Amitav Gosh, Naseeruddin Shah and Rajmohan Gandhi among over 150 personalities to issue a joint statement in this regard
Team Clarion
NEW DELHI — Over 150 eminent writers, filmmakers and activists including Amitav Gosh, Naseeruddin Shah, Rajmohan Gandhi and others on Thursday demanded the release of student activist Umar Khalid and other anti-CAA (Citizenship Amendment Act) activists.
“Umar and many others like him are in prison charged under the draconian Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA), without bail, without trial, for years at an end. Not because they motivated or instigated anybody to commit any act of violence, but because they stood in defence of peace and justice and advocated non-violent dissidence against unjust laws,” reads a joint statement issued on Thursday.
Historians Ramchandra Goha, Romila Thapar, US professors Gayatri Chakravarty and Akeel Bilgrami, Magsaysay awardee Sandeep Pandey and noted human rights activist Harsh Mander are among the signatories to the statement which sought the release of Sharjeel Imam, Gulfisha Fatima, Khalid Saif, Meeran Haider, Athar Khan and Shifa-ur Rahman.
The statement coincided with the 77th anniversary of the assassination of Mohandas Karmachand Gandhi at the hands of a Hindutva fanatic. It is also the 1600th day Umar Khalid has been in prison since his arrest in 2020.
According to the statement, in a speech preceding his arrest Umar Khalid had asserted that the same forces that had killed Gandhi had also brought in the CAA, which he and many others had protested against.
He had said: “They are destroying the values of Mahatma Gandhi, and the people of India are fighting against them. If those in power want to divide India, the people of India are ready to unite the country.”
While mentioning the names of all activists, the statement said “In the end, this is not just about Umar Khalid. It pains us, for instance, to read Umar Khalid’s fellow-detainee Gulfisha Fatima’s poem – as she writes about the “silent walls” of the prison. A bright young student activist, an MBA graduate and a history enthusiast, Gulfisha is spending her fifth year in prison. Similarly, one wonders if Khalid Saifi is being “punished” simply for reciting the Preamble of India’s Constitution that speaks of secularism and equality”.
It further noted “Sharjeel Imam, a bright scholar of history and student activist, in fact has expressed that while he did know that dissenters run the risk of arrest under this regime, he did not expect to be accused of “terrorism”, especially for riots that occurred a month after he had already been arrested. The list goes on to include Meeran Haider, Athar Khan, Shifa Ur Rahman and others”.
Bollywood actor Ratna Pathak Shah, filmmaker Anand Patwardhan, civil rights activist Anand Teltumbde, AMU Professor Irfan Habib and JNU Professor Prabhat Patnaik, and US-based professors are also among the signatories.
The statement asserted these activists, who were arrested in connection with the 2020 Delhi riots, were targeted because they raised their voices against the government. “A predatory regime first brought in a law that discriminated against Muslims vis-a-vis the right to Indian citizenship, and then selectively persecuted those who raised their voices against this measure, especially if they were Muslim”, it stated.
The eminent personalities also cited the judgments of the Delhi High Court in which the judges criticised the government for invoking terror charges against these activists.
“This repeated denial of bail and prolonged incarceration without trial, in fact, is one of the most distressing aspects of Umar Khalid’s case and that of the others in this case. This is despite the fact that the high court in 2021, while granting bail to three of the accused, had made strong observations about the arguments put forth by the state,” they said.
