Karnataka: Nothing seditious in school play, rules court
A court in Karnataka has noted there was nothing seditious in the play that was performed at a school in Bidar on January 21, as it granted bail to all accused. The play did not cause any social disharmony, district judge Managoli Premavathi said. "I'm of opinion that ingredients of Section 124A of IPC (Sedition) are prima facie lacking," she added.
Play was supposed to spread awareness about CAA
The play, centered around the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), was performed at Shaheen Urdu School. One of the school students suggested that she would beat the person, who asks to furnish documents, with a slipper. This statement got the play in trouble and the child's mother Najumunissa was arrested for "tweaking" the lines. Headmistress Fareeda Begum was also arrested. They got bail later.
Minors were questioned by police about the play
To note, the FIR was registered on the complaint of social worker Neelesh Rakshyal, who said the school "used" students of Classes 4, 5, and 6 for a play against CAA, National Register of Citizens (NRC), and also abused Prime Minister Narendra Modi. After the case was registered, Karnataka Police interrogated students. The grilling session sometimes went for as long as four hours.
Children expressed what they felt: Judge
Not finding any wrong intentions in the play, the judge said, "What the children have expressed is that they will have to leave the country if they do not produce the documents and except that, there is nothing to show that the school has committed the offense of sedition." Premavathi noted that the controversial dialog doesn't imply hate or shows contempt towards the government.
A journalist was booked for uploading video of play
Reportedly, the police booked journalist Mohammed Yousuf Rahim, president of Shaheen group of institutions Abdul Qadir, and other members of school management, for sedition. Rahim was booked for sharing a clip of the play on social media. "If at all it were not uploaded on Facebook, even the public could not come to know about the dialog of that drama," the judge noted.
