New Delhi: The Delhi High Court while hearing the bail plea of student activist Umar Khalid in the larger conspiracy case of northeast Delhi riots observed that there has to be a line of control for criticising the government, invoking the term 'jumla' Khalid used for the PM in his speech.
The court asked whether it was proper to use 'jumla' for the Prime Minister of India after listening to the speech given by Khalid at Amravati in February 2020.
Senior advocate Trideep Pais reminded the court that the UAPA is not meant to imprison a person for 583 days on the charges of criticising the government.
Besides, the court also brought the community to establish how offensive the Khalid's speech was. Pointing out Khalid's remark that "Your ancestors were brokering for the English", the court said the statement produces a kind of sense that only a particular community fought for India's independence.
Khalid made this statement in his speech, referring to the freedom movement carried out by the students in the Jamia Millia Islamia University on the call from Mahatma Gandhi in 1920.
"When your ancestors were brokering for the English, the Jamia Millia Islamia students, its teachers were fighting the British government," Khalid was quoted as having said in the speech.
Khalid was referring "ancestors" of the current rulers to RSS and Hindu Mahasabha. The court had asked, "Don't you think it foments religious ferment between groups?" Pais told the court that there was serious violence on students of Jamia Millia Islamia University in December 2019 and the speech was made in that context.