I was in Delhi for a shoot. All-night shooting schedules left my days free. Delhi’s summer was scorching…the new State government… lawmakers from across the country congregating in the capital… Parliament on the boil due to the Wakf (Amendment) Bill, now an Act.
I thought of Umar Khalid. It is going to be five years of his incarceration. How is he coping with this merciless heat inside Tihar Jail? I thought of his parents. I headed out to meet them in their home.
By the way, do you know Umar Khalid, the anti-national? Before that, shall we understand who an anti-national is? Without figuring that out, how can we differentiate an anti-national from a patriot?
One need not go too far back into the past to understand this. It suffices if we take note of an example from recent history.
Mahatma Gandhi, the man who unified the country towards non-violence, always emphasised the importance of religious harmony. He believed that the nation was no map, but the people who lived in it. He was of the firm conviction that all the people of the country had the right to practise the religion of their choice. No matter what language they spoke, which religion they practised and what caste they were born into, he believed that the nation bound them in a spirit of fraternity. Ironically, the man who survived British India was killed for these very views in independent India by a religious fundamentalist named Nathuram Godse.
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Ever since the Bharatiya Janata Party took the helm in the country, Gandhi has become the anti-national and Godse the patriot. The very people whose historic agenda has been to divide communities and sow religious hate are projecting themselves as patriots. And these self-proclaimed patriots are branding anyone who stands up against their communal agenda as anti-nationals. That is how Umar Khalid, a bright young mind of our time, came to be an anti-national.
Where the case stands
What was Umar Khalid’s crime after all? To believe that the country’s diversity is the heart and the soul of the Constitution; to protest against those who are trying to destroy the Constitution; to speak up against rulers who are repressing minority communities; to come to the streets against those spreading communal hate and sacrificing innocent lives for political ends.
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Even dead fish can go with the flow. To swim against the current, the fish have to be full of life, like Umar Khalid. He swims fearlessly against a flood of lies and hate. Can one expect any less from a true heir of Gandhism? “We are not the first to fight authoritarianism, and authoritarianism will not end after we are killed,” Bhagat Singh had said. Umar Khalid carries that legacy.
As a student leader, Umar Khalid fought tooth and nail against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) 2019, a law aimed at dividing the nation and destroying its fraternity. In February 2020, Delhi was in the throes of protests against this law that is aimed at denying citizenship to Muslims. As supporters of this law entered the picture, things turned violent. The peaceful CAA protests were disrupted, and mobs went on a rampage leaving 53 people, mostly Muslims, dead.
Leaders of the ruling party who instigated the mobs to violence continue to roam free. But it was Umar Khalid who was arrested by the government under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) on the charge of provoking mob violence.
Both the Sessions Court and High Court of Delhi have rejected his bail pleas. The bail application submitted before the Supreme Court in 2023 is still pending. To hold an accused for five years without substantiating charges, without even an investigation or an inquiry, is in itself unlawful and against human rights.
“A twenty-minute hearing in the Supreme Court is all we need to show that Umar Khalid is innocent,” his lawyers say. But the top court, since 2023, could not spare those 20 minutes to hear the bail application.
Holding up against the state
On the way to Umar’s house, some of his friends joined me. I was told that they make it a point to meet Umar in jail every week. “How do you manage to find time from your busy lives,” I asked.
One of Umar’s friends told me a story of a certain Amir who was in prison. In the first three months of Amir’s incarceration, his parents and friends apparently made regular visits. They could not, however, keep up their visits owing to poverty and livelihood issues. Amir, who stayed strong in those months, began to crumble slowly. Though he could have secured bail relatively easily, he languished in jail for 10 years.
The pain of separation from dear ones aside, prison chips away at a person’s self-confidence, breaking the human spirit.
Amir’s sad experience has only strengthened the resolve of Umar’s friends to meet him every week. They take turns and make it a point to visit him during every mulakaat, just to tell him “We are with you”. I felt proud and moved by these young people who guard their comrade’s emotional well-being from a ruthless state.
Umar’s mother gave me a warm welcome. His father would return soon, having gone to a discussion on the Waqf (Amendment) Bill. Eid was just a few days earlier.
She brought us sweets and served them with a smile, even as the pain of her son’s absence lurked deep in her eyes. “My son will be free soon. We have a lot of faith in the judiciary,” she said. Her words, meant to console us, brought tears to my eyes. Meanwhile, Umar’s father, who had returned, made tea, served us, and sat down for a chat.
I said, “Your son is not alone. We are with him.”
“We are aware of the cause he fought for and went to prison. We too are with him,” he said. I was moved.
One of Umar’s friends told Umar’s father, “Baba, once Umar is out on bail, we will send him with Prakash sir to South India. He will be safe there.”
With a stern look, Umar’s father replied, “The cause for his fight is here, in Delhi. Why go elsewhere and sit quietly?”
That is all.
Struggle is proof that we are alive. We have to fight to live with dignity. What good is it to be the living-dead?
The people, their rights
History will be witness to the fact that Umar Khalid and his parents are the real patriots. It is not just Umar Khalid, a person, who is languishing in jail for close to five years. It is the right to freedom of expression of every citizen; It is our right to dignity; and the Constitution that guarantees them.
Prakash Raj is an actor who has worked extensively across several Indian languages
Published – April 17, 2025 12:16 am IST