This story is from February 18, 2019

Student activist held for sedition in Delhi to approach Manipur HC for relief

The lawyer of Veewon Thokchom, a student activist from Manipur who was arrested and charged with sedition for a Facebook post critical of the citizenship amendment bill, on Sunday said they would move the Manipur high court soon.
Student activist held for sedition in Delhi to approach Manipur HC for relief
Veewon Thokchom
KOLKATA: The lawyer of Veewon Thokchom, a student activist from Manipur who was arrested and charged with sedition for a Facebook post critical of the citizenship amendment bill, on Sunday said they would move the Manipur high court soon.
Veewon, who is the former president of Manipur Students’ Association Delhi (MSAD) and at present one its advisers, was arrested from his rented house at Saket in south Delhi on Friday on the basis of an FIR lodged at Lamlei police station in Imphal East district earlier this week.

He was charged with sedition under Section 124A of the IPC for ‘inciting violence’ and demanding ‘Manipur’s right to self-determination’ in a Facebook post, police said. A Saket court that heard the case on Saturday issued a transit remand and he is likely to be taken to Manipur soon.
Veewon’s lawyer Ali Zia Kabir told TOI, “Manipur Police produced a transit remand order in court on Saturday. We weren’t given enough time to challenge the judicial order on Saturday. We will move a petition in the Manipur high court praying for quashing of the FIR against my client.”
He added, “The sedition charge is ridiculous. Veewon had helped organize a press conference in Delhi in January to condemn the arrest of Manipur scribe Kishorechandra Wangkhem (currently in detention under NSA). The irony is that Veewon himself has been charged with sedition now. We were not even told which police station he was being detained in.”
Besides MSAD, student bodies of the northeast such as Manipur’s AMSU, MSF, DESAM, SUK, KSA and AMIS condemned Veewon’s arrest, saying the state government had been violating the right to freedom of expression. The powerful North East Student Organisation (Neso), in a statement, said Veewon had been vocal against the detention of Wangkhem and the bill. “He was arrested without being given any reason and arrest warrant. Police assaulted him and did not allow him to wear his slippers,” the statement said. MSAD leaders and Veewon’s family also said he was being targeted for being at the forefront of Delhi-based protests against the citizenship bill and the detention of Wangkhem.

The MSAD said the operation was carried out by a joint team of Manipur police and personnel from Delhi Police’s special cell in Janakpuri PS. Delhi Police special cell DCP Sanjeev Kumar Yadav however said, “Manipur Police arrested him in Delhi. We only provided logistical support. The court has issued a five-day remand to Veewon and he will be taken back to Manipur soon.”
Confirming the sedition charge against Veewon, Imphal East SP K Meghchandra said, “He has been booked under Section 124A of the IPC, besides sections 153 and 135. He will be brought back to Manipur as soon as the formalities in Delhi are over.”
Veewon’s sister, Venuka Thokchom, who was in the house at the time of the arrest, told TOI, “The police arrived on Friday evening and started questioning my brother. Then they asked him to go with them. When Veewon asked them why he was being arrested, they did not give an explanation. They confiscated his phone and laptop.” Veewon’s brother, Venus, said, “The police could not even produce a warrant.”
Many of the MSAD students that TOI spoke to said they had been receiving threats from anonymous numbers ever since they held protests against the citizenship bill in Delhi. MSAD secretary general Shaikom Chimgaheinganba said, “The arrest has nothing to do with the Facebook post. Veewon has been arrested because he was at the forefront of the agitations in Delhi. Police had also visited his parents in Imphal and warned them to rein him in.”
Veewon had in fact mentioned this incident in a Facebook post on February 13. “Manipur Police Commando from both Imphal East and Imphal West came to my house and threatened my parents. Searched my room. They took pictures of my parents and said ‘tell him to focus on his studies’,” he had posted.
(With inputs from K Sarojkumar Sharma in Imphal)
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