UP Doctor Kafeel Khan Charged Under National Security Act Over CAA Speech

Kafeel Khan, the Uttar Pradesh doctor who was jailed after the death of over 60 children at a government hospital in 2017, has been charged under the tough National Security Act (NSA) for a speech against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act or CAA at a talk at the Aligarh Muslim University late last year.

Dr Khan was granted bail on Monday after he was arrested by the Uttar Pradesh police last month from the Mumbai airport following a First Information Report (FIR) against him. However, he was yet to be released from the Mauthura jail.

The FIR, filed on December 13, says Dr Khan made an attempt to vitiate the peaceful atmosphere at the university and disturb communal harmony.The police have not revealed the grounds on which the NSA was imposed.

Two days after the case was registered against Dr Khan, there were large-scale clashes at AMU, where the police were accused of indulging in violence and were seen on video smashing two-wheelers and assaulting students.

The new charges against Dr Khan have drawn condemnation.

Shocking!
UP Police follows Kashmir model.
Dr Kafeel was arrested. Court ordered his release. But he was not released.
Now we learn that he has been booked under NSA.
Name of the game: will keep cooking excuses, but will catch and keep whoever we want. https://t.co/ZDwJ0sVtJ6

— Yogendra Yadav (@_YogendraYadav) February 14, 2020

Introduced in 1980, the strict National Security Act empowers the government to detain people, without being charged in court, for up to a year if they suspect that they could disrupt public order, endanger the security of India or its ties with foreign countries.

Dr Khan was suspended, arrested and jailed for his alleged role in the deaths of over 60 children at a government hospital in Gorakhpur due to alleged oxygen shortage in 2017. In September last year, a UP government report cleared him of all major accusations.

The Citizenship Amendment Act or CAA promises citizenship to non-Muslim refugees from Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan, making religion a test of Indian nationality for the first time.

While critics say the law can be used to persecute Muslims in combination with the planned National Register of Citizens (NRC), the government says the law will help those who have faced religious persecution in the three neighbouring countries.