A sedition case has been filed against a Samajwadi Party MP and two others in Uttar Pradesh’s Sambhal district over remarks that appear to check the Taliban to India’s freedom fighters
“A case was registered late last night against Shafiqur Rahman Barq and two others for provocative comments about the Taliban. The complainant said the Taliban was compared to Indian freedom fighters and their victory was celebrated,” Charkhesh Mishra, the Superintendent of Police in Chambhal district, said in a very video statement released today.
“The Taliban may be a terrorist organisation as per the Indian government and this (the alleged remarks) may be counted as sedition. We’ve filed a FIR (first information report),” he added.
On Monday, the Samajwadi Party’s Shafiqur Barq – the Lok Sabha MP from Sambhal – told reporters the Taliban “want Afghanistan to be free” and “want to run their own country”.
According to news organization PTI, Barq called the Taliban a ‘force that didn’t allow Russia or the US to determine themselves in Afghanistan’, and said the terrorist group’s actions were ‘an internal matter’.
“They want to be free. This is often their personal matter. How can we interfere?” he was quoted by PTI; he reportedly also said that when land occupied India, ‘the entire country fought for independence’.
The remark was met with fierce criticism from Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya, who compared it to Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan’s comment after the autumn of Kabul.
“Anything can happen within the Samajwadi Party. There are those who cannot sing ‘Jana Gana Mana’… someone might support the Taliban, others could level allegations on police after terrorists are caught. This is often appeasement,” he said outside the Assembly building in Lucknow.
“If this statement has been given (Mr Maurya said he had not personally heard the alleged statement) then there’s no difference between that person and Imran Khan,” he added.
The Taliban took effective control of Afghanistan Sunday after President Ashraf Ghani fled and also the terror group walked into Kabul with no opposition.
It capped a staggeringly fast rout of Afghanistan’s major cities in barely 10 days, achieved with relatively little bloodshed, following 20 years of war that claimed many thousands of lives.
On Monday Imran Khan said: “… in Afghanistan… they need broken the shackles of slavery.”
