Ueland demanded that the United States take seriously the extensive reports of India’s use of draconian anti-terrorism laws to silence activists from minority faith backgrounds. He further called on the State Department to designate India as a Country of Particular Concern (CPC) for egregious violations of religious freedoms.

This special briefing was co-sponsored by 18 American civil rights organizations including the Indian American Muslim Council, Genocide Watch, World Without Genocide, Hindus for Human Rights, International Christian Concern, Jubilee Campaign,  21Wilberforce, Dalit Solidarity Forum, New York State Council of Churches, Federation of Indian American Christian Organizations of North America, India Civil Watch International, Center for Pluralism, International Commission for Dalit Rights, American Muslim Institution, Students Against Hindutva Ideology, International Society for Peace and Justice, The Humanism Project and Association of Indian Muslims of America.

“We strongly urge policy recommendations that take these abuses seriously, especially the importance of the United States in its designation of India as a CPC in the coming months, and not let India off the hook from the consequences of a CPC designation with some sort of scummy waiver,” said Ueland.

Over three years ago, on September 13, 2020, Umar Khalid was charged with terrorism and arrested under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) after Indian authorities falsely accused him of inciting communal violence following a speech he delivered during nationwide protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), 2019. The CAA has been widely criticized by Indian jurists and activists alike as a law that discriminates on the basis of religion (read Islam) and thereby excludes them from being able to receive fast-tracked Indian citizenship.

In his speech during widespread protests at the time (2019-2020), Khalid had called for nonviolent resistance against the far-right government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his party BJP.

Also speaking at the briefing organised in the country’s capital was Syed Qasim Rasool Ilyas, the father of Umar Khalid, who stated that he was not only speaking to represent the case of his son, but to represent the cases of all India’s political prisoners.

“Those who are languishing in jail – what was their crime?” Ilyas asked. “They have spoken against a discriminatory law. [For this,] they have been charged with sedition, they have been charged with terrorism, and they are languishing in jail for the last three years under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act.”

He added, “People must know what is prevailing in the country. India is the largest democracy in the world. But we are afraid of whether it will remain as a democracy or not after the 2024 election. If this government comes back, people feel that the democracy of the country will be lost.”

Indian journalist Niranjan Takle, also quoted Umar Khalid’s speech to anti-CAA protestors, saying, “If they spread hate, we will respond with love. If they thrash us with sticks, we will keep holding our national tricolor flag high.”

“What is anti-national in this speech?” he added. “What is it that is provoking violence? But based on this speech, frivolous charges were raised against [Khalid], and he has been incarcerated in jail for the last 37 months… and the Supreme Court of India is not ready to even hear the bail petitions.”

Related:

When speeches are given a criminal colour & ‘conspiracy’ charges used to incarcerate: Gautam Bhatia on Umar Khalid, Jyoti Jagtap bail orders

Umar Khalid’s Battle against the UAPA Charges to Continue

Umar Khalid bail plea: Prosecution concludes arguments before Delhi HC

The post Umar Khalid’s incarceration: USCIRF Commissioner expresses concern over use of anti-terrorism laws to silence activists appeared first on SabrangIndia.

Image Courtey: PTI
 
New Delhi: Umar Khalid, a student activist and Ph.D Scholar from JNU was shot at near Constitution Club in New Delhi on August 13, two days before Independence Day. He escaped unhurt and continued to participate in the ‘Khauf se Azaadi’ (Freedom from Fear) event right after the incident.
 
He released a statement about the threat to his life and said “The question also is what does “freedom” even mean if the citizens of this country have to be ready to die for their “crime” of just being vocal against injustice?”
 
“If something untoward would have happened yesterday, or if it were to happen tomorrow, then do not just hold that “unidentified gunman” responsible. The real culprits are those who from their seats of power have been breeding an atmosphere of hatred, of bloodlust and fear. The real culprits are those who have provided an atmosphere of complete impunity for assassins and mob lynchers. The real culprits are those spokespersons of the ruling party and the prime time anchors and TV channels who have spread canards about me, branded me anti-national based on lies and virtually incited a lynch-mob against me,” he said.
 
