New Delhi: Amitav Ghosh, Naseeruddin Shah, Romila Thapar, Jayati Ghosh, Harsh Mander and Christophe Jaffrelot are among the 160 academics, filmmakers, actors, activists and others who have signed a statement demanding the release of Umar Khalid and those arrested for protesting the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA).Khalid completes 1600 days in prison today, January 30, 2025, which coincides with the 77th death anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi, the statement points out. “We, the undersigned, are not unaware of this synchronicity. Nor do we wish to see it pass unnoticed,” it read.Referring to Khalid’s prolonged incarceration under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA), the statement said, “We are deeply disturbed to witness how a bright and compassionate young man like Umar who is trained as a historian and nurtured as a critical thinker, has repeatedly been targeted, vilified and branded by an authoritarian regime.”“Khalid, known for his eloquent speeches advocating for pluralism, secularism and constitutional values, has been falsely accused in the most brazenly twisted manner of conspiring to incite violence,” it added.It also named other activists – Gulifsha Fatima, Sharjeel Imam, Khalid Saifi, Meeran Haider, Athar Khan and Shifa Ur Rahman – who have been targeted in the aftermath of the anti-CAA protests. “…repeated denial of bail and prolonged incarceration without trial is one of the most distressing aspects of Khalid’s case and that of the others,” the statement said.The signatories also referred to a 2021 Delhi high court judgement where the bench had observed, “…in the mind of the state, the line between the constitutionally guaranteed right to protest and terrorist activity seems to be getting somewhat blurred.”Referring to the use of anti-terror laws, the statement said, “Such laws along with inordinate judicial delays have created a situation where individuals are effectively punished through prolonged detention, without any trial, without being proven guilty.”“We sincerely hope to see Umar and these equal citizenship activists to be free so that they may contribute towards an equal and just future,” it said.The statement in full is produced below.§Today, 30th of January, 2025, is the 1600th day that the historian and activist Umar Khalid has spent in Delhi’s Tihar prison. It also happens to be the 77th anniversary of the assassination of Mohandas Karmachand Gandhi at the hands of a Hindutva fanatic. We, the undersigned, are not unaware of this synchronicity. Nor do we wish to see it pass unnoticed. In a speech preceding his arrest Umar Khalid had asserted that the same forces that had killed Gandhi had also brought in the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (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.” 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. In the end, this is not just about Umar Khalid. It pains us, for instance, to read Umar Khalid’s fellow-detenu 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. 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. 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. Umar Khalid was arrested on September 13, 2020, under the draconian UAPA in connection with the Delhi riots of February 2020. These riots, which caused significant loss of life and property, was a macabre episode that resulted in 53 deaths, 38 of whom were Muslims. However, instead of holding accountable those who incited and perpetuated the violence, the state has targeted activists and protestors who peacefully opposed the CAA. Umar Khalid, known for his eloquent speeches advocating for pluralism, secularism and constitutional values, has been falsely accused in the most brazenly twisted manner of conspiring to incite violence. In one of his speeches that has been used against him, he in fact is heard saying, “We will not respond to violence with violence. We will not respond to hate with hate. If they spread hate, we will respond to it by spreading love. If they beat us with lathis, we will hold aloft the tri-colour. If they fire bullets, then we will hold aloft the Constitution in our hands.” And yet, the authorities have gone out of their way to frame him using the most devious lies and distortions of facts. 