Prominent activist Umar ᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚ𒀱ᩚᩚᩚKhalid has spen🦂t a total of 1600 days in Tihar Jail since he was first arrested in 2020 for his alleged connection in the Delhi Riots.
As Um🔯ar marks his 1600th day in Tihar Jail, around 160 activists, academics, actors and artist꧙s have signed a letter calling for the release of Umar Khalid and all others who have been arrested in the anti-CAA protests.
Citing that🍌 January 30, 2025, also happens to be the 77th anniversary of the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi, names such as Ramchandra Guha, Naseeruddin Shah, Ratna Pathak Shah, Romila Thapar, and many more have called for the urgent release of these activists.
"Umar and many others like him are in prison charged under the draconian Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA), without bail, without trial, for years at an end. Not because they motivated or instigated anybody to commit any act of violence, but bᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚ𒀱ᩚᩚᩚecause they stood in defence of peace and justice and advocated non-violent dissidence against unjust laws. In the end, this is not just about Umar Khalid," read the letter.
"Umar Khalid, known for his eloquent speeches advocating for pluralism, secularism, and constitutional values, has been falsely accused in the most brazenly twisted manner of conspiring to incite violence," the l♒etter adds.
Read The Full Statement Below -
Today, 30th of January, 2025, is the 1600th day that the historian and activist Umar Khalid has spent in Delhi’s Tihar prison. It also happens to be the 77th anniversary of the assassination of Mohandas Karmachand Gandhi at the hands of a Hindutva fanatic.
We, the undersigned, are not unaware of this synchronicity. Nor do we wish to see it pass unnoticed.
In a speech preceding his arrest Umar Khalid had asserted that the same forces that had killed Gandhi had also brought in the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA), which he and many others had protested against.
He had said, “They are destroying the values of Mahatma Gandhi, and the people of India are fighting against them. If those in power want to divide India, the people of India are ready to unite the country.”
Umar and many others like him are in prison charged under the draconian Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA), without bail, without trial, for years at an end. Not because they motivated or instigated anybody to commit any act of violence, but because they stood in defence of peace and justice and advocated non-violent dissidence against unjust laws.
In the end, this is not just about Umar Khalid.
It pains us, for instance, to read Umar Khalid’s fellow-detenu Gulfisha Fatima’s poem – as she writes about the “silent walls” of the prison. A bright young student activist, an MBA graduate and a history enthusiast, Gulfisha is spending her fifth year in prison. Similarly, one wonders if Khalid Saifi is being “punished” simply for reciting the Preamble of India’s Constitution that speaks of secularism and equality. Sharjeel Imam, a bright scholar of history and student activist, in fact has expressed that while he did know that dissenters run the risk of arrest under this regime, he did not expect to be accused of “terrorism”, especially for riots that occurred a month after he had already been arrested. The list goes on to include Meeran Haider, Athar Khan, Shifa Ur Rahman and others. A predatory regime first brought in a law that discriminated against Muslims vis-a-vis the right to Indian citizenship, and then selectively persecuted those who raised their voices against this measure, especially if they were Muslim.
Umar Khalid was arrested on September 13, 2020, under the draconian UAPA in connection with the Delhi riots of February 2020. These riots, which caused significant loss of life and property, was a macabre episode that resulted in 53 deaths, 38 of whom were Muslims. However, instead of holding accountable those who incited and perpetuated the violence, the state has targeted activists and protestors who peacefully opposed the CAA.
Umar Khalid, known for his eloquent speeches advocating for pluralism, secularism and constitutional values, has been falsely accused in the most brazenly twisted manner of conspiring to incite violence. In one of his speeches that has been used against him, he in
fact is heard saying, “We will not respond to violence with violence. We will not respond to hate with hate. If they spread hate, we will respond to it by spreading love. If they beat us with lathis, we will hold aloft the tri-colour. If they fire bullets, then we will hold aloft the Constitution in our hands.” And yet, the authorities have gone out of their way to frame him using the most devious lies and distortions of facts.
This repeated denial of bail and prolonged incarceration without trial, in fact, is one of the most distressing aspects of Umar Khalid’s case and that of the others in this case. This is despite the fact that the High Court in 2021, while granting bail to three of the accused, had made strong observations about the arguments put forth by the state. The bench had in no unambiguous terms stated that “We are constrained to express, that it seems, that in its anxiety to suppress dissent, in the mind of the state, the line between the constitutionally guaranteed right to protest and terrorist activity seems to be getting somewhat blurred. If this mindset gains traction, it would be a sad day for democracy.” And yet, the state continues to bank on draconian laws like the UAPA that makes obtaining bail notoriously difficult. Such laws along with inordinate judicial delays have created a situation where individuals are effectively punished through prolonged detention, without any trial, without being proven guilty.
We, the undersigned, are deeply disturbed to witness how a bright and compassionate young man like Umar who is trained as a historian and nurtured as a critical thinker, has repeatedly been targeted, vilified and branded by an authoritarian regime.
We sincerely hope to see Umar and these equal citizenship activists to be free so that they may contribute towards an equal and just future.
