Elgar Parishad case: Umar Khalid denies having links with banned Maoist organisations

Mumbai: In his statement to the National Investigation Agency (NIA), which is investigating the Elgar Parishad case, Umar Khalid, a former member of the Jawaharlal Nehru University Student’s Union (JNUSU), has denied having any links with the banned CPI (Maoist) and other frontal organisations

Mumbai: In his statement to the National Investigation Agency (NIA), which is investigating the Elgar Parishad case, Umar Khalid, a former member of the Jawaharlal Nehru University Student’s Union (JNUSU), has denied having any links with the banned CPI (Maoist) and other frontal organisations.

**EDS: FILE PHOTO** Mumbai: In this Monday, Dec. 30, 2019 file photo, Social activists Yogendra Yadav and Umar Khalid attend a press conference, in Mumbai. Khalid was denied bail in a case relating to the 2020 Northeast Delhi violence by the Karkardooma Court, in New Delhi, Thursday, March 24, 2022. (PTI Photo/Shashank Parade)(PTI03_24_2022_000081B) (PTI)

Khalid was one of the speakers at the Elgar Parishad in Pune on December 31, 2017. His statement was recorded by the NIA on February 12.

The agency had attached several letters by the accused and purportedly found Khalid’s reference in at least two of the letters, which formed part of the charge sheet filed after the arrest of human rights activists Gautam Navlakha and Anand Teltumbde for their alleged Maoist links.

In the letter dated January 2, 2018, a day after the violence at Bhima Koregaon in Pune district, written by “Comrade M to Rona Wilson, the names of Khalid and Gujarat MLA Jignesh Mevani were mentioned as “young fighters of our revolution.”

With regards to the letter, Khalid said in his statement that he did not know why his name was mentioned in the said letter.

The JNU student leader was also confronted by NIA officials with another letter dated December 23, 2017, which was addressed to “Comrade Prakash,” wherein efforts made by Arun Ferreira for engaging with student unions were lauded. “Arun is engaging with various student unions on a regular basis and has come up with many creative initiatives to propagate our agendas,” stated the letter.

The letter also mentioned that Arun Ferreira had suggested holding photo/cartoon exhibitions on the subjects of mob lynching and Hindu militant uprising and also talked about taking the help of Khalid to mobilise youth from schools and colleges across Mumbai, Pune and Delhi, and gradually spread to other cities.

Khalid has, however, denied having any links with any such organisations, though he admitted that he knew Wilson and Farrera. He said that during a meeting in October 2017, he was invited by Rtd justice BG Kolse Patil to speak at the Elgar Parishad in Pune.

Meanwhile, almost a year after his death, the NIA has tendered additional evidence against the organisation founded by late priest, father Stan Swami, who too was named an accused in the Elgar Parishad – Bhima Koregaon violence case.

The additional evidence includes statements of two close associates of the late Jesuit priest, Xavier Soreng and David Soloman, both of whom were also part of the managing team of Bagaicha, founded by Swamy. The statements were recorded in February 2021.