Sharjeel Imam graduated in Computer Science from IIT Bombay and is a PhD student in the Department of History and Culture, Jawaharlal Nehru University, Delhi. He has been charged with sedition cases in five different states and is alleged to have instigated the anti-CAA Jamia Milia violence on December 15.
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Wiki/Biography
Sharjeel Imam was born in Kako, Jehanabad, and raised in Patna and Jehanabad districts of Bihar in 1988 (age 35; as of 2023). After attending St. Xavier’s Secondary School in Patna, he moved to Delhi, where he completed his intermediate course of education at Delhi Public School, Vasant Kunj, in 2006. Imam has always been brilliant in studies; he succeeded in cracking the JEE entrance exam on his first try, hence he got a place for himself at IIT Bombay where he majored in B Tech-M Tech Integrated Program in Computer Science.
A 2007 photo of Sharjeel Imam in his IIT Bombay hostel room
During his university days at IIT Bombay, Imam worked as a freelance programmer for a period of two months for the IT University of Copenhagen, Denmark. In the final year of his graduation, he too was granted the opportunity to work as a teaching assistant at IIT Bombay. After completing his graduation in July 2011, Imam was hired as a software engineer at an American multinational company “Juniper Networks”, where he worked for two years, before leaving the job in February 2013. The seven-year period, which Imam spent in IIT Bombay and the corporate sector, led him to assume that propaganda and prejudice against the Muslim community was widely spread and practiced, which was taken as true by the misinformed, and partly due to the miniscule presence of Muslims in the upper levels. (referring to the IIT and the Corporate sector), there was no one to deny them. With this preconceived ideology, Imam decided to quit his job and continue his studies at JNU, which he considered a center of secularism. In 2013, he enrolled at JNU to pursue a master’s degree in Modern History. In his long student life at JNU, he completed an MPhil in Modern Indian History in 2017. After an MPhil, he began pursuing a PhD in Modern Indian History. After entering JNU, Imam was immediately attracted to the left-wing student parties at the university. He joined the largest left-wing party, the ‘All India Students’ Association’ (AISA), in 2013, and also competed as its candidate for the seat of councillor, eventually leaving the party shortly after the Najeeb Ahmad disappearance incident in 2015.
Physical appearance
Height (approx.): 5′ 7″
Hair Color: Black
Eye Color: Black
Family and Caste
Family history (religion and caste)
Sharjeel Imam belongs to a Muslim family.
Parents
Sharjeel Imam’s father, Syed Akbar Imam, was a local politician and a close associate of Nitish Kumar (politician). Her father had even contested in the 2005 Bihar Assembly Election on a JDU party ticket, which he lost by 447 votes to SN Yadav (RJD). Sharjeel’s father later died of bone cancer in 2014. Her mother. Her mother, Afshan Rahim, is a housewife.
Afshan Rahim, mother of Sharjeel Imam
He has a younger brother, Muzzammil Imam, he is a local politician and social activist, who has studied for a Masters in Journalism and Mass Communication at Amity University. Sharjeel and Muzzammil are said to be closely linked to Jehanabad politicians, including former Jahanabad MP Arun Kumar.
A February 2018 photo of Sharjeel Imam with his younger brother Muzzammil Imam and former Jahanabad MP Arun Kumar
Shaheen Bagh protests and the ‘Chakka Jam’
Following the introduction of CAB in India, protests in Delhi against the bill began to swell. Sharjeel resorted to organizing roadblocks at different locations under the guise of ‘Chakka Jam’ as part of the protests. Afreen Fatima, one of Sharjeel’s friends at JNU, said during a speech at JNU-
Since day 1, Sharjeel has spoken about how our protests can get the attention of the government and civil society. The government doesn’t care about us, especially Muslims, so his call for ‘Chakka Jam’ (barricades) was simply an attempt to make the government listen to us, and his concept behind the Shaheen Bagh protests stems from the same idea.”
