kalita and Jamia student Asif Iqbal Tanha, accused in the Delhi riots were granted bail, Tanha, in an exclusive interview with ETV Bharat, alleged that the Delhi police was suppressing their voice. He said that the police knew if they were released, it could be a problematic condition for them.

Speaking to ETV Bharat, Tanha said, "The court’s judgment is the answer to the investigations conducted by the Delhi Police's Special Cell. They tried to prolong our bail, but the right to dissent cannot be silenced. We'll continue our fight, which we started in Jamia Millia Islamia, against Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019 (CAA), National Register of Citizens (NRC) and National Population Register (NPR)."

"I have not expected this early bail as various laws like UAPA were used. With the amendment in the UAPA in 2019, the Government can now categorize individuals as a terrorist, if it believes that the individual is involved in terrorism. Once the person is so categorized, their name will be added to Schedule 4 of the Act", he added.

Earlier on Thursday, Delhi's Karkardooma Court ordered the release of Pinjara Tod activists who were granted bail by Delhi High Court on June 15 in connection with the North East Delhi violence case. Delhi Police had sought more time to verify the particulars of the accused and sureties.

Read: Delhi police moves SC challenging bail to Pinjra Tod activists

Additional Sessions Judge Ravinder Bedi while passing the order noted that apropos the reason forwarded by the Investigation Officer that verification of the accused's permanent address would need time, said, "I would say that this by itself cannot be a plausible reason for the accused to be kept imprisoned till the time such reports are filed."

"Since the verification of the permanent address of the accused shall require some time, let the report to this effect be filed by Investigation Officer on or before June 23, 2021, at 2.30 pm with the concerned court," the court added.

Read: Protest is not terror activity, HC grants bail to 3 in Delhi riots

Earlier on June 15, the trial court asked the SHO concerned to submit a verification report relating to particulars of the accused and sureties. In three separate orders, the Delhi High Court granted bail to the activists. All of them were arrested under the stringent Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act.

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