Supreme Court grants Siddique Kappan bail stating that “Every person has a right to free expression”. The so-called journalist who was booked under the UAPA, among several other charges has been asked to surrender his passport and report to the police station every Monday among many other conditions.
Mahesh Jethmalani appearing for Uttar Pradesh government said “Kappan was in a meeting of PFI in Sep 2020. It was said in the meeting that funding had stopped. It was decided in the meeting that they will go to sensitive areas and incite riots. On Oct 5, they decided to go to Hathras to incite riots. He was funded with Rs 45,000 to create riots.”
Mahesh Jethmalani further added, “He claimed to be accredited to a newspaper Tejus. We have found that he was accredited by the official organization of PFI. PFI has to be notified as a terrorist group. One State, Jharkhand, has notified it is a terrorist group. He was planning to incite riots. It’s a little bit like what happened in 1990. It is a fit case for invoking 124A also because they are creating disaffection using the rape of a minor girl.”
If one scrutinises the counter affidavit filed by the UP government and the arguments by its representing lawyers it is evident that the arguments emphasised on the deep connection that Siddique shared with the Popular of Front of India (PFI). The PFI, an Islamic outfit is known for creating and inciting violence in various part of India. It was also important to prove he was not a mere journalist out on a duty but an agenda driven person who used his profession as a garb.
Mahesh Jethmalani points at even a document that was found in Siddique and his group’s possession which was a textbook for formenting violence in vulnerable people. He said “They were on their way to Hathras to create unrest. They were going to distribute this literature among the Dalit population. The whole propaganda was justice for Hathras victim.. then the agenda was resign prime minister and then sent emails directions…,”
The Apex Court for some reason completely brushed aside this dangerous liaison which put a lot effort and energy put in by the UP government into waste. Even Siddique, knowing the dangers of exposing his association with the extremist organisation, had initially vehemently denied any associating with PFI. He took a different stance once a lot of incriminating evidence including Whatsapp chats, documents and money trail was traced back to leader of PFI.
But this whole façade has fallen and his link with the PFI has been given away by PFI themselves. Here’s what PFI tweeted right after his release.
https://twitter.com/PFIOfficial/status/1568284528258719744?t=BYDxsVpTi3mF_5_FfTj-tQ&s=08
Even though Siddique may not be an ideal candidate anymore for PFI due to his restrictive movements and close scrutiny placed on him. There will be other figures to train, to teach the art of violence and locate regions to fuel fire of hatred in the hearts of innocents.
