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Umar Khalid speaks on 6 years in Tihar Jail without trial: ‘Humanity a privilege, not granted to people like me’
In his first interview since being jailed in 2020, Khalid describes the psychological toll of spending nearly six years in Delhi's Tihar Jail without a trial.
Student activist Umar Khalid has said years of incarceration have stripped him of both "humanity" and, at times, "sanity", as he accused the Narendra Modi-led NDA government of presiding over a society where hate and misinformation have become normalised.
In his first interview since being jailed in 2020 over allegations related to the Delhi riots that year, Khalid described the psychological toll of spending nearly six years in Delhi's Tihar Jail without a trial.
"You even hear murmurs about yourself from fellow prisoners you shared meals with, calling you a terrorist behind your back. This propaganda dehumanises me in people's eyes," Khalid told The Guardian through family members and friends because of restrictions.
“Humanity is a privilege that is not granted to people like me,” he said.
Reflecting on the years spent behind bars, the 38-year-old said the public image built around him has often overshadowed his identity as a person.
"When you are reduced to just an image, either negative or positive, it becomes difficult to maintain not just your humanity but even your sanity at times," he said.
Also Read: Umar Khalid, Sharjeel Imam file fresh bail pleas in Delhi court
"Even those who sympathise with you, or portray you as someone larger than yourself, forget that I am a human being with my own share of vulnerabilities, fears and imperfections. And that these long years in prison have wreaked havoc on my mind and body and exacerbated all these anxieties within me."
Khalid was arrested in September 2020 under anti-terror laws after being accused of being a "key conspirator" in the 2020 Delhi riots and plotting "violent regime change". Khalid has consistently denied the allegations. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has maintained that India's judicial process is independent and that his prosecution is unrelated to politics.
Khalid told The Guardian that prison has not changed his views on the political climate in the country.
He expressed concern over what he described as the "normalisation and glorification of hate speech and genocidal language".
"The process of India becoming a post-truth society is near complete," he said.
‘I feel isolated’
The former Jawaharlal Nehru University student leader also criticised what he called the silence of political opponents and sections of civil society over the incarceration of activists and dissenters.
"Six years down the line, I must say that I am really disappointed and even feel isolated," he said. "This silence, of opposition parties, of civil society groups, of celebrity activists who have made a career out of piggy-backing on people's movements emboldens this regime to go after further dissidents."
Despite years in prison, Khalid said he has refused to abandon his convictions. Recalling his message during the anti-citizenship law protests in 2019, he reiterated the philosophy that guided his activism.
"We won't respond to violence with violence. We won't respond to hate with hate. If they spread hate, we will respond to it with love."
Khalid's fresh bail plea
Weeks ago, a Delhi court issued notice to the Delhi Police in fresh bail applications filed by Umar Khalid seeking bail in the Delhi riots larger conspiracy case.
Additional sessions judge Sumedh Kumar Sethi of Karkardooma courts listed the hearing of arguments for July 4.
Khalid, in his bail application, has cited a change in circumstances, highlighting the judgment pronounced on May 18 by a Supreme Court bench of justices BV Nagarathna and Ujjal Bhuyan while granting bail to Jammu and Kashmir resident Syed Iftikhar Andrabi in a narco-terror case being investigated by the National Investigation Agency (NIA).
The apex court had expressed “serious reservations” about the reasoning adopted earlier this year in the January 5 verdict, stating that it failed to correctly apply the binding principles laid down by a larger three-judge bench in Union of India Vs KA Najeeb (2021), which recognised that prolonged incarceration and delay in trial can override the statutory restrictions on bail under Section 43D(5) of the UAPA.
The court also took exception to the direction that Khalid and Imam could revive their plea for bail only after examination of protected witnesses or after one year, whichever was earlie
