Background
Shifa-Ur-Rehman is a human rights activist and the President of the Alumni Association, Jamia Millia Islamia University (AAJMI). He is married to Nooren Fatima and has two children aged ten and eight. He was a huge critic of the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), National Register of Citizens (NRC), and National Population Register (NPR). He actively protested against the CAA and the NRC at Jamia Millia Islamia.
Life and Activism
Shifa-Ur-Rehman was born in 1975 in a village, Sathla in Meerut district of Uttar Pradesh. His father was the landlord of the village and he owned acres of agricultural land, while his mother was a housewife. He moved to Delhi at a young age and did his schooling from Jamia Millia Islamia. He pursued his master’s degree in commerce from Jamia Millia Islamia. He lives in Jamia Nagar, New Delhi. Along with his family occupation, he is a businessman by profession. He contested the Alumni Association of Jamia Millia Islamia election in the year 2018 and became the first elected President of AAJMI. He was actively involved in the anti CAA, NRC protest going on Jamia Millia Islamia gate no.7 and strongly supported the student fraternity.
Circumstances of Arrest
On April 27, 2020, he was arrested during the Covid-19 lockdown while he was engaged in relief work in the North East Delhi riot-affected areas, for allegedly conspiring to incite communal violence during the 2020 Delhi Riots. According to the Delhi police, the violence was a pre-planned conspiracy and all arrests have been made based on scientific and forensic evidence. Rehman was booked under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) by Delhi Police. He was booked under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA); he was falsely accused of procuring funds to incite violence in the North East Delhi riots. He, in his court petitions, had maintained that he was falsely accused like the other anti–CAA protesters by the Delhi police as he filed a complaint against BJP functionaries- Anurag Thakur, Parvesh Varma, and Kapil Mishra.
Charges & Allegations
He is charged under FIR 59/2020 with offences under the IPC, 1967 , Arms Act, and Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA). Charges & Allegations include but are not limited to rioting (Sec. 147 IPC), rioting with a deadly weapon (Sec. 148 IPC), murder (Sec. 302 IPC), attempted murder (Sec. 307 IPC), sedition (Sec. 124A IPC), “promoting enmity between different groups on the grounds of religion, race, place of birth, residence, language, etc., and doing acts prejudicial to maintenance of harmony” (Sec. 153A IPC), unlawful activities (Sec. 13 UAPA), terrorist acts (Sec. 16 UAPA), raising funds for terrorist acts (Sec. 17 UAPA), and conspiracy (Sec. 18 UAPA).
He was also booked in the FIR 59/2020 (in which many anti-CAA protesters are booked) under sections 147, 148, 149, 120B, 302, 307, 124A, 153A, 186, 353, 395, 427, 435, 436, 452, 454, 109 and 114 of Indian Penal Code relating to sedition, murder, unlawful assembly, etc. He was also booked under sections 3 and 4 of the Prevention of Damage of Public Property Act, 1984 and sections 25 and 27 of the Arms Act, 1959.
Current Status
He was in custody beyond the period of the investigation date allowed by a Delhi court to the Investigation agency. He impugned the orders, and the Delhi High Court heard his case on May 7, 2021; though the court observed that certain rights of the petitioner had been violated, his petition was disposed off. He is presently imprisoned in Tihar Jail and is awaiting bail.