Guilty or innocent? Wait continues for Sharjeel trial

In December 2019, Sharjeel Imam's speeches against the CAA led to protests and his arrest. Now, five years later, he remains imprisoned amid debates on justice.

New Delhi

Sharjeel Imam along with crime branch officials after getting arrested from Bihar at Saket Police station in New Delhi on 29th January 2020. (HT Archive)

It is December 2019. Waves of protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) are rocking the Capital as anger against the controversial legislation is bubbling to the surface. Universities are particularly on the boil, with students, especially Muslim groups, hosting sit-in agitations, spreading tarpaulin sheets in campuses and roadside corners, organising impromptu meetings, and joining other organic demonstrations organised by locals. At one such meeting at Jamia Millia Islamia on December 13, a 31 year-old student from Jawaharlal