The student activist is behind bars for over 1,400 days in a conspiracy case related to the 2020 Delhi riots
Team Clarion
NEW DELHI – Sabiha Khanum, mother of jailed student activist Umar Khalid, has said her son’s long incarceration is distressing to her but she is proud that he has not kneeled before the tyrant ruler.
In a video, Khanum issued the statement on Saturday when Khalid completed 1,400 days in jail in a conspiracy case related to the 2020 Delhi riots.
“Dear Umar, my son, you are away from us and facing difficulties of imprisonment for the last 1,400 days. It is distressing for us, but we are proud that you did not kneel before the Pharaoh of the time. You rightly raised your voice against the draconian laws like the CAA (Citizenship Amendment Act),” said Khanum.
“I’m sure that the dark night of oppression will come to an end and the sun of hope will appear. Salute to you and your companions,” she added.
The emotional statement issued by Umar Khalid’s mother has gone viral on social media.
Qasim Rasool Ilyas, the father of Umar Khalid and a prominent Muslim leader, also issued a statement calling the imprisonment of his son “biggest human rights violations ever”.
Ilyas said the “cruelty” of keeping a person in jail for 1,402 days in the name of judicial custody without trial by the judiciary may not have happened even to the slaves during the British rule. Dates are being given one after the other, such a huge violation of human rights may have never happened before,” he said.
Khalid’s sister said her brother’s long incarceration is unfair. “We miss you. We think of you every day. We are proud of you,” she said.
Khalid, who was leading a protest against the controversial CAA, was arrested by the Delhi Police in 2020 following communal violence in the northeast of the national capital. He was accused of playing a role in conspiracy to create riots while activists pointed out that he was jailed for opposing the CAA.
Other activists, Khalid Saifi, Meeran Haidar, Gulfisha Fatima, Sharjeel Imam, Mohammed Shafi and others who were part of the anti-CAA protests were arrested over allegation of conspiring to create riots.
