A large number of intellectuals, activists and civil society members gathered at India Habitat Centre in New Delhi on May 14. The occasion was the public meeting on ‘Criminalising Dissent, 1000 Days of Umar Khalid’s Incarceration’. Organised by the Welfare Party of India, the meeting discussed the case of Umar Khalid, co-accused in the 2020 Delhi Riots, and thousands of other political prisoners.
Speaking on the occasion, Prof Apoorvanand, who teaches Hindi at the University of Delhi, questioned the logic of the investigation process of Delhi Police in the Delhi riots.
Northeast Delhi burnt in communal violence between 23 February 2020 to 25 February 2020 and 53 people lost their lives. Two-thirds of the killed were Muslim. Human Rights activists allege that Delhi Police failed to carry out its duty to protect the lives of people. However, the police filed 751 FIRs into the communal violence and accused 18, out of which 16 were Muslims, of planning the riots. Anti-CAA activist Umar Khalid, who holds a PhD degree in Modern History from JNU, is one among 18 accused. He is one of the accused charged with several stringent laws, including the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA), the Prevention of Damage of Public Property Act, of 1984 and the Arms Act. For over one thousand days, Umar has been in jail without trial.
Prof Apoorvanand expressed concern that while the culprits of the Delhi riots have not been touched, the anti-CAA protesters have been charged with planning the riots: “In fact, those who were protesting against CAA were acting as per the provisions of the Constitution. They struggled to save the Constitutional definition of secularism, which was being eroded by the government. Yet the police logic is to call the activists fighting for Constitutional values as those who were the instigators of riots.”
He condemned the police brutalities on the CAA protestors in several parts of the country and said that such a crackdown was part of a conspiracy to teach Muslim youth a lesson that the vocal voices among them would not be tolerated. However, he made it clear that Indian democracy and its Constitution give equal rights to all.
“Muslims do not have fewer rights than anyone else to express their free will and act like free citizens. Umar Khalid, Sharjeel Imam, and Gulfisha Fatima were symbols of educated Muslim youths and that is why they were framed in a conspiracy”.
Kavita Srivastava, human rights activist and National Secretary of the People’s Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL), too, agreed that Umar was targeted by the communalist forces because he had a great “analytical mind” and progressive thoughts. Moreover, he spoke against injustice and took a position against the Modi Government. Given these qualities and a brave spirit to speak the truth to power, he was caught as a “prize trophy”.
However, she went on to link Umar’s case with the accused in the 2018 Bhima Koregoan case. In both cases, UAPA has been slammed on the accused. While questioning the stringent section of UAPA, she said that we need to launch a campaign for introducing bail provision in UAPA: One can get bail in murder cases, but once section 18 of UAPA is invoked against a person, he/she will be denied bail for long.
Section 18 of UAPA is related to “punishment and conspiracy”. The section reads: “Whoever conspires or attempts to commit, or advocates, abets, advises or incites or knowingly facilitates the commission of a terrorist act or any act preparatory to the commission of a terrorist act, shall be punishable with imprisonment for a term which shall not be less than five years but which may extend to imprisonment for life, and shall also be liable to fine.”
Srivastava expressed deep concern that the rule of the law had been sacrificed “at the altar of majoritarianism” and we must break this situation. She said that we must break the consensus among the ruling classes to keep Umar in jail for our struggles. “We need to break this situation. We must launch a big campaign for introducing bail in UAPA.
“Introduce bail to UAPA. The fight for justice for Umar needs to be linked with the struggle for justice for all those jailed. We must ensure that the rule of law is not suspended.”
Moreover, she said that we need to hold a public hearing on UAPA so that more awareness could be created about misuse. She also appealed to the activists to keep regular updates about all those who were jailed in the Delhi riots cases.
In his speech, Mohammad Asim, president of the youth organisation Fraternity Movement, reiterated that the fight for justice for Umar is the fight for saving the Constitution of the country. Dismissing the propaganda, he found always talking in defence of the Constitution and speaking the language of love. He further said that Umar’s arrest created a sense of despair among youth for some time but the ray of hope is visible all over the place as a large number of people are coming out in solidarity with him. He, too, expressed his sorrow that Umar, who speaks against injustice, has been framed in a conspiracy but those who gave an open call for violence have been given impunity. He, therefore, called for a united struggle.
