Sharjeel is innocent, have faith he will come out clean in courts, says his mother

Amid the controversy surrounding Sharjeel Imam for his controversial "cut off Assam from India" speech, his mother Ashfa Arshad on Monday claimed that her son was innocent and expressed faith that the court will deliver justice in the matter.

"He has done nothing. He is wrongly being blamed and framed in the case. He asked for blocking the roads, hoping that it would stop the NRC. He does not have the capacity to break off Assam or any part of anything," Arshad told reporters here.

"He is not a criminal or a thug. He is a decent man who fears Allah. I have full faith in Allah and courts that he will come out of all this clean," she added.

Earlier on Sunday, the Crime Branch of Delhi Police booked Sharjeel Imam, co-ordinator of Shaheen Bagh protests, for his controversial "cut off Assam from India" speech that he allegedly made a few days ago at the anti-CAA protest site.

Imam has been slapped with charges of sedition and inciting enmity between communities under Sections 124A, 153A and 505 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).

"It was noticed that one Sharjeel Imam, permanent resident of Bihar and former student of JNU, has been delivering very inflammatory and instigating speeches in his opposition to CAA and NRC. He had previously delivered one such speech in Jamia on December 13 and thereafter has given one even more inflammatory and instigating speech against the government, which is being widely circulated on social media," the Delhi Police said.

A case has also been registered against Imam by the Uttar Pradesh Police for his alleged controversial speech delivered during the students' protest at the Aligarh Muslim University on January 16 against the Citizenship Amendment Act and the National Register of Citizens (NRC).

The Assam Police too on Saturday registered an FIR against Imam for allegedly inciting people to "cut off" Assam from the rest of India.

A series of videos have gone viral on social media in which Imam is heard saying: "If we all come together, then we can separate the Northeast from India. If we cannot do it permanently, then at least for 1-2 months we can do this."

"It is our responsibility to cut Assam from India. When this happens, only then the government will listen to us," he is heard saying further in the video.