Saad's Story: How Young Student from Maharashtra Ended Up in Jail after Supporting Nupur Sharma
Saad's Story: How Young Student from Maharashtra Ended Up in Jail after Supporting Nupur Sharma
Saad Ashfaq Ansari's lawyer said that the college student was 'just expressing his views and he was not inciting any form of violence or hurting any religious sentiments'

Young Saad Ashfaq Ansari languished in jail for 16 days after he put up a social media post on suspended BJP spokesperson Nupur Sharma, calling her a “brave woman”. Saad was granted bail on June 27 after his plea was rejected once before.

A student of management studies, Saad was arrested from his Kesarbaug residence by the Bhiwandi police after locals complained against him for supporting Nupur Sharma who had made controversial comments about Prophet Muhammad. He was in police custody until June 18 and was later sent to judicial custody.

Saad’s bail plea was first heard in the court of judicial magistrate first class in Bhiwandi on June 20 but was rejected after the prosecution argued that he had not only insulted Islam and Prophet Muhammad, but also posted, “Ditch the religion which spread terrorism in the world.”

Thereafter, Saad moved an application before the Thane sessions court and was granted bail. He was yet to be released from custody at the time of publishing this report since his family is expected to furnish a surety bond of Rs 25,000 as directed by the court.

Speaking to News18, Advocate Salman Anwar Khan explained, “The second time the accused applied for bail under section 439 of the IPC…After hearing both sides at length, the honourable sessions court decided on bail.”

Saad’s lawyer Narayana Iyer said that the college student was “just expressing his views and he was not inciting any form of violence or hurting any religious sentiments”.

“He was rather addressing his own community, saying people should not indulge in violence like there was across the country when the Nupur Sharma issue broke out. He was merely stating his own personal views which our Constitution allows under Article 19. He is a devout Muslim, a lover of animals and nature, with no malice towards anyone,” Iyer said.

News18 reached out to Saad’s father who refused to speak on the issue.

Local residents said Saad’s social media post hurt their sentiments and approached the police to book him for insulting Islam and Prophet Muhammad.

At first, a mob landed at his residence around 11.30 pm on June 11, asking him to publicly apologise for his statement. A video of the incident shows Saad trying to calm the frenzied crowd and pleading to let go of him. As the conversation turned heated, he was slapped on his face soon after he was forcibly asked to recall Islamic verses from the Quran.

The next morning, a bigger crowd gathered at his home to demand Saad’s arrest. An FIR was filed at the Nizampur police station in Bhiwandi, alleging that he had insulted Islam and the Prophet.

According to the FIR, a person named Faraz Fazal Bahauddin lodged the complaint against Saad under section 153 (A) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) for promoting rage between two groups on the grounds of religion, race, place of birth, residence, language, and other prejudiced acts.

“How could he write this after being brought up in a devout family? These young boys think they can get away writing such stuff on social media. We are here to safeguard our people and religion,” locals said.

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