Chidambaram says police to take actions against speeches by Geelani

NEW DELHI - Union Home Minister P. Chidambaram said on Friday that the Delhi police will take action in accordance to law over the speeches made by the Kashmiri separatist leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani and others in a seminar in New Delhi.

Rejecting Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Arun Jaitely’s allegation on Centre for doing nothing over separatists holding a seminar in the national capital on Thursday, Chidambaram said: “I strongly reject Arun Jaitley’s charge that the Centre was doing nothing when a seminar was held yesterday in which Geelani and others participated.”

Chidambaram also said that to check whether there is any violation of the laws, the authorities have video-graphed the whole seminar and have submitted them to the legal advisers.

“If it is established prima facie that the laws have been violated, Delhi police will take action in accordance with the law,” he said.

Earlier in the day, Jaitely had accused the government of “looking the other way” and said this was unacceptable as there was no right of free speech available to break up the country.

He also called it against the sovereignty and integrity of the country and anyone exercising his right of speech in such a manner comes under criminal law.

Chidambaram said it was not correct to say that the government was keeping quiet.

He said the government had taken all steps to monitor the meeting and had also done complete video graphing of the proceedings so that it can go through its contents and to decide on further action.

At the convention on ‘Azadi-The Only Way’, Geelani shared the stage with writer Arundhati Roy and pro-Maoist leader Vara Vara Rao among others. (ANI)