I never followed Islam but I was called Islamist' terrorist: Umar Khalid

March 19, 2016

New Delhi, Mar 19: Hours after his release from Tihar jail in a sedition case, JNU student Umar Khalid today said he has no regrets of being jailed and was rather proud of being booked under the said charges.

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"We have no regrets of being jailed in this particular case. We are in fact proud of the fact that we have been booked under sedition, a law under which activists like Arundhati Roy and Binayak Sen were booked.

"Our names have been added to the list of those who have been jailed for raising their voices," he told a gathering at the varsity.

In a 35-minute speech, Umar said, "I am not ashamed that I was in jail. Criminals are those who are in power, those in jail are the ones who raise their voice."

"I also don't think that freedom of expression is in danger. It only belongs to those in power. People like (Pravin) Togadia and Yogi Adityanath have all the freedom of expression," he said.

Umar claimed that he was being labelled a terrorist because of Islam, which, he said, he did not practice.

"I never followed Islam but I was called Islamist terrorist. It was not just my trial but entire Muslim community's trial. But I want to ask what if I was practising Muslim? What if I came from Azamgarh and wore a skull cap? That will be enough to give me a terrorist certificate", he said.

Khalid, who was welcomed at the gathering by JNUSU president Kanhaiya Kumar and his 6-year-old sister Sara, said, "Those who are raising concerns about wastage of taxpayers' money, we want to tell them we are not going to go back to studies now that we are back from jail. By jailing us you have given bigger responsibilities on our shoulders and we will fulfill that by fighting."

Umar, and Anirban Bhattacharya, arrested last month on charges of sedition for their involvement in a controversial event organised to protest hanging of Afzal Guru, were today granted interim bail for six months by a Delhi court on ground of parity with Kanhaiya.

Kanhaiya, who was also arrested on charges of sedition in connection with the February 9 event at the JNU, was granted bail earlier this month.

"I was linked with Jaish-e-Mohammad, I was accused of eloping to Kashmir or Pakistan while I was sitting at the university administration block, I was declared a traitor to the nation by virtue of birth.

"We are still in a better position as we were not killed in an encounter or tortured in custody and our houses were not burnt. Usually that's the fate of those who raise their voices," Khalid said.

"We do condemn 'bharat ki barbadi' (India will be destroyed) slogans but our slogan is 'Sangh ki barbadi tak jung rahegi' (fight till sangh is destroyed). There can't be peace without justice and where there is RSS can't be justice," he said.

Amid shouting of 'aazaadi' slogans, Anirban recalled his experiences in jail and how authorities were more appalled at him being an "anti-national".

"They said Khalid sahab to we understand, but you being a Bhattacharya how can you be anti-national? I had no answers and I am still clueless about what transpired in the last one month," he said.

"I did not feel bad about being in jail but the day Kanhaiya came back to campus I missed being here," he said.

Comments

Naren kotian
 - 
Saturday, 19 Mar 2016

Lo rikaacha ...good joke kano...chaddi galu scared abthe ..haha...worlds most deadliest crimes rapes beheadings are done by muslims...99.999% muslims are terrorists. . take out the statistics .. First of all saabi galige nidde barallo mama Israel and modi hesru kelidre ...haha ...

Zubair
 - 
Saturday, 19 Mar 2016

Mr. Umar If you never followed ISLAM!! then, you are unfit to named as Umar Khalid... and raise voice against discrimination. Let media and politician call you as either Islamic Terrorist or fundamentalist it is not a big thing. Because Allah knows the best what and who are you..but be firm in your religion and fight for freedom IN India..

Rikaz
 - 
Saturday, 19 Mar 2016

cheddies are scared of muslims name....not whether you follow muslim or not...even in the night they cannot get proper sleep just because of muslim names....you dont have to harm them but they scared it is automatic...its from Allah the alimighty....Subhan Allah!

UMMAR
 - 
Saturday, 19 Mar 2016

NO NEED TO FOLLOW ISLAM ... IF U R MUSLIM U R TERROR AS PER THEM...

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News Network
April 27,2020

Thiruvananthapuram, Apr 27: Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Sunday said the issue of return of Non-Resident Keralites (NRKs) to the state has been taken up with the Centre and the state government is awaiting a favourable response.

Vijayan said this in a meeting with Non-Resident Keralites over steps taken by the state government for those wishing to return to the state from foreign countries.

The Chief Minister announced that the Department of Non-Resident Keralites Affairs has opened online registration for such NRKs.

"Those returning should undergo screening at airports. All those returning should undergo mandatory home quarantine for 14 days.

Arrangements of isolation wards will be provided for those unable to go home," said Vijayan.

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Ram Puniyani
January 9,2020

‘Go to Pakistan’ has probably been most often used phrase used against Muslims in India. Recently in yet another such incident the SP of Meerut, UP has been in the news and a video is circulating where he, Akhilesh Narayan Singh, is allegedly using the jibe ‘Go to Pakistan’. In the video he is seen shouting at protestors at Lisari Gate area in Meerut, “The ones (protestors) wearing those black or yellow armbands, tell them to go to Pakistan”. His seniors stood by him calling it ‘natural reaction to shouting of pro Pakistan slogans. Many BJP leaders like Uma Bhararti also defended the officer. Breaking ranks with fellow politicians, Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi of BJP, criticised the said officer and asked for suitable action against him. Interestingly this is same Naqvi, who earlier when the beef related arguments were going on; had stated that those who want to eat beef can go to Pakistan.

