Bihar tops in sedition arrests, J-K much lower in the list
Patna,(BiharTimes): With 68 Bihar tops the list in the number of people arrested under the charge of sedition in the last three years.
The 2016 figure excludes Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal as data from the twostates were not available.
As many as 165 people were arrested in the country during this period.
However, most of these arrests in Bihar were made in 2014 and 2015 when the states were ruled by Jitan Ram Manjhi and Nitish Kumar. The Grand Alliance government came to power only on November 20, 2015.
In The figures, compiled by the National Crime Records Bureau, were given by Minister of State for Home Hansraj Ahir in the Rajya Sabha on Wednesday.
After Bihar, 18 arrests were made in Jharkhand, 15 in Haryana and 10 in Punjab. While Haryana and Jharkhand are BJP ruled states, Punjab was till March last ruled by Akali Dal-BJP alliance.
In all, 105 cases were registered.
Only two of the 53 persons chargesheeted during this period were convicted, the minister said.
Delhi Police, which is controlled by Union home ministry, made four sedition arrests in 2016.
Six arrests were made in Left-ruled Kerala, and one each in Congress-ruled Karnataka and Telugu Desam Party- ruled Andhra Pradesh.
All the 15 arrests in Haryana were made in 2015 and 2016 under the BJP regime.
Sedition cases were registered against Jat Sangharsh Samiti chief and others for allegedly threatening peace and communal harmony by instigating people to launch a fresh agitation for reservation.
Incidentally, the number of sedition cases is low in some states hit by militancy. For instance, in Jammu and Kashmir, only one case was registered in 2015 and none in 2014 and 2016.
“Fifty-eight people were arrested in 47 cases registered in 2014. The number increased to 73 in 2015 with as many as 30 cases being registered. Only 34 people were arrested in 28 cases in 2016 under the offence of Sedition (Section 124A of IPC),” the minister said.
