Hegde justifies sedition charge against Amnesty

He said Amnesty International cannot ‘run away’ from its responsibility by saying that none of its employees shouted slogans. “What’s the responsibility of Amnesty International? They bring these people and allow them to speak whatever they want and then claim that they are not responsible. No, you have made a platform available to them. You are an abettor. You cannot run away from that,” Hegde, also the former Solicitor General of India told PTI . 

“Raising pro-independence slogans amounts to sedition. It amounts to sedition according to me,” he said. “Let’s take the institution’s (Amnesty’s) credibility. What did Amnesty International do when soldiers were killed? What did Amnesty International do when other terrorist activities were taking place in this country? Did they ever call a meeting like this? You try to get some popularity and when it backfires, you run away from it,” he said. “Taking into consideration what was spoken in the Bengaluru incident, I would say it certainly amounts to sedition,” the former Karnataka Lokayukta said.

Police on Friday resorted to lathicharge to disperse (Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad) ABVP activists staging a protest in front of the Amnesty International India office here demanding arrest of those who allegedly raised anti-India slogans at an event organised by the organisation. Several ABVP activists were injured, with a girl student fainting in the commotion before she was rushed to a hospital, police said, adding they detained many activists during the crackdown on the protest. Additional Commissioner of Police Bengaluru East P Harishekaran said police had to disperse protesters as they tried to burn an effigy in a residential area. “With two bottles of petrol they tried to burn an effigy in front of Amnesty International here. We had in prior warned them against any effigy burning as it is a residential area and from the security point of view,” he said.