Countercurrents / by Arun Srivastava

78-year-old man named Mohammed Naeem was acquitted and cleared of all charges by a special National Investigation Agency (NIA) Court in Lucknow after a 33-year-old sedition case due to a lack of evidence. He was accused of outraging religious feelings and making imputations prejudicial to national integration. The case stemmed from an incident on Republic Day, January 26, 1993, in Gorakhpur, Uttar Pradesh.
… The Bhima Koregaon case remains one of India’s most controversial legal proceedings. The takeover and handling of the case by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) reflect a politically motivated misuse of federal investigative powers to suppress dissent. The investigation conflates peaceful human rights advocacy and tribal rights work with militant activities, labelling intellectuals and lawyers as “urban naxals”.
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Also read:
▪ Years Without Trial, Then Pushing Guilty Pleas: Understanding the NIA’s Playbook (The Wire / Dec 2025)
▪ Inside the NIA’s ‘Perfect’ Conviction Record: How Coercive Detentions Are Driving Guilty Pleas (The Wire / Dec 2025)
▪ Justice On Hold: How India’s Trial Courts Are Creating a New Class of Political Prisoners—Those Accused Of ‘Terrorism’ (article 14 / Dec 2025)
▪ Bhima-Koregaon case transferred to NIA to compromise independent probe: Front Line Defenders (SabrangIndia / Jan 2020)
▪ Why Modi and Shah Took the Bhima Koregaon Investigation Away From Maharashtra (The Wire / Jan 2020)