The Anti-CAA (Citizenship Amendment Act) protests that took place between January and February led to the arrest of major leaders and influencers. One of them was Kafeel Khan and today, social media is flooded with the news of his arrest.
Born in Gorakhpur, Uttar Pradesh, Dr. Kafeel Khan was a lecturer at the Department of Paediatrics, Baba Raghav Das Medical College (BRD Medical College), Gorakhpur. He was arrested on the night of 30th January owing to his provocative speech on the CAA at Aligarh Muslim University on 12th December.
An FIR was filed against him on December 13th accusing him of harming the peaceful atmosphere at the university and disrupting communal harmony.
Two days after the FIR was registered, the police were accused of brutally beating several students and vandalizing college property.
He was arrested by the Special Task Force of UP Police under the National Security Act after 40 days from the date when the case was registered against him.
Previous Cases Against Dr. Kafeel Khan
This is not the first time that Kafeel Khan is in jail. This is actually the third time in three years. The first time was in August 2017, when he was one of the accused in the death case of around 70 infants in BRD Medical College.
No evidence of corruption or carelessness was found against him. He was accused of negligence and carelessness and arrested with eight others in this case. However, he was later found innocent by the single-member inquiry commission under Principal Secretary Himanshu Kumar.
In fact, it was later established that Khan did everything in his power to save those infants and spent money from his own pocket to procure oxygen cylinders.
Although declared innocent, he continued to be regarded as guilty by Yogi Adityanath, Honourable Chief Minister of UP. He was released on bail in April 2018 and was finally acquitted of all charges in September 2019.
On 10th June 2018, his brother Kashif Jameel, a businessman, was shot by men on a motorcycle. Three bullets were fired at him near Gorakhnath Temple, where the UP Chief Minister was staying then, as stated by Kafeel Khan.
While he was out on bail, he and his brother were arrested again in September 2018 in a nine-year-old fraud case. They were accused of stealing the identity of Muzaffar Alam, a resident of UP’s Shekhhpur.
Read Also: Who Is DU Professor Hany Babu M.T. Arrested Unexpectedly During Witness Summon?
The Recent Events In The Present Case
Around one month after his arrest in January 2020, his wife penned down a letter to the Chief Justice of the Uttar Pradesh High Court to request security for her husband. She claimed that he was not given food for five days after his arrest and that his life might be in danger.
“We went to meet him in Mathura jail. He told me that when he was brought to the jail after being arrested, he was not given food for five days straight. The barrack he is staying in is very small and around 100-150 people have been lodged there. His life might be in danger there,” she said.
These claims were denied by the UP government 2 days later.
On July 30th, Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra wrote to Yogi Adityanath about his detention. “I expect that while showing your sensitivity, you will try your best to secure justice for Dr. Kafeel,” she wrote.
She pointed out that the doctor had already spent more than 450 days in jail. She also wrote how he has selflessly served people in times of crisis.
Then, on August 4th, a letter was written to the Prime Minister Narendra Modi by Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, a Leader of the Congress in the Lok Sabha. He referred to the Ram Mandir ceremony and said, “Ramraj is antithetical to injustice, discrimination, and retribution.”
“I, on behalf of my party, vehemently opposed the legislation (CAA) inside Parliament and outside. However, no NSA was invoked against me or the millions of other protesters across the country… I am quite bewildered why a young medical practitioner has been implicated despite the fact that freedom of expression has been engraved in the hallowed Constitution of India,” he wrote.
Reaction Of Citizens
The citizens took Twitter by storm to demand justice for Dr. Kaleef Khan. Several tweets were made pointing out the grave injustice by the Adityanath-led government.
Let’s see how the case unfolds in the future and what is there in store for Dr. Kafeel Khan.
Image Sources: Google Images
Sources: NDTV, The Hindu, Times of India
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