Delhi Police Special Cell on Saturday registered an FIR against Delhi Minorities Commission chairman Zafarul Islam Khan on charges of sedition after he allegedly made a “provocative” Facebook post for which he later apologised.
A senior officer said the FIR has been registered under Sections 124 A (Sedition) and 153 A (Promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race, place of birth, residence, language, etc., and doing acts prejudicial to maintenance of harmony) based on a complaint by a resident of south Delhi’s Vasant Kunj.
The complainant stated that on April 28 Mr. Khan shared a post social media which was “provocative”. In the post, he thanked Kuwait for taking note of the “persecution of Indian Muslims” in the context of the violence in north-east Delhi.
Mr. Khan later issued a statement apologising for the post. “I realise that my tweet was ill-timed and insensitive in view of our country facing a medical emergency and fighting an unseen enemy. I apologise to all whose sentiments were hurt. Further, the limitation of a tweet, which has to be very short by its very nature, was also responsible that the whole narrative was not made out in plain language,” he had said.
In a parallel development, a group of former judges, bureaucrats, and others on Saturday urged Delhi Lieutenant-Governor Anil Baijal not to allow Mr. Khan to complete his term, which ends in July.
“Mr. Zafarul Islam is completing his term in July this year. Keeping in mind his concurrent and recurring potential to abuse the authority bestowed upon him by the law, we plead to your honour that he should not be permitted to complete the term,” the letter read.
‘Criminally culpable’
The group, who called themselves “concerned citizens of India”, termed Mr. Khan’s post an “ill-conceived communal rant” and an “anti-national act”.
The letter said the “illegal” action of Mr. Khan also makes him “criminally culpable” on many counts.
The group of 106 people included S.M. Soni, former judge of Gujarat High Court; Permod Kohli, former Chief Justice of Sikkim High Court; and Anand Bose, former Chief Secretary of Kerala.
