Delhi Minority Commission chairman booked for sedition, another plea seeks his removal

Delhi Minority Commission chairman Zafarul Islam Khan has been slapped with a case of sedition by the Special Cell of Delhi Police for a controversial social media post, while another plea has been moved in the Delhi High Court seeking his removal.

An FIR was registered against Khan on April 30 under section 124 A (sedition) and 153 A (promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race, place of birth) after police received a complaint by a resident of Vasant Kunj.

In the FIR, the complainant alleged that Khan's post was "provocative", "deliberate" and seditious and intended to cause disharmony and create a rift in the society, police said, adding that the case is being investigated by the cyber cell.

The remarks were posted by Khan on Tuesday but deleted after sometime.

Later, Khan also sought an apology.

"I realise that my tweet was ill-timed and insensitive in view of our county facing a medical emergency and fighting an unseen enemy. I apologise to all whose sentiments were hurt," Khan said in a statement.

He said that his tweet on April 28, thanking Kuwait for taking note of the "persecution" of Indian Muslims, in the context of the northeast Delhi violence, has "pained" some people which was never his intention.

The BJP has demanded that Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and Lt Governor remove Khan from the post of Delhi Minorities chairman.

Delhi resident Manoranjan Kumar moved the high court seeking lodging of another FIR against Khan and also his removal from the post of chairman of the Delhi Minorities Commission for his alleged "inflammatory" and "threatening" statements against the Hindu community.

Meanwhile, a group of civil society members expressed solidarity with Khan. They termed him as a leading Indian intellectual whose niche area is Islamic studies and Arab world and alleged media trial of Khan.

"A few politicians with ulterior motives and news channel anchors known for spreading bigotry and Islamophobia have mischievously sought to misinterpret his statement and ridiculously label him as anti-Hindu and anti-India," said a statement of the group. The signatories included Swami Agnivesh, Arun Kumar, Zafar Jung, John Dayal, Kamal Faruqui, Annie Namala, Anil Chamadia and several others.