of-sedition-and-seditious-behaviour-in-india-and-us

Parliament terror attack convict Afzal Guru was hanged to death in Tihar jail on February 9, 2013 after his last mercy petition was rejected by then President Pranab Mukherjee. It was the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance government in power at the Centre under which Guru’s death sentence was carried out.

 

Imagine, if it was the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance government in office, there would have been nationwide outrage and the execution would have been directly linked with “Muslim persecution” and described as “miscarriage of justice”. Nothing happened then. Nothing should have happened either. Due process of law was followed. Guru was provided with all the chances to defend himself. He was hanged after exhausting all available legal options.

 

Fast forward to 2026. Umar Khalid and Sharjeel Imam, two so called “student activists” were again denied bail by the Supreme Court of India for the seriousness of their crime and the evidence available. Five others, who were also involved in the same acts of crime, were however granted bail on the basis of “hierarchy of participation”. Khalid and Imam are accused of being the masterminds of the riots. The prosecution has produced enough evidence to convince the court about the seriousness of their offence. Even the courts in the past have termed their speeches as “venomous”, “calculated to evoke hatred” and part of a “larger conspiracy” for regime change via riots.

 

However, the “liberal elite” in the country has once again started feeling “outraged” over the denial of bail to Khalid and Imam and it has started resorting to its characteristic breast-beating. These elites are even trying to link the denial of bail with “Muslim persecution”, in a way even accusing the courts of communal bias. Let us not forget that it is not the BJP government or Prime Minister Narendra Modi who is keeping them in jail. It is the courts of the country, which have not allowed them bail.

 

Interestingly, in the United States, senior Democratic Senator Mark Kelly is facing action and has been accused of “seditious behaviour” punishable by death. Senator Kelly, who is a US Navy veteran and former NASA astronaut and has flown planes during the Gulf War, along with five other Democratic Senators, all veterans, had urged the defence forces not to follow the “unconstitutional orders” of President Donald Trump. This was described as “seditious behaviour punishable with death,” by no less than US President Donald Trump. 

 

Kelly was issued a censure by Secretary Defence Pete Hegseth, which may also lead to him getting demoted from the position of US Navy Captain he retired as and also reduction in his post-retirement pension.

 

This is quite possible in the United States, the oldest and supposedly the greatest democracy in the world. Nobody accuses the US of curtailing freedom of speech. Yet when a seasoned senator having a glorious record of having served the country is not allowed to cross certain limits, particularly when it comes to national interest.

 

Both Khalid and Imam’s speeches and statements are now in public domain. Khalid has consistently maintained that Kashmir is not part of India and India has “occupied” Kashmir—a separatist and secessionist narrative. In 2016, Khalid led a protest against the killing of Kashmiri militant Burhan Wani, who, despite being a deadly terrorist, was glorified as a freedom fighter, by the same elite, which is crying wolf over refusal of bail to Khalid and Imam.

 

During the protest in Jawaharlal Nehru University he said, “what is happening in Kashmir is an Indian occupation of Kashmir. Just like one territory is occupied by Pakistan, another territory is occupied by the Indian state.” The programme held in JNU, he claimed, was “against the occupation of Kashmir by the Indian state.” Later on a different occasion in Chennai, he asked, “can we truly have a free India if we continue to occupy Kashmir?”

 

Also read: SC denies bail to Umar Khalid, Sharjeel Imam in Delhi riots case

 

Would any sovereign country tolerate and condone such seditious tendencies? These deserve to be nipped in the bud. This is not only seditious, but factually and historically incorrect. India did not occupy Kashmir. Kashmir acceded with India under a due process of law in accordance with the Indian Independence Act of 1947.

 

Sharjeel Imam went ahead further while invoking Muslims to “choke” the “chicken neck” area connecting the country with the “North East”. During one of his speeches in Aligarh Muslim University, he called on the Muslims to organise and block the “Chicken Neck” and “cut off” Assam and the “North East” from the rest of the country.

 

When the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) was passed in 2019, people like Khalid and Imam tried to use the occasion to orchestrate an anti-India agenda through supposedly peaceful protests. They practically choked some areas of Delhi. The script was similar as spelt out by Imam to choke the “North East”, with thousands of people, mostly women, made to hold protests in Shaheed Bagh. Even the Supreme Court took strong exception to the blocking of roads by the protesters.

 

Eventually, the Shaheen Bagh protests ended up in communal violence, which the prosecution says were deliberately planned to coincide with the visit of US President Donald Trump (in his first term).

 

It is quite natural and understandable that Khalid and Imam cannot be held behind bars perpetually and indefinitely. But there is a process of law to be followed and it is for everyone. Attributing motives to the legal process while at the same time overlooking the gravity of the offence of the accused is unacceptable. This can lead to mistrust against the due process of law for no reason. Common people do not get to know the complete details of such cases.

 

A line has to be drawn between free speech and national interest. Yes, national interest is a real thing and not an imaginary one. Questioning a nation's integrity, accusing the country of illegally occupying one of its own parts, inciting people to gather and cut off a part of the country is being anti-national and there are no two opinions about that. Let the law take its own course.

 

Like in the US they show “zero tolerance” against anything that goes against the national interest, so should it be in India. You can’t incite people to “cut off” and amputate a part of the country and get away with it. You cannot question the legality and constitutionality of Kashmir’s accession with India and get away with it. You will be held to account according to law. Just because you cry persecution and there are people who resort to breast beating for you, does not mean you are innocent.

 

If the US can do it with Mark Kelly, a decorated veteran, India can always do it with Khalid and Imam. National interest is paramount.