Nothing inflammatory in my speech, have decided to file defamation suit: Salman Ahmed

Salman Ahmed, a student leader who was booked for the comments he allegedly made during his speech at an anti-Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) protest on February 1 in Nanded city, said that there was nothing inflammatory in his speech and he has decided to file defamation suit against individuals.

"Our fight is for saving the country, its constitution and the constitutional values of justice, liberty, equality, and fraternity. Laws like CAA are against these values as they discriminate against Muslims on the basis of their religion. Hence, Muslims and other communities must resist such a law and the fascist government which brought it, using all peaceful and democratic means available to them. For if this law and the government prevails, it will end up destroying everything: the constitution, secularism, and rule of law," Ahmed said in a statement.

"There's nothing inflammatory in my speech. There has been a malicious attempt by some of the media and individuals to defame me by editing and promoting a small portion of my speech out of context. This is nothing but an effort to discredit the entire movement against CAA-NRC-NPR," he added.

Ahmed went on to say that a "poor understanding of the Urdu idioms and phrases used in speech has also resulted in altering the meaning of some of the statements."

"...or example, 'kabar khudegi' means 'will be death knell'; it doesn't have any violent connotation whatsoever. In any case, the phrase was used in reference to the black laws such as CAA and fascism, and wasn't directed at any individual or community," Ahmed said.

"I have decided to file a defamation suit against the individuals and media which maliciously ran communal propaganda using contents of my speech," he added.

Ahmed has been booked under several sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) for allegedly promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion and race.

"A student leader named Salman Ahmed has been booked under sections 153, 109 and 34 IPC for the objectionable comments he made against the government and Citizenship Amendment Act during his speech at an anti-CAA protest on February 1," Vijay Kumar Magar, SP Nanded, told ANI.

People have been staging protests against the citizenship law in various parts of the country after Parliament last year gave nod to the Citizenship Amendment Bill, which became an Act after receiving President Ram Nath Kovind's assent.

The CAA grants citizenship to Hindus, Sikhs, Jains, Parsis, Buddhists and Christians fleeing religious persecution from Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Bangladesh if they entered India on or before December 31, 2014.