Talking to Sabrang India, Dr. Kafeel Khan spoke about his experience at the same event and how it unfolded. “I was also attending the Freedom from Fear event yesterday. After the initial commotion, the program was delayed by a few hours but it still took place. We discussed how the whole environment in India has changed. Umar was shot at in a posh and safe place like Lutyens in Delhi and that too before Independence Day when security is on high alert. Even I had received a death threat on August 5 on my cell phone which said that I will be killed next. This happened right after my own brother was shot at. I am not scared and I will not be silent. I will continue to speak out against injustice. I still haven’t got my job back even after it was proven that the deaths at BRD medical hospital occurred due to oxygen failure. The people responsible still hold their post. In the name of religion and caste, hatred and violence are being promoted. We will continue to spread the message of unity, peace and love,” he said.
 
Umar Khalid sent a tweet to PM Modi in response to his public message asking for speech ideas for 15^th August. “Modi Ji, you had asked for suggestions for your IDay speech. I have a suggestion to make – can you please state that you guarantee that there will be no attack on those who criticize your govt & its many failures,” he said.
 
https://twitter.com/UmarKhalidJNU/status/1029207383933763584
 
The suspected unidentified gunman was caught on CCTV cameras after dropping the gun used to shoot at Umar. Khalid, Khan, lawyer Prashant Bhushan, Najeeb Jung’s mother Fatima Nafees, Junaid’s (lynched by mob) mother and wife of Aleemuddin among others were present at the event organised by a collective named ‘United Against Hate.’
 
Full text of Umar’s statement:
 
They cant scare us into silence!
 
(My statement on the attempt on my life, yesterday)
 
With the repeated death threats against my life, and having seen the assassinations of one activist after the other in the last few years, I somehow knew that someday a gun may be turned against me too. Dhabolkar, Kalburgi, Pansare, Gauri Lankesh…the list of assassinations has been ever-growing. But can I say that I was ready for this? Can anyone ever say that they are ready for such an eventuality for real? No. And two days before 15th August, the question also is what does “freedom” even mean if the citizens of this country have to be ready to die for their “crime” of just being vocal against injustice? What is most paradoxical is that I had gone to attend an event named “Freedom from Fear” today when an unidentified gunman attacked me and tried to kill me in front of the Constitution Club.
 
The fact that two days before Independence Day, in one of the most “High Security” zones of the national capital, an armed assailant could dare to attack me in broad daylight only goes onto show the brazen impunity that some people feel they enjoy under the present regime. I do not know who he was or who are the forces behind him. That is for the police to investigate. But I want to state here that if something untoward would have happened yesterday, or if it were to happen tomorrow, then do not just hold that “unidentified gunman” responsible. The real culprits are those who from their seats of power have been breeding an atmosphere of hatred, of bloodlust and fear. The real culprits are those who have provided an atmosphere of complete impunity for assassins and mob lynchers. The real culprits are those spokespersons of the ruling party and the prime time anchors and TV channels who have spread canards about me, branded me anti-national based on lies and virtually incited a lynch-mob against me. This has specifically made my life extremely vulnerable.
 
Even today, even after the police has registered an offence under Section 307 and Arms Act, why is it that a MP from BJP, Meenakshi Lekhi and other saffron agents online are trying to suggest that the attack never happened, or worse that I engineered it on my own? Even as I haven’t pointed fingers at anyone, why are they so desperate to twist the narrative? What should this desperation be taken as a sign of? Their own culpability? Well, if one is to just look into the murder of Gauri Lankesh as an example, the arrests one after the other clearly exposes the hands of Hindutva terror outfits. So when we say “unidentified gunmen”, what is important is to identify the real players behind these terror attacks.
 
This hate campaign against me has been going on for last two years. There is no evidence, only lies. There has been no charge-sheet, only media-trial. There are no arguments, only trolling. There has been no debate, only death threats. And today it has all come down to a gun. Why is it that hashtags like “Tukde Tukde” has literally become a prefix to my name, whereas BJP leaders openly support those who say they will do “tukde tukde” of the country if a certain movie is released? Why is that I am called an anti-national and subjected to a never ending media trial, but there is no outrage against those who burnt the Constitution in the heart of the capital, in the presence of the Delhi police just a few days back? Why is it that those who are hell-bent on polarizing the country by hate-mongering against the minorities and by felicitating mob-lynchers are respected, revered and garlanded? And we who speak against hatred are villainized? Why is it that those who speak of dividing the society in the name of caste and attack the dalits – the likes of Shambhaji Bhide, whom PM Modi calls a mahapurush- are not accused of breaking the country to pieces? Why is it that the people in power who want to sell off this country piece by piece to big corporates at the cost of the poor, are celebrated as deshbhakts and their critics deemed as “anti-nationals”? These are all relevant questions today.
 
