Is Umar Khalid’s arrest justified?
Opinion
Image Source: via Facebook/@UmarKhalidJNU
On September 13th, Umar Khalid was arrested by the Delhi Police in connection to the communal violence that broke out in February. He was booked under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA).
Many across the country are convinced that this is the government’s attempt to structurally breakdown any and every opposition that exists. Delhi Police, however, alleges that they have ~11 lakh pages of data as potential evidence against him.
Who is at fault here? Let’s discuss!
Who is Umar Khalid?
Umar is a former Democratic Students’ Union leader in Jawaharlal Nehru University. He is a human rights activist and a vocal critic of the Modi government.
Umar came into limelight In February 2016 when he was arrested alongside Kanhaiya Kumar for allegedly raising “anti-India” slogans in favour of a renowned terrorist, Afzal Guru.
He was the key member of the group “United against Hate” that played a pivotal role in the protests against the Citizen Amendment Act(CAA) introduced by the Modi government.
Why was he arrested?
Along with 7 other students from Delhi University, Umar was arrested for allegedly delivering provocative speeches at multiple instances and inciting violence during the anti-CAA protests in the capital.
Apparently, he urged the people to take the streets and block roads during Donald Trump’s visit to India. There are theories floating that he was involved in “pre-planning” the riots in the capital. However, Umar has denied all allegations and blames the government for orchestrating the said evidence as an attempt to take down the revolt and oppress a community.
The general public has enough data from either side to take an informed stand. However, there are a couple of key issues that must be raised in connection to these arrests:
No action taken against BJP MPs for similar, if not more, provocative speeches delivered to an even larger audience
Arrest being made under the UAPA
Unfair?
During the Delhi riots, Anurag Thakur and Kapil Mishra rallied troops against the protests at Shaheen Bagh by using provocative phrases like “Desh ke gaddar”, “Goli maaro” among others. They used them in Delhi’s election campaigns as a political tool to polarise the masses (We know how that turned out).
There is substantial evidence available against them and no action has been taken. While the government has conveniently used resources against “possible” culprits, the MPs have been left off the hook. This exposes the administration’s bias in dealing with these cases.
The issue with UAPA
The UAPA is levied on convicts for ‘unlawful associations with terrorist organisations’. It allows the State to overlook numerous fundamental rights of the accused. When people are charged with UAPA, the authorities do not need to present the evidence before arresting the accused. The act also makes getting bail nearly impossible. In a nutshell, Umar Khalid has lost all communication to the world outside and is under indefinite imprisonment.
An entire generation of Muslim youth is looking at this case and if Umar’s case is treated like a black box, they’ll lose whatever trust they’ve left in the system.
What can we do about this?
1.While starting a campaign to free Umar sounds good, it does not force an actionable from the government because technically, they’re within the law to hold him under UAPA.
What needs to be called out, in my opinion, is the government’s hypocrisy while handling the issue. Pressure should be put on the government to act on their MPs speeches - like they did for Umar - on social media.
2.UAPA should be discussed in public forums to increase awareness around it. UAPA has a lot of subjectivity because it is based on the ‘discretion’ of the judiciary and the police. This makes it vulnerable to misuse.
People will eventually realise that it gives unprecedented power to the government that can someday be used against them. This can push for amendments in the act and hopefully make it more humane, objective and transparent.
Is this becoming BJP’s modus operandi?
Historically, governments are known to redirect resources so as to serve their purpose. BJP, however, does it more explicitly. High profile arrest of:
Ex CM of Jammu and Kashmir
Ex Finance Minister P. Chidambaram
Activists and advocates in the Bhima Koregaon case under UAPA
Umar Khalid
are just a few examples that go on to show that BJP doesn’t shy away from publicly taking down its opposition. I don’t argue that they were innocent, it’s just the manner in which arrest are gone- That is scary.