Attendees of a Bengaluru event discussing a book on jailed student activist Umar Khalid had to go through five layers of police checks on Tuesday, April 28. The restrictions were set up after the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) filed a police complaint on Monday demanding its cancellation.
The event – a discussion of the book Umar Khalid and his World – was organised by the All India Lawyers Association for Justice (AILAJ), People’s Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL), and Bahutva Karnataka.
The packed audience saw a reading of the book by its editors Anirban Bhattacharya, Banojyotsna Lahiri, and Shuddhabrata Sengupta. This was followed by a panel discussion featuring actor Prakash Raj, and historians Ramachandra Guha and Janaki Nair. The police tightly controlled entry to the event, turning many people away.
Umar Khalid was arrested in September 2020 after the Delhi police accused him and others of instigating the riots in Delhi in February that year that left 53 people dead. Umar has been denied bail several times, prompting activists to accuse the judiciary of biased treatment.
Umar Khalid and his World is a collection of writings, letters, and essays centred around Umar’s imprisonment, and also includes reflections by scholars, activists, and public figures. It explores Umar’s own letters from jail, where he reflects on politics, democracy, and how dissent is treated in India. The book is a political and reflective work that uses his incarceration as a lens to discuss democracy, dissent, and State power in modern India.
‘Constitutional morality under siege’
Clifton D’Rozario, general secretary of AILAJ, opened the event by talking about how “draconian laws” such as the National Security Act 1980; Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act 1987 (TADA); the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act 1967 (UAPA); and sedition laws amounted to “incarceration as a tool for political discipline”.
Clifton pointed out that every era since colonial rule has had its share of political prisoners. In the present, academics, journalists, students, human rights defenders, Dalit intellectuals, Adivasi organisers, and Muslim activists, were often targeted by the State.
“When dissent itself is criminalised, when critique is interpreted as conspiracy, when protest is recast as terrorism, we are compelled to ask whether constitutional morality is itself under siege,” said Clifton. He also said that Dr BR Ambedkar had warned that the State and society would “try to erase our public conscience by imprisoning our best, but we must not let them.”
Clifton also quoted from Umar’s writings to talk about realising the vision of an equal society. “Ours is a battle for a vision of a time in our society, where some will not be more equal than others,” Clifton quoted Umar.
He also referred to Umar’s rejection of victimhood, by quoting from a letter in which he said, “I’m content where I am, in spite of what I’m being subjected to, because there is beauty in knowing that this is not about me alone.”
Clifton cited the editors of Umar Khalid and his World, who pointed out how lethal the conditions of prison systems are for political prisoners. “Prolonged incarceration without trial, repeated denial of bail, and the use of vague and expansive legal categories, convert procedure into coercion, the process becomes the punishment,” said Clifton.
‘Urban Naxal is a backhanded compliment’
Historian Janaki Nair, who had taught Umar Khalid in JNU, reflected on their time together. She recalled how she and Umar had a heated discussion about raising deprivation points for Muslim students up to what is allotted for women. Umar had pointed out that most of the Muslim students on campus were concentrated in the Arabic Studies Department. While she had vehemently opposed the same back then, she admitted that today she is “open to relooking the vehemence with which I had argued against that position at that time.”
During the session Janaki reflected on the “four layers of police protection” they had passed through to join the discussion, thanking all the panelists, organisers, and participants for making it to the event.
Janaki also pointed out the connotative shift of the word ‘urban Naxal’. Used as a derogatory term by the right-wing, the term is today a “backhanded compliment,” Janaki said, prompting applause from the audience. Today, she said, the term is used to admire “the Left’s capacity to produce people who actually think” and urged the audience to think about the majoritarianism that has “engulfed our lives, a majoritarianism that loves to hate and hates to love.”
She discussed how the freedom of the individual is curtailed for the safety of the State, when the safety of the State should actually mean the freedom of its people. Janaki encouraged the audience to “commit the thought crime of reading this book.”
Other speakers
Historian Ramachandra Guha said he became acquainted with eight facets of Umar Khalid while reading the book. The eighth facet was seeing Umar as “a symbol of the better, nobler India” that everyone wishes to see.
Actor Prakash Raj expressed his support for Umar, as “he is [in prison] to ensure that this country doesn’t become a prison.”
Umar’s partner Banojyotsna described the book as “an act of friendship,” and said that it features “the world that starts from [Umar Khalid’s] prison cell and doesn’t end there.”
The foreword to the book was written by Kunal Kamra, a stand-up comedian and political satirist. In it, he reflects on Umar’s public image, criticises media narratives, and frames the book within broader debates on dissent and free speech.
Tight security
The discussion caused a stir, with the BJP submitting a memorandum to Bengaluru Police Commissioner Seemanth Kumar Singh a day ahead of the event, demanding its cancellation.
On the day of the event, police set up barricades along all approach roads to the venue, Bangalore International Centre, in Domlur. About 30-50 protestors from the BJP Yuva Morcha, led by former Bengaluru mayor M Gautham Kumar, were detained by the police when they attempted to enter the venue.
Attendees also had to go through five layers of checks, three on the road, and two inside the venue. Many were turned away by the police as they had not registered prior. Organisers directed such people to an adjacent room where the event was livestreamed.
This article was written by students interning with TNM.