Activist Sharjeel Imam will not contest the Bihar Assembly elections as an independent candidate, his brother Muzammil Imam posted on social media on Friday.
The former Jawaharlal Nehru University student said that the main reason for his decision was that the Delhi High Court rejected his bail petition on September 2, and the Supreme Court did not grant him interim relief.
“The matter has been postponed to late October,” the activist said. “We expected that I will be out on bail by the time of election.”
The polls in Bihar will take place in two phases on November 6 and November 11, and the votes will be counted on November 14.
Imam had said that he would contest from the Bahadurganj constituency in Kishanganj district.
On Friday, however, he said that the state had “put hurdles on our path”, because of which he would not be able to personally campaign and meet voters in the constituency.
“We did anticipate this scenario and tried to prepare for it, but with extreme restrictions which a political prisoner like me faces, specially in communicating with the outside world, one month was simply not enough,” Imam said in a message that his brother conveyed on social media.
In an interview with Scroll in August, Sharjeel Imam had said that as an educated Muslim who had spent considerable time studying the problems of his community, it was his duty to enter the political domain.
He had said at the time that the “most important reason for contesting elections is to bring to the fore our narrative on positive politics, that is, constructive conversation on minority rights and structural changes which are necessary to ensure dignified life for minorities in the face of majoritarian tyranny”.
Also read: Sharjeel Imam interview: ‘As an educated Muslim, it is my duty to enter the political domain
Case against Sharjeel Imam
Sharjeel Imam, who has been in jail for over five years, is accused of being part of a “larger conspiracy” behind the 2020 Delhi riots.
He was arrested in January 2020 in connection with speeches made in Delhi, Aligarh, Asansol and Chakband during protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act and the proposed National Register of Citizens.
Clashes had broken out in North East Delhi in February 2020 between supporters of the Citizenship Amendment Act and those opposing it. The violence left 53 dead and hundreds injured.
The Delhi Police has claimed that the violence was part of a larger conspiracy to defame the Narendra Modi government and was plotted by those who organised the protests against the contentious citizenship law.
According to the police chargesheet, Sharjeel Imam’s speeches had incited members of the Muslim community, which had, in turn, triggered riots.
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