Release Umar Khalid and all Equal Citizenship Activists
Endorsed by
Amitav Ghosh, Novelist and essayist
Rajmohan Gandhi, Writer, grandson of Mahatma Gandhi
Ramachandra Guha, Historian and writer
Naseeruddin Shah, Actor in Theatre and Cinema
Ratna Pathak Shah, Actor in Theatre and Cinema
Romila Thapar, Professor Emerita, JNU
Gayatri Chakravarty Spivak, Professor, Columbia University, NYC
Akeel Bilgrami, Professor, Columbia University, NYC
Sandeep Pande, Magsaysay Awardee, Social activist
Anand Teltumbde, Civil rights activist
Anand Patwardhan, Film Maker
Harsh Mander, Social Activist
Irfan Habib, Professor Emeritus, AMU
Prabhat Patnaik, Professor Emeritus, Jawaharlal Nehru University
Lalit Vachani, Filmmaker and Researcher, University of Göttingen
Tanika Sarkar, Historian, Former professor of History at Jawaharlal Nehru University, now teaches at Ashoka University
Sumit Sarkar, Historian, Former Professor of History at DU and one of the early members of Subaltern Studies
Jayati Ghosh, Professor of Economics, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA
Nandini Sundar, Delhi based Sociologist
Partha Chatterjee, Professor of Anthropology and South Asian studies at Columbia University
Gyan Prakash, Professor of History, Princeton University
Tushar A. Gandhi, Founder President, Mahatma Gandhi Foundation, Mumbai
John Harriss, Professor Emeritus, Simon Fraser University and Queen’s University, Canada.
Kavita Srivastava, PUCL
Lalita Ramdas, Educator, Peace Activist, Citizen of India
Kalpana Kannabiran, Sociologist and Lawyer
John Dayal, Writer, New Delhi
Shabnam Hashmi, Social Activist, Anhad
Sudhanva Deshpande, LeftWord Books
Christophe Jaffrelot, President of the French Political Science Association
Alpa Shah, Professor of Social Anthropology, University of Oxford
Amrita Basu, Professor, Amherst College
Nakul Singh Sawhney, Filmmaker and Founder, ChalChitra Abhiyaan
Rakesh Sharma, Filmmaker
Ram Puniyani, All India Secular Forum, Mumbai
Sagari R Ramdas, Food Sovereignty Alliance, India
Joe Athialy, Centre for Financial Accountability
Meena Kandasamy, Poet, writer & activist
Rasheed Ahmed, Executive Director, Indian American Muslim Council
Sunita Viswanath, Executive Director, Hindus for Human Rights
Ishita Pande, Professor, History, Queen’s University, Canada
Zoya Hasan, Professor Emerita, JNU
Utsa Patnaik, Professor Emerita, JNU
C.P. Chandrasekhar, Professor Retd., JNU
Praveen Jha, Professor, JNU
Darab Farooqui, Screenwriter
Linda Hess, Senior Lecturer Emeritus, Stanford University
Jawhar Sircar, ex MP and ex Secretary, Government of India
Sankaran Krishna, Professor of Political Science, University of Hawai’i at Manoa
Debashree Mukherjee, Associate Professor, Columbia University in New York
Börries Nehe, Researcher at Universität Potsdam, Faculty of Economics and Social Sciences, Coordinator of International Research Group on Authoritarianism & Counter-Strategies (IRGAC)
Shayoni Mitra, Professor, Barnard College, Columbia University
O P Shah, Chairman, Centre for Peace & Progress
Anjali Noronha, Educationist, Bhopal
Mondira Jaisimha, Founding Partner – Cura Servitium and City Head – ElderAid, Hyderabad
Nandini Manjrekar, Professor (Retired), TISS Mumbai
Purwa Bharadwaj, Writer, educator
Apoorvanand, Writer, teaches at DU
Gurveen Kaur, educationist
Jayasree Subramanian, Academician, Hyderabad
Amogh Dhar Sharma, Leverhulme Early Career Fellow, University of Oxford
Damir Arsenijević, Professor, University of Tuzla, Bosnia and Herzegovina
Ruchir Joshi, Writer and Film-maker, Kolkata
Sudhir Vombatkere, Engineer & writer
Nilita Vachani, Educator, Filmmaker and Writer, New York University
Srirupa Roy, Professor, University of Göttingen
Ayesha Kidwai, Professor, Centre for Linguistics, JNU
Susie Tharu. Professor (Retd) EFLU
Fathima Nizaruddin, Filmmaker
Rashmi Varma, Professor of English and Comparative Literary Studies, University of Warwick
Subir Sinha, Director, SOAS South Asia Institute, London
Amitava Kumar, Writer and Journalist, Vassar College
Gianpaolo Baiocchi, Urban Democracy Lab, NYU
Paula Chakravartty, Professor, NYU and Vice President, NYU-AAUP
Dickens Leonard, Visiting Fellow, Brandeis University
Kai Jabir Friese, Journalist
Siddharth Dube, Writer
Rajive Tiwari, Professor of Physics and Mathematics at Belmont Abbey College, USA
Gyanendra Pandey, Prof of History, Emory University
Ruby Lal, Prof of South Asian History, Emory University
