In his first interview from Delhi’s Tihar Jail, student activist and a prominent critic of the Modi government describes ‘dystopian’ charges and life behind bars
NEW DELHI — Umar Khalid, one of the country’s most prominent political prisoners, has described the toll of nearly six years in jail without trial, saying the experience has “wreaked havoc on my mind and body.” Despite this, his opposition to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government remains unchanged.
Speaking in his first interview since his September 2020 arrest, the 38-year-old activist told Hannah Ellis-Peterson of The Guardian that “humanity is a privilege that is not granted to people like me.”
Due to prison conditions, questions and answers were conveyed via family and friends. The Guardian published the interview on Tuesday (June 30).
Khalid, Prisoner Number 626714 in Delhi’s Tihar jail, said prison is hardest at sunset. “It starts sinking in that another day of your life has been spent in captivity,” he said. He noted that political prisoner Fyodor Dostoevsky described the same feeling in his 19th-century prison memoir.
Umar Khalid has now spent more than 2,100 days in jail without trial.
Khalid was arrested under India’s terrorism laws in September 2020. Delhi Police accused him of being a “key conspirator” in deadly religious riots that erupted in the national capital in February 2020, and of conspiring to bring about “violent regime change.” Khalid calls the charges “dystopian” and denies them. He was 1,600 kilometres away when the violence broke out.
Of the 53 people killed in the three days of riots, most were Muslim. Khalid and more than a dozen other rights defenders and student activists were charged with “engineering communal riots” to coordinate a “pre-planned attack on the nation.” No Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) figures were accused in the police charge sheets. Delhi Police have since faced accusations of fabricating evidence in related cases. They have not responded to those allegations.
From Student Activist to Political Prisoner
Umar Khalid rose to national prominence as a PhD student at New Delhi’s Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU). After taking part in a 2016 political event on campus, he was arrested for sedition. Media outlets ran headlines branding him an “anti-national” and a threat to the country’s sovereignty. “From that point, my life was never the same,” he said.
He became a central figure in the 2019 protests against the controversial Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and the National Register of Citizens (NRC), laws considered discriminatory against Muslims. At rallies, Umar Khalid told crowds: “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.”
The government met the protests with police violence, he said. Tensions escalated into the February 2020 Delhi riots. Umar Khalid was arrested seven months later.
Trial Delayed, Bail Denied
While others named in the same case have been granted bail, Umar Khalid’s applications have been repeatedly delayed, adjourned or denied. Judges have also recused themselves. No trial date has been set.
“The endlessly dashed hopes for freedom have been quite heartbreaking,” Umar Khalid said. “Slowly, hope started dying out. And without having hope to hang on to, surviving prison becomes exceptionally difficult.”
Criticism of Modi Govt
Khalid, a left-wing activist, remains a fierce critic of the ruling BJP’s Hindu nationalist agenda. He accused the Modi government of fuelling harassment of India’s 200 million Muslims and other minorities. The BJP has repeatedly denied all allegations of religious discrimination and says India’s judicial system is independent.
“Today, the process of India becoming a post-truth society is near complete,” Umar Khalid said. He described horror at the “normalisation and glorification of hate speech and genocidal language.”
He also voiced frustration at opposition parties and civil society groups. “Six years down the line, I must say that I am really disappointed and even feel isolated,” he said. “This silence emboldens this regime to go after further dissidents.”
International Response
Rights groups have condemned Umar Khalid’s detention. New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani sent him a handwritten note of solidarity, which drew an angry response from the Indian government.
Umar Khalid said propaganda has dehumanised him. “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.
Nights bring Khalid some peace. In his cell, next to a picture of anti-colonial revolutionary Bhagat Singh, he has scrawled Singh’s words: “I am that mad soul who is free even in captivity.”
His PhD thesis will be published soon as his first book, Fractured Communities.
Prominent Congress leader and Lok Sabha member Shashi Tharoor said what Umar Khalid said from prison was sad to read.
In a post on X, he wrote: “This moving article on @UmarKhalidJNU in prison prompts a simple question: if he really has incited terrorism, why not prove it in a court of law? Why deny him the basic right of any Indian citizen accused of a crime, the right to a fair trial? Languishing six years behind bars, without a chance to defend himself legally, is a travesty of justice and a blot on our democracy.”
Noted journalist, literary critic, editor, and author Nilanjana S Roy said Umar Khalid remains in jail while the police investigation goes on without any clear end, and no trial date is in sight.