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. The bench had in no unambiguous terms stated that “We are constrained to express, that it seems, that in its anxiety to suppress dissent, in the mind of the state, the line between the constitutionally guaranteed right to protest and terrorist activity seems to be getting somewhat blurred. If this mindset gains traction, it would be a sad day for democracy.” And yet, the state continues to bank on draconian laws like the UAPA that makes obtaining bail notoriously difficult. Such laws along with inordinate judicial delays have created a situation where individuals are effectively punished through prolonged detention, without any trial, without being proven guilty. We, the undersigned, are deeply disturbed to witness how a bright and compassionate young man like Umar who is trained as a historian and nurtured as a critical thinker, has repeatedly been targeted, vilified and branded by an authoritarian regime. We sincerely hope to see Umar and these equal citizenship activists to be free so that they may contribute towards an equal and just future. Release Umar Khalid and all Equal Citizenship Activists Endorsed by Amitav Ghosh, Novelist and essayist Rajmohan Gandhi, Writer, grandson of Mahatma Gandhi Ramachandra Guha, Historian and writer Naseeruddin Shah, Actor in Theatre and Cinema Ratna Pathak Shah, Actor in Theatre and Cinema Romila Thapar, Professor Emerita, JNU Gayatri Chakravarty Spivak, Professor, Columbia University, NYC Akeel Bilgrami, Professor, Columbia University, NYC Sandeep Pande, Magsaysay Awardee, Social activist Anand Teltumbde, Civil rights activist Anand Patwardhan, Film Maker Harsh Mander, Social Activist Irfan Habib, Professor Emeritus, AMU Prabhat Patnaik, Professor Emeritus, Jawaharlal Nehru University Lalit Vachani, Filmmaker and Researcher, University of Göttingen Tanika Sarkar, Historian, Former professor of History at Jawaharlal Nehru University, now teaches at Ashoka University Sumit Sarkar, Historian, Former Professor of History at DU and one of the early members of Subaltern Studies Jayati Ghosh, Professor of Economics, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA Nandini Sundar, Delhi based Sociologist Partha Chatterjee, Professor of Anthropology and South Asian studies at Columbia University Gyan Prakash, Professor of History, Princeton University Tushar A. Gandhi, Founder President, Mahatma Gandhi Foundation, Mumbai John Harriss, Professor Emeritus, Simon Fraser University and Queen’s University, Canada. Kavita Srivastava, PUCL Lalita Ramdas, Educator, Peace Activist, Citizen of India Kalpana Kannabiran, Sociologist and Lawyer John Dayal, Writer, New Delhi Shabnam Hashmi, Social Activist, Anhad Sudhanva Deshpande, LeftWord Books Christophe Jaffrelot, President of the French Political Science Association Alpa Shah, Professor of Social Anthropology, University of Oxford Amrita Basu, Professor, Amherst College Nakul Singh Sawhney, Filmmaker and Founder, ChalChitra Abhiyaan Rakesh Sharma, Filmmaker Ram Puniyani, All India Secular Forum, Mumbai Sagari R Ramdas, Food Sovereignty Alliance, India Joe Athialy, Centre for Financial Accountability Meena Kandasamy, Poet, writer & activist Rasheed Ahmed, Executive Director, Indian American Muslim Council Sunita Viswanath, Executive Director, Hindus for Human Rights Ishita Pande, Professor, History, Queen’s University, Canada Zoya Hasan, Professor Emerita, JNU Utsa Patnaik, Professor Emerita, JNU C.P. Chandrasekhar, Professor Retd., JNU Praveen Jha, Professor, JNU Darab Farooqui, Screenwriter Linda Hess, Senior Lecturer Emeritus, Stanford University Jawhar Sircar, ex MP and ex Secretary, Government of India Sankaran Krishna, Professor of Political Science, University of Hawai’i at Manoa Debashree Mukherjee, Associate Professor, Columbia University in New York Börries Nehe, Researcher at Universität Potsdam, Faculty of Economics and Social Sciences, Coordinator of International Research Group on Authoritarianism & Counter-Strategies (IRGAC) Shayoni Mitra, Professor, Barnard College, Columbia University O P Shah, Chairman, Centre for Peace & Progress Anjali Noronha, Educationist, Bhopal Mondira Jaisimha, Founding Partner – Cura Servitium and City Head – ElderAid, Hyderabad Nandini Manjrekar, Professor (Retired), TISS Mumbai Purwa Bharadwaj, Writer, educator Apoorvanand, Writer, teaches at DU Gurveen Kaur, educationist Jayasree Subramanian, Academician, Hyderabad Amogh Dhar Sharma, Leverhulme Early Career Fellow, University of Oxford Damir Arsenijević, Professor, University of Tuzla, Bosnia and Herzegovina Ruchir Joshi, Writer and Film-maker, Kolkata Sudhir Vombatkere, Engineer & writer Nilita Vachani, Educator, Filmmaker and Writer, New York University Srirupa Roy, Professor, University of Göttingen Ayesha Kidwai, Professor, Centre for Linguistics, JNU Susie Tharu. Professor (Retd) EFLU Fathima Nizaruddin, Filmmaker Rashmi Varma, Professor of