Noam Chomsky, Rajmohan Gandhi & 4 int'l organisations call for Umar Khalid's release from jail

NEW DELHI: Along with scholars Noam Chomsky and Mahatma Gandhi's grandson Rajmohan Gandhi, four international organizations have condemned the "incarceration" of Umar Khalid, a former Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) student.

Hindus for Human Rights, Indian American Muslim Council, Dalit Solidarity Forum and India Civil Watch International joined along with Chomsky and Gandhi, in asking for an immediate release of Khalid, who was imprisoned on September 13, 2020, and has not been released since then.

Chomsky, a noted scholar and activist, and Gandhi, a research professor at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, on Saturday released video statements criticizing Khalid's imprisonment.

In the recorded statement Chomsky said that Khalid's case "is one of many that shed a grim light on India's system of justice during a period of repression, and often violence, that has been visibly undermining free institutions. As part of the large-scale government effort to dismantle India's honourable tradition of secular democracy".

Khalid's academic contributions as a doctoral student at the JNU was highlighted by Gandhi, stating that "in (Khalid), India possesses one of its finest minds, reinforced by a sensitive conscience. This brilliant young son of India has now been silenced for 20 continuous months".

He alleged that Khalid's silencing is a "blotch on India's image" before the world.

"Every additional day of detention for Umar and for the others wrongfully detained, who number in the thousands, is a fresh blow against democracy in the world, against human dignity and against India's good name," Gandhi said.

In March, a court here denied bail to Khalid, saying there were reasonable grounds to believe that the charges against him in the February 2020 Delhi riots conspiracy case were prima facie true.

Khalid has been booked under the anti-terror law, the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) and provisions of the Indian Penal Code for allegedly being one of the masterminds of the riots that left 53 people dead and more than 700 injured.

With PTI inputs