If they believe that with attacks like this they are going to scare us into silence, then they are gravely mistaken. The ideas of Gauri Lankesh, the ideas Rohith have outlived them. They cannot browbeat us into silence, neither with their jails, nor with their bullets. We proved it yesterday itself. Despite the attack on me, the program Khauf Se Azaadi (Freedom from Fear) by United Against Hate was successfully held in the Constitution Club. Najeeb’s mother Fatima Nafees, the wife of Alimuddin (whose killers Union Minister Jayant Sinha garlanded recently) Maryam, the mother of Junaid (16 year old lynched on a train last year) Fatima, Rakbar Khan’s brother Akbar, Dr Kafeel Khan along with Prashant Bhushan, Prof. Apoorvanand, SR Darapuri, Manoj Jha and many others addressed the gathering raising their voice against hatred, lynchings and the terror spread by these saffron terror. That is the spirit of our resistance.
 
I also wish to reiterate the demand that the Delhi Police should provide me with security as there is a continuous threat to my life. In the last two years, I have demanded police protection twice from the Delhi Police, but only to be met with a callous response. I have been given death threats several times in the past and receive several threats and inciteful messages everyday on social media. After yesterday’s incident, what is the Delhi Police waiting for? I appeal to all democratic forces to pressurize the Delhi Police to provide me with security, as it is no longer possible for me to go anywhere anymore without security.
 
I thank the countless well-wishers and co-fighters of justice who have stood by me and spoken out against this cowardly act. This is a collective fight for democracy that we all are part of, and we shall certainly defeat the followers of Savarkar and Godse. Tomorrow while there will be once again a shower of high voltage lies and sugar-coated jumlas from the ramparts of the Dalmia Group’s Red Fort, our fight for real freedom and dignity, and making the dreams of Bhagat Singh and Babasaheb Ambedkar into a reality will continue with greater resolve.
 
Jai Bhim, Lal Salaam
Umar Khalid.

Related Articles:
Blatant attempt on Umar Khalid’s life
More such tactics will be used in the run-up to 2019 elections: Umar Khalid
Dr. Kafeel Khan’s brother shot at near CM Yogi Adityanath’s home

The post We will not be scared into silence: Umar Khalid and Dr. Kafeel Khan appeared first on SabrangIndia.

 
Firebrand student leader Umar Khalid was shot at by an ‘unidentified gunman’ in New Delhi on August 13. The blatant attack, that many see as a scare tactic, ironically took place when JNU scholar was attending a program titled Khauf se Azaadi (Towards a Freedom Without Fear) at the Constitution Club. The program was organised by a group called United Against Hate to highlight the  increasing number of attacks on minorities, students and rationalists. 

“There is an atmosphere of fear in the country, and anybody who speaks against the government is threatened,” said Umar with his characteristic calm, less than an hour after being shot at. 

Umar had stepped out of the club premises to have a quick cup of tea, when the shooter fired at him. Luckily Umar Khalid escaped unhurt. An eyewitness said that they were at a tea stall when a man in a white shirt came, pushed and opened fire at him. “Khalid lost his balance, fell down and the bullet missed him. We tried to catch the man but he fled. He fires aerial shots and the pistol slipped out of his hands,” they added.

The program was to see important speakers such as Adv. Prashant Bhushan, Senior journalist, Arfa Khanum Sherwani, member of Parliament Manoj Jha, Najeeb’s mother, Fatima Nafees, Dalit leader and slain scholar Rohith Vemula’s mother Radhika Vemula among others. 
A crackdown on dissent by students coupled with the attack on Khalid has outraged the student community that has already borne the brunt of police brutality whenever they have demanded their rights. https://twitter.com/nehadixit123/status/1028933172602576897

Fellow student activist, Shehla Rashid expressed shock and worry, “Shocking and highly condemnable. I spoke to Umar. He’s okay, but we should be very very worried about his safety.”

However, right wing trolls and bhakts didn’t shy away even at this grim moment from trying to justify the attack,

What is also interesting is that shots were fired in one of the capital city’s most secure areas, given the club’s proximity to the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) building.

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