After organizing several Anti-CAA protests and participating in the Shaheen Bagh protests, he soon became a poster boy for the Anti-CAA protests in Delhi. Sharjeel was reportedly among the Anti-CAA protesters on the afternoon of December 15, when suddenly the protests at Jamia Milia University took a violent turn and the crowd went wild and started throwing stones at the Delhi Police, several vehicles were set on fire, public and private property was vandalized in the violence. Sharjeel’s name appeared on the charge sheet filed by the Delhi police as one of the main instigators fueling the violence on December 15. According to the Delhi Police, Sharjeel had persuaded the people through his inflammatory anti-government speeches to unite and spread his ‘Chakka Jam’ movement until justice was done for them.
Controversy
Sharjeel’s name has come up for making inflammatory speeches on a regular basis at different locations in Delhi and other states in India. Sharjeel went on the run on January 25, after a video clip of her allegedly controversial speech at Aligarh Muslim University went viral. Where, she could be heard saying,
Assam aur India katke alag ho jaaye, tabhi ye humari baat sunenge (when India and Assam separate from each other only then will they listen to us).”
He further clarified in the video that by blocking the neck of the chicken (Siliguri corridor); The northeastern states, including Assam, could be cut off from the rest of the country.
After his video went viral on social media, several FIRs were registered against him in Delhi and four other states: Uttar Pradesh, Assam, Manipur and Arunachal Pradesh. He was arrested at his ancestral home locality of Kako, Jehanabad on January 28, 2020 in a joint operation by the Delhi police and the Bihar police.
JNU student Sharjeel Imam is brought in for appearance before the Metropolitan Chief Magistrate, Patiala House courts, at his residence in New Delhi on Saturday.
However, Sharjeel, through his Twitter account, stated that he had surrendered to the police.
I surrendered to the Delhi Police on 28th Jan 2020 at 3pm I am ready and willing to operate with the investigation. I have full faith in due process of law. My security is now in the hands of the Delhi Police. May peace prevail. pic.twitter.com/fTKeWY5hb8
—Sharjeel Imam (@_imaams) January 28, 2020
Sharjeel was subsequently booked on charges of treason and propagation of enmity between different communities under Indian Penal Code sections 124A (Sedition), 153A (Promoting or attempting to promote disharmony or feelings of enmity based on religion, race, place of birth, residence, language, caste or community or any other grounds), and 505 (Intent to incite any class or community of people to commit any offense against any other class or community). On January 24, 2022, a Delhi court filed charges against him for his inflammatory speeches during the anti-CAA protests in Delhi in 2019.
Facts/Curiosities
- Sharjeel’s teachers remember him as a smart and resourceful student.
I don’t know anyone who has that much fortitude about Indian history. He could talk at length about Eqbal Ahmad and Allama Iqbal,” says Afreen Fatima, one of his JNU friends.
- Sharjeel has always had a keen interest in Islamic theories.
- In one of his articles on “Firstpost” (an Indian news and media website), Sharjeel Imam claimed that he was the only Muslim student out of 200 students in his class at IIT Bombay.
- Sharjeel has been studying at JNU since 2013.
- Sharjeel’s brother, Muzzammil Imam, was also one of the coordinators of the Shaheen Bagh protests.
- Sherjeel has reportedly often been criticized by a faction of society for writing inflammatory articles in various magazines and online media portals, including “The Wire” and “Firstpost”.
- Sharjeel has articulated in one of his articles about the experiences of prejudice he faced during his IIT days.
- Sharjeel Imam’s name was mentioned in a charge sheet filed by the Delhi police after a defendant in the December 15 violence claimed he was incited by the Imam’s speeches.
- IIT and JNU students came out in support of him after his arrest.
- On July 21, 2020, Shrajeel Imam housed in Guwahati Jail tested positive for COVID-19.
Categories: News
Source: dienchau2.edu.vn