Kunwar Danish Ali, BSP Member of Parliament from Amroha, Uttar Pradesh and former student leader of Jamia Millia Islamia that led the anti-CAA movements, agreed with the previous speakers that Umar was a “symbol of resistance”. During his speech, he narrated his personal experience with UAPA. “It was my first session in Parliament and the process of amending UAPA was being carried out. At that time, I spoke spontaneously against the misuse of the law. And much of my apprehensions against UAPA have unfortunately come true. According to the parliamentary debates dated Wednesday, July 24, 2019, Kunwar Danish Ali cited the National Crime Records Bureau and Amnesty International figures to substantiate his demand for withdrawing the amendment as “70 per cent of persons incarcerated had been arrested on charges levelled by the Agencies but they have not been able to prove them guilty. As per the report of Amnesty International, more than half of the undertrials in India belong to Dalit, Tribal or Muslim communities. Lives of such people get ruined”.
Ali further said that the survival of democracy and the Constitution are more important than any individual and party interest. That is, we need to ask the question, ‘Are we implementing the Constitution in its true spirit?’ He said Umar Khalid reflected true Constitutional spirit. And we needed to do our part. However, he sounded optimistic to see that the majority of the majority community is secular and the dark period will be soon over. Some states have led the movement for the change and the result of 2024 will see a change.
In concluding remarks, he called upon the opposition parties to come together against UAPA. “When the UAPA is repealed, it will give relief to the oppressed sections of the society”.
In his speech, Dr.Zafarul Islam Khan, former Editor of Milli Gazette and ex-Chairman of Delhi Minority Commission, called for waging the struggles of all those who are made victims in Delhi riots cases and are made victims of injustice. When the Delhi riots took place, he was the chairman of the commission and he not only visited the affected areas and made a brief report but also ordered a fact-finding inquiry into the riots. “Report of the Fact-Finding Committee on the North-East Delhi Riots of February 2020” was prepared for Delhi Minorities Commission. The inquiry committee was headed by M.R. Shamshad, advocate-on-record, Supreme Court of India. The key findings of the 130-page report which was published in July 2020 were “to shield the planners, instigators, leaders and perpetrators of that violence and turn the victims into culprits.”
Dr Khan expressed disappointment that had the Chief Minister or Lt. Governor ordered a judicial inquiry into the Delhi riots, the lives of innocent people would not have been ruined. However, he appealed to link the fight for the justice of Umar Khalid to the struggle for justice of thousands of people who have been arrested in the Delhi riots case.
“Around 755 FIRs have been registered and over 1,800 people have been arrested. While some have been released, many more must have been languishing in jail. We need to speak about them. The media often talk about a few cases. Therefore, we need to make a list of all those victims and keep track of the developments in all those cases.”
Dr Khan, an eminent scholar of Islamic Studies and author of many books, expressed his despair that two sets of rules are being applied while the Constitution speaks about justice to all and equality before the law. “PFI has been banned, why haven’t similar actions been taken against Hindutva outfits?”
He narrated the sufferings of Father Stan Swamy who was charged in Bhima Koregoan and the old man could not be given a straw for drinking and he died in jail. He called them acts of political revenge.
Speaking on the occasion, Mohammad Ahmed, Secretary of Jamaat-e-Islami Hind, remembered the great sacrifice made by Umar Khalid for the society and called him an “icon of resistance”.
“When some people make sacrifices in their life, a new life springs up. Comparing the days of Emergency and the present time, he said that the present situation appears more “disappearing”. “Democracy is under threat today as the right to dissent is being attacked. Dissent is the key element of democracy.”
He, therefore, appealed to the Government that it should rule based on justice. “If justice is denied, the system will not survive for a long time.” He, too, called for a united struggle to overcome this dark period by forging a wider unity of the people.
Nadeem Khan, national secretary of the Association for Protection of Civil Rights and a co-founder of United Against Hate, moderated the discussion. Syed Qasim Rasool Ilyas, president of the Welfare Party and father of Umar Khalid, gave the concluding remarks.
[Dr Abhay Kumar is a Delhi-based journalist. Email: [email protected].]