#SeditionDebate:
Everything you need to know about Umar Khalid, the man they're calling
'Kashmiri traitor'
by Sameer Yasir Feb
19, 2016 12:10 IST
On
the evening of 9 February, 30 minutes before the scheduled start of a cultural
event organised by the Democratic Students Union (an ultra-leftist group)
titled ‘A Country without a Post Office’ to protest against the “judicial
killing” of Afzal Guru and Maqbool Bhat, the university administration of
Jawaharlal Nehru University cancelled the event. Dozens of students gathered on
the Sabarmati lawns — including Kashmiri students — to protest against the
cancellation and raised slogans. One among them was Umar Khalid.
Former
DSU leader Khalid, 28, resigned from his post in November 2015 along with 10
others and is now doing his PhD at JNU's Centre for Historical Studies.
His
college and university mates say he was always vocal and believed in extreme
left ideology.
Khalid
wore a maroon printed muffler and a grey-and-white sweater while he spoke to a
television channel after the protest. In the subsequent days, he appeared on
different television channels defending the event. On Friday, immediately after
Delhi Police arrested JNUSU president Kanhaiya Kumar on charges of 'criminal
conspiracy' and 'sedition' under Sections 124A and 120B of the Indian Penal
Code, JNU students say Khalid went missing from the campus.
A
few clarifications are required:
First, Umar is not a Kashmiri.
His parents live in Delhi and he is actually from the Amravati district of
Maharashtra. His family moved to Delhi 35 years ago and they live in the Jamia
Nagar area — they have no connection with Kashmir.
Although
his views on Kashmir are known to everyone on campus, according to some JNU
students he would encourage Kashmiri students and those from other parts to
speak about their experiences in Kashmir.
After
the 9 February rally, this is what Umar told a television channel, “I am not
from Kashmir, but what is happening there is Indian occupation of Kashmir.
Just like one territory is occupied by Pakistan, another territory is occupied
by the Indian State. (Jawaharlal) Nehru’s words in 1947 were very clear —
Kashmir will be given a plebiscite.”
Umar’s
father, Syed Qasim Ilyas, says he is not the first one to say what he has about
Kashmir. “Many politicians, authors, journalist have talked about separation of
Kashmir. Then should they also be charged with sedition?” he asked.
Second, he is a communist and
self-proclaimed atheist — not an Islamist, according to his friends at JNU.
This is why there has always been some distance between him and his father
Ilyas, a social activist who also runs an Urdu magazine in Delhi. “He is not at
all religious and we always have disagreements on the issue,” Ilyas said.
Joyeeta
Dey, a family friend of Umar's, wrote on her Facebook page that she heard her
friend (Umar's sister) saying on many occasions that her brother was a
"communist pagal".
Dey
wrote during her extensive stay at Umar's house that she noticed “the grief he
caused his family (who are believers) by fiercely renouncing religion (as it
clashed with his political ideology) was palpable".
Third, did Umar travel to
Pakistan? The former leader of the DSU faces far graver charges than
sedition — those of having links with militant groups, as reported in the
media.
Ilyas
denied these claims and said his son had, until now, never even applied for a
passport, despite receiving offers of international scholarships. “My son and
Kanhaiya Kumar are the worst victims of the media trial. My son is being called
a terrorist and someone who travelled to Pakistan, even though he doesn’t have
a passport. He may be anything but he's not a terrorist,” Ilyas said.
His
friends inside the JNU campus do not believe the allegations. Aparna (name
changed), a classmate of Umar's, did her MA in History from JNU and has known
him for many years, ever since he was an undergraduate student at a college in
Delhi University.
“He
(Umar) is being targeted because he is a Muslim. His face, name and his
political views provide the best fit for media and State to brand him a
terrorist. The ABVP pasted his posters in Munirka saying he is a traitor and
militant sympathiser while as far as I know, he believes in the Constitution of
this country, but has his views on issues,” she said.
Fourth, if he believes in the
law of the land and the Constitution, why is he hiding and where?
His
father denied having any information and said the last time he spoke to his son
was when he was coming out of the studio of a TV channel. This question
was posed to many students during a protest rally organised by the students of
JNU who've known Umar for years.
“Do
you think he would be safe, if he was to come out in public? Lawyers and
goons want to kill Kanhaiya in court and lynch him; how can you trust
institutions of the State that have failed to protect Kanhaiya? Imagine a
Muslim student — bearded and having radical views — who has worked with adivasis and
is not scared like most of the Muslims in India today. They would lynch him,”
said Supriya, a student of JNU who was part of a protest match organised by the
university students in New Delhi, on Thursday.
Ilyas
said he asked his son to return home on the day Kanhaiya was arrested, but his
son refused saying he was going to JNU.
“His
ideology has become his worst enemy. He is a meritorious student, did his MA
and MPhil in such a prestigious institution. The country’s media is slowly
turning on him because he is a perfect fit: A Muslim face with views that don’t
gel with the State's opinion on things,” he said.
“I
wish and appeal that my son returns soon to face the law of the land if he has
done something wrong. Our family is worried about his safety and I am worried
about him. We have been receiving threats. If he has raised any slogan that the
state thinks is seditious, he should face the law of the land,” said Ilyas.
A
WhatsApp conversation between Umar and his friend, which is in Firstpost's
possession, reads:
Friend: Bhai, calcium
tablets khalo. Is umr mein daant jhadna think nahi. (Take calcium
tablets. At your age, you don't want to lose teeth) You should take
care of yourself
Umar: Hyper mat ho.
Thik hoon mein. Is desh ke logon ko do waqt ka khana nahi milita. Tum log
selfish ho. Kabhi toh bada socho (Don't be hyper. I'm fine. In this
country, people don't get to eat two meals a day. You people are selfish. Try
and think big).
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