Student leader booked for raising pro-Palestine slogans during protest at AMU
Aligarh: Student leader and ex-student of Aligarh Muslims University (AMU) Talha Mannan along with 8-10 anonymous students have been booked by the Indian police for raising pro-Palestine slogans during one of the fee hike protests at the AMU university in BJP-ruled Uttar Pradesh.
According to Kashmir Media Service, the complaint was registered by Raksha Dal’s district president Sanjay Arya at the Civil Lines police.
The complainant has claimed that the protests are unauthorised and have been going on without permission. The complainant alleged that raising slogans for Palestine could affect the communal harmony among different sections of the society.
The complaint reads, “Talha Mannan, along with 8-10 other associates, were raising slogans in support of Palestine and inviting the crowd in various ways. Photos and videos of these slogans are going viral on social media. In these videos and photos, Talha can be seen wearing a scarf displaying the Palestinian flag.”
Students have been protesting at the University after a fee hike demanding its withdrawal as many students from poor and marginalized communities cannot afford it.
Several activists, including Afreen Fatima and National Vice-President of the Fraternity Movement Umar Faruq and others have come in support of Talha and others.
The activists asserted that a call for justice cannot be declared hate speech and slammed the police for registering an FIR.
They also pointed out the swift action taken by the authorities when the accused are Muslims.
