New Delhi: Eight US lawmakers have called out the investigation into the allegations against Umar Khalid under India’s anti-terrorism law as “dubious”, urging for his bail during his judicial proceedings in a letter to the Indian ambassador to the US, Vinay Kwatra, earlier this week.
Khalid has been in pre-trial detention for over five years, since September 2020, under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) in connection with the 2020 Delhi riots. He was recently granted 14 days of interim bail to attend his sister’s wedding, after which he surrendered back to Tihar Jail on 29 December.
“Human rights organisations, legal experts, and global media have raised questions about the fairness of the investigation and legal process. The strength of the evidence used to charge Mr Khalid with terrorism—namely, the statements of secret witnesses and a misconstrued speech—is dubious,” the letter by six US Representatives, James McGovern, Jamie Raskin, Pramila Jaypal, Rashida Tlaib, Lloyd Doggett, and Jan Schakowsky, and two US Senators, Chris van Hollen and Peter Welch, read.
“Independent investigations conducted by reputable human rights groups did not find evidence linking Mr Khalid to terrorist activity,” the letter, dated 30 December, added.
It added, “We understand that these matters are presently under consideration before the Supreme Court of India. We welcome the news that Mr Khalid received temporary bail to attend his sister’s wedding and urge that Mr Khalid be granted bail and released for the duration of the court’s proceedings.”
The US lawmakers have requested that the Government of India “share the steps being taken to ensure that the judicial proceedings” against Khalid and his co-accused, who are in detention with him, such as Sharjeel Imam, Gulfisha Fatima, and Khalid Saifi, “comport with international standards”.
McGovern met with Khalid’s parents earlier this week. In a statement on the social media platform X, he has called for a “timely trial in accordance with international law.”
The US lawmakers have highlighted that the charges levied against Khalid under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) might contravene “international standards of equity before the law, due process, and proportionality,” according to independent human rights experts.
“Individuals charged under the UAPA are not granted the presumption of innocence. Further, judges may deny bail to individuals charged under the UAPA at their discretion, despite the Supreme Court’s finding in a previous case that ‘bail should be granted when there is a long period of incarceration’,” said the letter.
It added: “Mr Khalid has not been found guilty of a crime, and yet the pre-trial treatment to which he has been subjected is punitive in and of itself. We also note that several of the individuals accused in these cases—including Umar Khalid, Sharjeel Imam, Gulfisha Fatima, and Khalid Saifi, among others—have been identified as victims of freedom of religion or belief violations by the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF), a bipartisan, independent body of the US government.”
The lawmakers pointed out that the findings by the USCIRF indicated that the “continued incarceration” of the aforementioned individuals “may be linked to their religious identity as Muslims and their exercise of protected rights”.
The USCIRF, in its profile of Khalid, describes the cause of his detainment as “protesting religious freedom conditions.”
Zohran K. Mamdani, the newly sworn-in mayor of New York City, shared a note with Khalid’s parents during their visit to the US last month. Mamdani, in his handwritten note, said that he often thinks of the jailed activist’s words on bitterness and the importance of not letting it consume the self.
A copy of the note was shared by Banjyotsana Lahiri on X Thursday.
Khalid has been in jail since 2020 and was granted interim bail last month to attend his sister’s wedding. The jailed activists’ battle for bail has reached the Supreme Court, with arguments concluded only last month and the judgment reserved.
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