Student Leader Booked for Pro-Palestine Slogans
The FIR has prompted strong responses from student activists nationwide.
Hyderabad: Student leader and PhD scholar at Maulana Azad National Urdu University (Manuu), Hyderabad, Talha Mannan has been booked by Aligarh police for raising pro-Palestine slogans during a protest at Aligarh Muslim University on August 4. The FIR, filed on the complaint of Hindu Raksha Dal’s Sanjay Arya, accuses Mannan of holding a demonstration near Bab-e-Syed Gate without permission and raising “provocative slogans” with 8–10 others. It states that videos of the protest circulated on social media and alleges the act could disturb communal harmony. Police registered the case under Sections 223 and 353(2) of the BNS, 2023.
To recall, AMU has recently seen protests against the fee hike and the demand to restore the Students’ Union. Mannan, an AMU alumnus, returned to address students and joined demonstrations wearing a Palestinian scarf. His supporters say the slogans were an expression of solidarity with Palestine. Students present at the protest said, “Talha has been booked for wearing a Palestine scarf and raising slogans for Palestine. Raising slogans and standing up against oppression is not a crime. Raising a voice against the killing of innocent children is not a crime.”
The FIR has prompted strong responses from student activists nationwide. Afreen Fatima, a researcher, wrote on X, “The witch-hunt and media trial of student leader Talha Mannan for raising slogans in support of Palestine shows the moral collapse of Indian society at large and how law enforcement has become an instrument of political vendetta. For the UP Police to file an FIR over a slogan condemning genocide is shameful. Criminalizing solidarity while remaining silent on war crimes exposes the state’s complicity and its attack on free speech.”
Fraternity Movement, Uttar Pradesh, called the case an attempt to criminalise dissent. Its statement read, “Speaking against genocide is a moral responsibility, not a crime. UP Police should stop criminalising humanity. Fraternity Movement stands in complete solidarity with the people of Palestine and with people across the globe protesting Israel’s inhumane genocide in Gaza.”
Support has also come from Hyderabad. Md Abuhamza, former vice president of Manuu Students’ Union and AMU alumnus, said, “His only ‘crime’ was standing in solidarity with AMU students against fee hikes, denial of student union elections, and arbitrary actions of the proctorial team. His speech was a call for justice, not hate. The BJP government, instead of addressing student issues, is suppressing dissent and destroying the education system across India. Targeting Talha is not just an attack on him, but on every student fighting for their rights.”
