By Nazish Hussain, TwoCircles.net
New Delhi: Former Jawahar Lal Nehru (JNU) student leader and United Against Hate (UAH) activist Umar Khalid was arrested on Sunday night by the special cell of Delhi Police and booked under the stringent Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) for his alleged role in the violence that broke out in North East Delhi in February this year against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA).
Umar Khalid has been charged under 18 other sections of IPC including sedition and attempt to murder.
Umar Khalid’s father SQR Ilyas took to Twitter announcing that his son has been implicated in Delhi riots. He said the police were questioning Umar Khalid since 1:00 p.m. According to ANI, in a charge sheet filed by Delhi Police crime branch against suspended AAP councillor Tahir Hussain, the investigating officer has alleged that on January 8 more than a month before the riots Hussain met with Umar Khalid and Khalid Saifi of UAH at the Shaheen Bagh anti-CAA protests and Umar asked him to be prepared for something big at the time of trump’s visit.
Umar Khalid has been leading the anti-CAA protests under the banner of United against Hate (UAH).
Commenting on the arrest of Umar Khalid, Nadeem Khan, convener UAH said, “Umar Khalid has been framed in the Delhi riots as a ‘mastermind’ by the Delhi Police. Instead of doing FIR investigation in the Delhi riots, police has turned it into an exercise of witch-hunting anti-CAA protestors. The police first misquoted Umar’s speeches to frame him and then tried to fabricate witnesses. This is a clear attempt to intimidate democratic voices of dissent into silence.”
For Nabiya Khan, anti-CAA activist being a dissenting Muslim in this country is scary. “You can be branded as an anti-national, a terrorist, and a threat anytime,” she said, adding, “I believe Umar’s arrest is another act of political vengeance against those who actively spoke truth to power. When the whole world is focusing on fighting the pandemic the vicious Indian state is hunting down all the people who are actively protesting against a communal and anti-constitutional bill. Activism is not a crime. Participating in a peaceful protest is not a crime. Umar Khalid is not a criminal to be booked under UAPA. His only crime in the eyes of the state is his identity of an Indian Muslim. The world is watching as BJP is unleashing the worst attack on Muslims,” she says.
Senior advocate Prashant Bhusan, while taking to Twitter, doubts on Umar’s arrest, calling the investigation by Delhi police mala fide. He said, “It is a conspiracy by the Delhi Police to frame peaceful activists in the guise of investigation.”
A joint statement released by activists condemning the arrest of Umar Khalid mentions that of the 20 people arrested by Delhi Police related to North East Delhi violence 17 people have been charged under UAPA. The statement urged for the safety of his life in judicial custody given the past precedence of the attempt on Umar’s life in 2018 by gunmen in public.