English and Comparative Literary Studies, University of Warwick Subir Sinha, Director, SOAS South Asia Institute, London Amitava Kumar, Writer and Journalist, Vassar College Gianpaolo Baiocchi, Urban Democracy Lab, NYU Paula Chakravartty, Professor, NYU and Vice President, NYU-AAUP Dickens Leonard, Visiting Fellow, Brandeis University Kai Jabir Friese, Journalist Siddharth Dube, Writer Rajive Tiwari, Professor of Physics and Mathematics at Belmont Abbey College, USA Gyanendra Pandey, Prof of History, Emory University Ruby Lal, Prof of South Asian History, Emory University Raza Mir, Professor of Management, William Paterson University, USA Lotika Singha, Writer, editor, member-International Solidarity for Academic Freedom 83. Rajeev Singha, Retired medical professional and activist Sruti Bala, Associate Professor, Theatre Studies, University of Amsterdam Balaji Narsimhan, Independent, California, USA Arundhati Dhuru, Social activist MV Ramana, Professor and Simons Chair in Disarmament, Global and Human Security, Simon Frazer University, Vancouver, Canada Usha Iyer, Associate Professor, Film and Media Studies, Department of Art and Art History, Stanford University Abha Sur, Lecturer in Women’s and Gender Studies, MIT, Cambridge, MA Jyotsna Kapur, Professor of Cinema and Media Studies, Southern Illinois University, Carbondale, IL Vinay Lal, Professor of History & Asian American Studies, University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) Aditya Sarkar, Associate Professor in History, University of Warwick 93. Jarno Lang, General Manager Natalie Lang, Research Fellow Prerna Agarwal, Research Fellow Kajri Jain, Professor Shireen Moosvi, Professor Retd., AMU Carol Rovane, Professor, Columbia University, NYC Fr. Cedric Prakash SJ, Human Rights and Peace Activist/Writer, Ahmedabad Manu Goswami, Historian, NYU Rasika Ajotikar, Junior Professor of Ethnomusicology, University of Hildesheim 102. Dhirendra K. Jha, Journalist and Author, Delhi. Anjali Monteiro, Filmmaker and Academic, Goa KP Jayasankar, Filmmaker and Academic, Goa Uma Chakravarti, Retired Teacher of History, Filmmaker Anand Chakravarti, Retired Teacher, University of Delhi Michael Gottlob, Historian, India Coordination Group, Berlin Sunanda Bhat, Filmmaker Nivedita Menon, Professor, JNU, Delhi Geeta Seshu, Journalist and Co-Editor, Free Speech Collective Laila Kadiwal, Associate Professor in Education and International Development at University College, London Yasmin Saikia, Hardt-Nickachos Chair in Peace Studies, Center for the Study of Religion and Conflict, Arizona State University Chitra Joshi, Independent Historian Parinitha, Professor, Mangalore University, Mangaluru Shreya Sinha, Academic Shubhra Gururani, Anthropology & YCAR, York University Aditya Nigam, Independent academic, Delhi Sangeeta Kamat, Professor, International Development Education, University of Massachusetts Amherst Abdul Matin, Assistant Professor, Department of International Relations, Jadavpur University, Kolkata Priya Sen, Independent Artist and Filmmaker A. Mangai, Academician and Theatre person, Marappachi Theatre Group Shubashree Desikan, Science journalist, Chennai Mira Kamdar, Writer Unni Karunakara, Yale University, New Haven Nalini Rajan, Dean of Studies, Asian College of Journalism, Chennai Aakar Patel, Columnist, Bengaluru Shahana Bhattacharya, Associate Professor Dwaipayan Bhattacharyya, Academic Pallavi Gupta, Researcher Harinder Mahil, Retd. Union Representative, Vancouver, Canada 131. Shamsul Islam, Historian, Writer Jane Mills, University of New South Wales, Australia Ranjit Sur, Association for the Protection of Democratic Rights (APDR) Amit Mahanti, Filmmaker, New Delhi Somnath Waghmare, Filmmaker, Mumbai Sondhy Dutta, Design Consultant and Interior Designer, Kolkata Mithu Das, Kolkata Kaushik Roy, Filmmaker, Branding & Creative Consultant, Mumbai Ranjan Kar, Retired MNC executive, Bengaluru Rangan Chakravarty, Media professional, Kolkata Anik Datta, Filmmaker, Kolkata Behroze Gandhy, Film Producer Aparajita Sinha, Writer. Nikhilesh Sinha, Professor of Economics and Finance, Hult International Business School Mishka Sinha, Curator of Inclusive History London, U.K Zeenat Shaukat Ali, Director General Wisdom Foundation Satish Bhatia, Academia, FTII Alumni Thomas Franco, People First Markus Nornes, Language Studies and Asian Cinema, University of Michigan Aditi Mehta, IAS Retired Moutuli Nag Sarkar, (APDR) Indranil Chatterjee, (APDR) Altaf Ahmed, (APDR) Sarmistha Roy, (APDR) Sourav Roy, (APDR) Amitava Sengupta, (APDR) Saroj Mondal, (APDR) Rahul Chakraborty, (APDR) Animesh, (APDR) Rajib Dutta, (APDR)