Interestingly this is probably the first time that any BJP leader has opposed the use of this jibe against the Indian Muslims. True to the dominance of trolls who support divisive politics, Naqvi has been trolled on the issue. As such vibe ‘Go to Pakistan’ has been a strong tool in the hands of aggressive elements to demonise Muslims in general and to humiliate those with Muslim names. One recalls that when due to the rising intolerance in the society many eminent writers, film makers were returning their awards, Aamir Khan said that his wife Kiran Rao is worried about their son. Immediately BJP worthies like Giriraj Singh pounced on him that he can go to Pakistan.

The strategy of BJP combine has been on one hand to use this ‘go to Pakistan’ to humiliate Muslims on the other from last few years another Pakistan dimension has been added. Those who are critical of the policies of BJP-RSS have on one hand been called as anti National and on the other it is being said that ‘they are speaking the language of Pakistan’.

Use of Pakistan to label the Muslims and dissidents here in India has been a very shrewd tool in the hands of communal forces. One remembers that the ‘cricket nationalism’ was also the one to use it. In case of India-Pakistan cricket match, the national hysteria, which it created, was also aiming at Indian Muslims. What was propagated was that Indian Muslims cheer for Pakistan victory and they root for Pakistan. There was an unfortunate grain of truth in this as a section of disgruntled, alienated Muslim did that. That was not the total picture, as most Indian Muslims were cheering for Indian victory. Many a Muslim cricketers contributed massively to Indian cricket victories. The cricket legends like Nawab Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi, Irfan Pathan, and Mohammad Azaruddin are just the few among the long list of those who brought glories for India in the field of cricket.

Even in matters of defence there are legions of Muslims who contributed to Indian efforts in the war against Pakistan all through. Abdul Hamid’s role in 1965 India Pak war and the role of Muslim soldiers in Kargil war will be part of Indian military history. There have been generals in army who contributed in many ways for the role which military has been playing in service of the nation. General Zamiruddin Shah, when asked to handle Gujarat carnage, does recount how despite the lack of support from local administration for some time, eventually the military was able to quell the violence in some ways.

During freedom movement Muslims were as much part of the struggle against British rule as any other community. While the perception has been created that Muslims were demanding Pakistan, the truth is somewhere else. It was only the elite section of Muslims who supported the politics of Muslim League and later the same Muslim League could mobilize some other section and unleash the violence like ‘Direct Action’ in Kolkata, which in a way precipitated the actual process of partition, which was the goal of British and aim of Muslim League apart from this being the outcome of ‘Two Nation theory’.

Not much is popularized about the role of great number of Muslims who were part of National movement, who steadfastly opposed the idea and politics which led to the sad partition of the subcontinent. Few excellent accounts of the role of Muslims in freedom movement like Syed Nasir Ahmad, Ubaidur Rahman, Satish Ganjoo and Shamsul Islam are few of these not too well know books which give the outline of the great Muslim freedom fighters like Khan Abdul Gaffar Khan, Maulana Abul Kalam Azad, Ansari Brothers, Ashfaqulla Khan.

Immediately after partition tragedy the communal propaganda did the overdrive to blame the whole partition process on Muslim separatism, this totally undermined the fact that how poor Muslims had taken out massive marches to oppose the Lahore Resolution of separate Pakistan moved by Mohammad Ali Jinnah. The whole Muslim community started being seen as the homogenous, ‘The other’ and other misconceptions started against the community, the one’s relating them to atrocities of Muslim kings started being made as the part of popular folklore, leading the Hate against them. This Hate in turn laid the foundation of violence and eventual ghettoisation of this community.

The interactive-syncretism prevalent in India well presented by Gandhi-Nehru was pushed to the margins as those believing in pluralism did not actively engage with the issue. The economic marginalization of this community, coupled with the increasing insecurity in turn led to some of them to identify with Pakistan, and this small section was again presented as the representative of the whole Muslim community.

Today the battle of perception is heavily tilted against the Muslim community. It is a bit of a surprise as Naqvi is differing from his other fellow colleagues to say that the action should be taken against the erring police officer. The hope is that all round efforts are stepped up to combat the perception constructed against this religious minority in India. 

Comments

Prakash SS
 - 
Thursday, 9 Jan 2020

it is very much understandable if Pakistan is bad country our PM Namo would never visited without any invitation, that time Pakistan was good he prised their Mutton biriyani and Karak chai in pakistan. we feel something is wrong with our PM and his chelas. 

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News Network
February 3,2020

New Delhi, Feb 3: Congress leader BK Hariprasad on Monday condemned BJP MP Anantkumar Hegde's remark on Mahatma Gandhi and termed him as "son" of Nathuram Godse, the assassin of the freedom fighter.

"Only sons of Nathuram Godse can make such comments on Mahatma Gandhi," Hariprasad said.

Hedge had attacked Mahatma Gandhi by calling the freedom struggle led by him a "drama" and also questioned as to how "such people" come to be called 'Mahatma' in India.

"None of these so-called leaders were beaten up by the cops even once. Their independence movement was one big drama. It was staged by these leaders with the approval of the British. It was not a genuine fight. It was an adjustment freedom struggle," he had said.

The Trinamool Congress also lent its support to Congress as its leader Saugata Roy said people like Anant Hegde cause shame to the nation. "We are a supporter of Gandhi and they (BJP) are Nathuram Godse supporters. People of this country should see how BJP MPs are as they insult father of the nation," he added.

BJP leaders too found it difficult to defend Hegde on the controversial remarks.

Senior leader Jagdambika pal was cautious in his defence and said, "The whole world knows about Gandhi and it may be his personal opinion."

Whereas senior BJP leaders avoid commenting on Hegde, Union Minister Ashwani Choubey said that Hegde should not have made the comment and added that Gandhi is a well-respected figure in the nation.

Another BJP MP from Haryana Sanjay Bhatia also tried to shy away from making a direct comment and instead said," Congress did not implement what Gandhi preached. It is Prime Minister Narendra Modi who implemented Gandhi's teachings in letter and spirit."

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