Raza Mir, Professor of Management, William Paterson University, USA
Lotika Singha, Writer, editor, member-International Solidarity for Academic Freedom
83. Rajeev Singha, Retired medical professional and activist
Sruti Bala, Associate Professor, Theatre Studies, University of Amsterdam
Balaji Narsimhan, Independent, California, USA
Arundhati Dhuru, Social activist
MV Ramana, Professor and Simons Chair in Disarmament, Global and Human Security, Simon Frazer University, Vancouver, Canada
Usha Iyer, Associate Professor, Film and Media Studies, Department of Art and Art History, Stanford University
Abha Sur, Lecturer in Women’s and Gender Studies, MIT, Cambridge, MA
Jyotsna Kapur, Professor of Cinema and Media Studies, Southern Illinois University, Carbondale, IL
Vinay Lal, Professor of History & Asian American Studies, University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA)
Aditya Sarkar, Associate Professor in History, University of Warwick
93. Jarno Lang, General Manager
Natalie Lang, Research Fellow
Prerna Agarwal, Research Fellow
Kajri Jain, Professor
Shireen Moosvi, Professor Retd., AMU
Carol Rovane, Professor, Columbia University, NYC
Fr. Cedric Prakash SJ, Human Rights and Peace Activist/Writer, Ahmedabad
Manu Goswami, Historian, NYU
Rasika Ajotikar, Junior Professor of Ethnomusicology, University of Hildesheim
102. Dhirendra K. Jha, Journalist and Author, Delhi.
Anjali Monteiro, Filmmaker and Academic, Goa
KP Jayasankar, Filmmaker and Academic, Goa
Uma Chakravarti, Retired Teacher of History, Filmmaker
Anand Chakravarti, Retired Teacher, University of Delhi
Michael Gottlob, Historian, India Coordination Group, Berlin
Sunanda Bhat, Filmmaker
Nivedita Menon, Professor, JNU, Delhi
Geeta Seshu, Journalist and Co-Editor, Free Speech Collective
Laila Kadiwal, Associate Professor in Education and International Development at University College, London
Yasmin Saikia, Hardt-Nickachos Chair in Peace Studies, Center for the Study of Religion and Conflict, Arizona State University
Chitra Joshi, Independent Historian
Parinitha, Professor, Mangalore University, Mangaluru
Shreya Sinha, Academic
Shubhra Gururani, Anthropology & YCAR, York University
Aditya Nigam, Independent academic, Delhi
Sangeeta Kamat, Professor, International Development Education, University of Massachusetts Amherst
Abdul Matin, Assistant Professor, Department of International Relations, Jadavpur University, Kolkata
Priya Sen, Independent Artist and Filmmaker
A. Mangai, Academician and Theatre person, Marappachi Theatre Group
Shubashree Desikan, Science journalist, Chennai
Mira Kamdar, Writer
Unni Karunakara, Yale University, New Haven
Nalini Rajan, Dean of Studies, Asian College of Journalism, Chennai
Aakar Patel, Columnist, Bengaluru
Shahana Bhattacharya, Associate Professor
Dwaipayan Bhattacharyya, Academic
Pallavi Gupta, Researcher
Harinder Mahil, Retd. Union Representative, Vancouver, Canada
131. Shamsul Islam, Historian, Writer
Jane Mills, University of New South Wales, Australia
Ranjit Sur, Association for the Protection of Democratic Rights (APDR)
Amit Mahanti, Filmmaker, New Delhi
Somnath Waghmare, Filmmaker, Mumbai
Sondhy Dutta, Design Consultant and Interior Designer, Kolkata
Mithu Das, Kolkata
Kaushik Roy, Filmmaker, Branding & Creative Consultant, Mumbai
Ranjan Kar, Retired MNC executive, Bengaluru
Rangan Chakravarty, Media professional, Kolkata
Anik Datta, Filmmaker, Kolkata
Behroze Gandhy, Film Producer
Aparajita Sinha, Writer.
Nikhilesh Sinha, Professor of Economics and Finance, Hult International Business School
Mishka Sinha, Curator of Inclusive History London, U.K
Zeenat Shaukat Ali, Director General Wisdom Foundation
Satish Bhatia, Academia, FTII Alumni
Thomas Franco, People First
Markus Nornes, Language Studies and Asian Cinema, University of Michigan
Aditi Mehta, IAS Retired
Moutuli Nag Sarkar, (APDR)
Indranil Chatterjee, (APDR)
Altaf Ahmed, (APDR)
Sarmistha Roy, (APDR)
Sourav Roy, (APDR)
Amitava Sengupta, (APDR)
Saroj Mondal, (APDR)
Rahul Chakraborty, (APDR)
Animesh, (APDR)
Rajib Dutta, (APDR)
Umar Khalid was arrested on ﷽September 🉐13, 2020, under UAPA for his alleged connection to the Delhi Riots.
The activist was released on interim bail in December 2024 for a week to attend a family wedding. Earlier on, he was granted a week-long i🔯nterim bail in December 2022. However, since then, his bail pleas have been rejected thrice.
