Arsheed Yusuf, Inayat Altaf Sheikh and Showkat Ahmed Ganai were arrested under the sedition law for sending pro-Pakistan messages on WhatsApp following the country’s win over India in last year’s T20 World Cup match
A file image of cricket fans watching the T20 cricket World Cup match between India and Pakistan. AFP
“The unity of India is not made of bamboo reeds which will bend to the passing winds of empty slogans. The foundations of our nation are more enduring.”
With these words, Judge Ajay Bhanot of the Allahabad High Court granted bail to three Kashmiri students, who had been held on sedition charges for their comments following the India-Pakistan T20 World Cup match in October last year.
We take a look back at what the case was all about and the order passed by the high court, which led to the release of the students from Agra jail.
The T20 World Cup case
On 24 October 2021, the nation was left shell-shocked after Pakistan made history when it defeated India for the first time in a World Cup match. Pakistan registered a comprehensive 10-wicket win against India.
The result alone didn’t make the headlines. Days after the match, newspapers across the country reported about how some students in Kashmir and in Uttar Pradesh had celebrated Pakistan’s win over the country.
In Uttar Pradesh, an FIR was registered against Arsheed Yusuf, Inayat Altaf Sheikh and Showkat Ahmed Ganai following a protest held at Raja Balwant Singh (RBS) Engineering Technical College by some Hindu outfits alleging that the trio had shared ‘messages against the country’ on WhatsApp, following Pakistan’s win.
The three Kashmiri students were beneficiaries of the Prime Minister’s Special Scholarship Scheme, meant for students from economically weaker sections in Jammu and Kashmir.
They were arrested on 27 October under IPC sections including 124 A (sedition) besides 66-F of the Information Technology Act and were then lodged at Agra District Jail.
The trio were rusticated from RBC college with Chief Proctor Ashish Shukla, telling the Indian Express, “The three students supported Babar Azam (the Pakistan captain), and the Pakistan cricket team. After the matter came to our cognizance through other students, we questioned the students. We rusticated them from the college and the hostel.”
Bail granted after five months
For the three students, the past five months can only be described as hellish. When they were first produced at the Agra court, they were roughed up on the court premises.
Videos from outside the court showed a group of men heckling the students and shouting slogans while the police try to escort them to a police vehicle and take them away. The group can be heard shouting ‘Pakistan Murdabad’ (Down with Pakistan) and ‘Bharat Mata Ki Jai’ (Long live India).
It was also reported that the three students did not find legal representation. Finally, a lawyer from the neighbouring district of Mathura took their cases.
On 30 March, the Allahabad High Court, hearing their case, granted bail to the students. The applicants had moved directly to the high court with their bail plea and they did not move any application before the Agra Court, as reportedly lawyers’ association in Agra had refused to represent them.
Judge Ajay Bhanot granting bail to the students said: “The unity of India is not made of bamboo reeds which will bend to the passing winds of empty slogans. The foundations of our nation are more enduring. Eternal ideals bind the indestructible unity of India. Constitutional values create an indissoluble union of India. Every citizen of the country is the custodian, and the State is the sentinel of the unity of India and the constitutional values of the nation.”
Reacting to the bail order, Nasir Khuehami, the national spokesperson of the Jammu and Kashmir Students’ Association, was quoted as telling the Indian Express: “The three have suffered a great deal, from being roughed up at the Agra Sessions Court to facing recurrent delays in hearing of their case. The bail order has restored and reposed the faith of common man in the judiciary.”
With inputs from agencies
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