CPM for withdrawal of Sitaram Yechury charges

The CPI(M) on Monday demanded withdrawal of sedition charges slapped against its general secretary Sitaram Yechury and other political leaders raising concern over the “manner in which” sedition clause (124A of IPC) is being used in the country and argued that the same underlines the necessity for scrapping the section.

Reacting to the sedition charges, Mr Yechury said he was also placed in the league of Mahatma Gandhi and Bhagat Singh with the Act being invoked against him. “It was this sedition act due to which Bhagat Singh gave his life,” he said.

Along with Mr Yechury, Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi, Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejri-wal, Congress leaders Anand Sharma and Ajay Maken, CPI leader D. Raja, JD(U) spokespe-rson K.C. Tyagi, JNUSU president Kanhaiya Ku-mar and JNU research scholar Umar Khalid have been booked under the charges on the order of a Hyderabad court, based on a complaint filed by lawyer Janardhan Goud.

“The politburo of CPI(M) condemns registration of a case of sedition against Mr Yechury and other Opposition leaders. It demands withdrawal of the case against the leaders and all others named in the FIR,” the party said in a statement.

“The politburo warns the Central government to desist from actions which suppress democratic rights and freedom in the country by branding dissent and opposition as anti-national,” the CPI(M) added.