Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. said, “The moral arc of the universe is long, but it bends towards justice.”On January 5, that moral arc looked more like a straight, never-ending line. Some would go so far as to say the arc showed a definite tilt towards injustice, for, on the same day that the Supreme Court denied bail to Umar Khalid and Sharjeel Imam, Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh walked out of the Sunaria jail in Haryana after being granted a 40-day parole. This is reportedly the 15th time that Singh, who is presently serving a 20-year jail term for raping two of his disciples has been released on parole since his conviction in 2017.Umar and Sharjeel, on the other hand, have been in jail for over five years now in connection with what the Delhi Police believes is the “larger conspiracy” behind the Delhi communal violence of 2020. Their trial hasn’t even begun yet. One wonders what frame of mind these young men and women began January 5 with. Was there a flicker of hope in their heart that the Supreme Court just might grant them bail this time? Did they steel themselves again for yet another disappointment? Or did they somehow manage to hold both thoughts at once, as is often the case when one hopes for the best while expecting the worst? Umar’s partner, Banojyotsna, posted on X after the bail plea was rejected:“I am really happy for the others, who got bail! So relieved”, Umar said. “I’ll come tomorrow for Mulaqat”, I replied.“Good good, aa jana. Ab yahi zindagi hai [Good good, come. Now this is life]”. While their co-accused, Gulfisha Fatima, Meeran Haider, Shifa Ur Rehman, Shadab Ahmed, and Mohammad Saleem Khan have received bail under strict conditions, Umar and Sharjeel continue to remain incarcerated. While one understands, of course, that this is not how the real world works, one wishes nonetheless that those who decide the fate of men and women – who remains behind bars and who walks free – would get an opportunity to personally interact with these young men and truly listen to what they have to say without the din and spin of a hateful media. What they hear might surprise them.Not many in the larger society are aware that Sharjeel completed an integrated B.Tech. and M.Tech. in Computer Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay (IIT-Bombay). In many ways, he embodied the archetypal dream son of countless Indian parents – those whose highest aspiration is to see their children make it to the IITs.While at IIT, he worked as a teaching assistant and then as a programmer at the IT University of Copenhagen. After two years in the tech industry, Sharjeel pivoted toward the humanities – a deliberate choice to engage with India’s historical and political questions. In 2013 he enrolled at Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) in New Delhi to study Modern History. After completing his M.A. and M.Phil., and went on to pursue a Ph.D. at JNU’s Centre for Historical Studies, focusing his research on communal violence in India’s past (including detailed archival work).Sharjeel’s “chicken neck” comment made during an anti-CAA speech in January 2020 landed him in a whole lot of trouble. Sharjeel clarified that the point he was making was about strategic civil disobedience rather than about violence or secession. His intent was to encourage “chakka jam” – a peaceful blockade of roads to pressure the government to engage with the protestors – and not to call for secession. But the damage was done, and he was all but crucified in the court of the media and public opinion.Umar Khalid, or should we say Dr. Umar Khalid, completed his B.A. in History from Kirori Mal College, Delhi University. He then went on to earn his M.A., M.Phil., and PhD in Modern History from JNU. His doctoral research focused on the Adivasis of Jharkhand, specifically the Hos of Singhbhum. – A far cry indeed from his detractors, the great majority of whom have been nurtured on a steady diet of WhatsApp forwards full of hate, half-truths, and outright lies. I first met Umar in 2017, at a memorial for murdered journalist Gauri Lankesh at the Press Club in New Delhi.My first impression of him was that here was someone who was extremely well-read and brilliant, but also really easy to talk to. I asked him where he felt the Indian republic was heading. He said, “The powers that be might look invincible right now but the cracks are beginning to show, and I think it will be a matter of time before the rest of the country starts seeing them as well.”I asked him if he had any plans to join politics and he said, “I want to continue working at the grassroots and helping the cause of the Adivasis”. We did not have a long conversation, but it was a meaningful one. To this day, I remember his genteel demeanour, nuanced and razor-sharp understanding of the problems besetting India and most of all, his quiet commitment to helping those Indians that others do not have time for.During the anti-CAA–NRC protests of 2019 and 2020, Umar repeatedly called for peaceful, non-violent protest in the Gandhian tradition and cautioned against any form of provocation or retaliation. In a speech given in January, he explicitly urged protesters to remain peaceful: “We will not be violent. Whatever violence they do, we will meet it with love. Whatever hatred they spread, we will respond with unity.”In the same speech, he went on to stress discipline and restraint, warning that any turn to violence would only help those trying to discredit the movement and divert attention from its constitutional demands.For anyone who cares to see things as they are, Umar and Sharjeel pose no threat to India. They are a threat only to an ideology that refuses to accept the idea of India as enshrined in the constitution.It is difficult to believe at a time like this that the moral arc of the universe bends toward justice. But I believe Dr. King was right. I also believe that the time will come when the nation and the world will see that the only ‘crime’ that Umar and others like him were ‘guilty’ of was to be the voice of conscience and compassion in a country once well regarded for both.Rohit Kumar is an educator and can be reached at letsempathize@gmail.com.