Umar Khalid (born as Syed Umar Khalid) is an Indian activist, former student of Jawaharlal Nehru University, former leader of Democratic Students' Union (DSU) in JNU. He was allegedly involved in the Jawaharlal Nehru University sedition row and is an accused under the UAPA Act. Khalid is also associated with United Against Hate (UAH), a campaign that was started in July 2017 in response to the series of lynchings.
Umar Khalid was booked under UAPA by Delhi Police for his alleged "provocative speeches" during the visit of American President Donald Trump to India. Delhi police considered his speeches as instigating and facilitating Delhi riots - 2020.On September 14, 2020, Khalid was arrested by the Delhi Police Special Cell as an alleged conspirator in the Delhi Riots case.
Being logged in a jail for more than 15 months, the bail plea is still pending. he wrote some heart touching lines in the prisoner`s diary.
The Title was `Bigotry Agains`t Muslims leaves me Even Lonelier`:-
On a cold February day morning earlier this year, I was taken out from jail in a police van for my first peshi in court, since my arrest in September last year. In side the van, the cops were having an animated conversation about the farmer`s protests. But after four months of captivity, the sight outside was more alluring for me. I could see people going to thier offices and children to their schools, There were people in cars, buses and on road, some were immersed in their phones, while others were talking to each other. there was no one watching over them. They were free to go wherever, talk to whomever.
It was fascinating sight- the sight of free people. I was reminded of the past when i too, like the people i was staring at, had been free. The words of iqbal come to me
``Ata hai yaad mujhko guzra hua zamana
wo baghon ki baharein, wo sab ka chehchahana
aazadiyan kahan wo ab apne ghosle ki
apni khushi se aana apni khushi se jaana
I think the journey to the court lasted an hour-and-a-half in court, the proceedings barely lasted 30 min, once the tarikh was over, i was put back in the van for our return journey to jail, all through the journey to court and back, i kept staring outside in a amazement. As if i were tourist being taken on a bus ride of city that was foreign to me.
By 2 am i had been bought back to Tihar amid locked up in my cell soon after. the excrusion to court seemed to have gotten over like those childhood picnics-in no time. now it was back to the suffocating and monotonous life with in the high walls of Tihar.
When i entered Tihar back in September 2020, the first thing that struck me was eeric stillness. anybody who have ever been inside the complex will tell you about the eeric stillness. It seemed as if we had entered a ghost town, Surrounded by high walls on all sides. As the police car that was shifting me from police station to jail kept moving inside, the sounds of the outside world slowly started to receed and were overtaken by silence.
But first, some Formalities had to be completed. I stood in a line behind others who were also entering the jail that day, waiting for my turn at a window. behind it, sat a clerk filling up details.
`Naam? baap ka naam?kis case mein aya hai?
`After telling him my name and father`s name. to his last question, i replied `UAPA`. he had never heard about it so he thought i had not understood his question.`
`Nahin kaun si dhara lagi hai?
`UAPA`
kya? dhang se bata? he was visibly impatient.
Now the constable of Delhi police, who had come deposit me to jail, replied from behind `Dange ke case me aya hai, Delhi danga`
Over the past 15 months, this is what life has been about- daily negotiation for the most basic of things, be it books, warm clothes or just some air in the open. And it has also been wondering about what to do with time which seems to be in abundance. in his prison memoir, kenyan writer Ngugu wa thiong`s writes that century to what people think outside, life in jail is not about endless confrontations, it is instead a daily monotony, you wake up, you eat, you Defate, you sleep, day after day. to what i could add reading, and that pretty much sums up my days and nights over last 15 months.
And then one does not know for how long this will last. it is often said that jails are for convicts and not under trials, but here, i have spent over 15 months in pre-trial detention, even now, i can`t see our trial commencing anytime soon.
In his memoir, Ngugi wa Thoing`s also talks about this peculiar predicament that political prisoner`s face-not knowing how long you have to wait till you are free again, in one sense, this makes our situation even worse than that of convicts. they know the length of their situation, and even if it is long, they can prepare themselves mentally for it, on the other hand, we just don`t know we could be free in a month`s time or in a year or it may even take 10 years.
This uncertainity which keeps us hanging in a state of animated suspension between hope and hope le sness , is especially difficult to cope with, you always remain hopeful that some judge will see through the Absurdity of the charges , and set you free. at the same time, you keep cautioning yourself about the perlis of nurturing such hopes. the higher your hopes, the higher would be the height from which you would come crashing down.
The functioning and structure of jails, with frequent transfers of inmates and extended periods of isolation, also prevent the building of any meaningful ties with others. Dye to this, hail is also an inexplicably lonely and impersonal experience. Even though you are living amid hundreds of other prisoners, you still feel lonely because you are separated from loved ones. but certain experiences leave me lonelier even amidst prisoners-i am talking about the Internalized prejudice and bigotry against Muslims. in jail, i have come face to face with bigotry and prejudice against Muslims unlike anything i had faced before.
A person left me bewildered by asking in front of several people out of nowhere-`you see all of us kafirs na`, after the recent India-Pakistan cricket match in T20 world cup, another said` aare kal toh tumhari team ne hamari team ko haraya` more than once. I`ve been asked how many wives my father has, or how many i intend to have, if they have feel you have taken offence, but comes a defence`say kya galat bola, aap logo mein toh aise hi hota hai na`.
`You cant deny Khalid Bhai, Muslims support the Pakistani cricket team when they play against India`.
``How many Muslims do you know in your life who support Pakistan ` i asked?
`i` do not know any Muslims in my life, but i know they support Pakistan.`
The prejudice is so deeply ingrained that they believe they are speaking the obvious truth, and it also comes with such moral righteousness that makes any argument extremely difficult after a while. You simply retreat into silence, is this where the `tryst with destiny` was to bring us after 70 yrs are these the destiny`s children?
It is at that i am discovering prejudice, bigotry or even hate for the first time. over the last five years, the regime and its pied pipers in media have constantly reminded me of my `Muslimness` and also of that place of Muslims in new India. but till now, hate came from a distance, usually from Tv and mobile screens, i always had the option of switching it off, if it got too much. mu immediate circle-the people i spent time with in real life-sheltered me from hate.
On cold starry nights, when i miss my beloved, i find strength in the words of Faiz Ahmed Faiz written from behind prison bars:
Dil se paiham khayal kahta hai
itni shirin hai zindagi is pal
zulm ka zahr gholne wale
kamran ho sakenge aaj na kal
jalva-gah-e-visal ki shamen
vo bujha bhi chuke agar to kya
chand ko gul karen to ham jaanen.
These are feelings expressed in the form of words from the prison by Umar Khalid, who is logged in jail for more than 15 months in pre-trial detention. what about his pride
What about his life
Questioning govt leads to `UAPA?
THE PRISONER`S DIARY!