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Umar Khalid (born 11 August 1987) is an Indian student activist, a former research scholar at Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), former leader of Democratic Students' Union (DSU) in JNU. He was allegedly involved in the JNU sedition row. Considered a political prisoner, Khalid has been imprisoned in Tihar Jail for alleged involvement in the 2020 Delhi Riots since September 2020 and has consistently been denied bail, even though his court trial is yet to begin. Khalid is also associated with United Against Hate, a campaign founded along with Nadeem Khan in July 2017 in response to a series of lynchings.
Khalid studied history at the Kirori Mal College of the Delhi University. He later earned his master's and MPhil in history at Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU). His MPhil dissertation was on 'Ho people'. Khalid describes himself as a hardcore communist who is not a practising Muslim.
Khalid's PhD thesis was titled “Contesting claims and contingencies of the rule on of Jharkhand” and was submitted to the JNU in 2018. Following his PhD, he published a research article titled "Changing Village Authority in an Adivasi Hinterland: State, Community and Contingencies of Rule in Singhbhum, 1830–1897" in the journal Social Scientist in 2018.
Four days after the event, the Delhi Police arrested JNU Students Union (JNUSU) president Kanhaiya Kumar on charges of sedition and criminal conspiracy. Five other students including Khalid went into hiding. After their return 10 days later, Khalid and Anirban Bhattacharya were taken into custody.
The arrest and the use of sedition charges were widely criticized as suppression of political dissent. An inquiry committee appointed by the administration of JNU meted out varying punishments to a number of students. Kanhaiya Kumar was fined 10,000 rupees while Khalid and Bhattacharya were rusticated for one semester. JNU refused to allow Umar Khalid to submit his PhD thesis in July 2018. Khalid went to the Delhi High Court, and obtained an order allowing him to submit his thesis. On 2 August 2018, JNU accepted the PhD thesis submission.
On 28 February 2020, the Delhi government gave its approval for a trial in the sedition case.
On 15 October 2019, United Against Hate (a campaign group) organised a protest march at Jantar Mantar, New Delhi to mark three years of the disappearance of Najeeb. Khalid expressed his solidarity and joined the march alleging that the fact that investigative agencies including the CBI have not made any progress showed that there have been no efforts to find Najeeb, while his attackers were being protected.
In charge sheets related to the riots, the police have said Khalid met suspended and jailed Aam Aadmi Party's councillor Tahir Hussain and activist Khalid Saifi on 8 January at the Shaheen Bagh sit-in protest site against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA)-National Register of Citizens (NRC) to allegedly plan the riots. He was interrogated twice for his alleged role. The police also linked Khalid's speeches to the riots. The Delhi Police's special cell is looking into a larger conspiracy case in addition to multiple cases filed in connection with the riots.
Delhi Police has filed supplementary charge sheet against Umar Khalid in connection with the Delhi riots. The police said this case is a multi-layered conspiracy and a pre-planned riot and there is sufficient evidence available to proceed against Khalid. In early January 2021, a Delhi court agreed with the chargesheet. Khalid filed a bail plea in July 2021, after eight month long hearing his bail application was dismissed. In the bail order the court said that the allegations against Khalid are prima facie true and his role in the "context of conspiracy" related to Delhi riots was apparent. In March 2022, the court denied bail to Khalid. An Additional Sessions Judge Amitabh Rawat stated that Khalid's plea had " no merit and substance" for the bail to be granted.
On 13 September 2022, as he completed two years in Tihar Jail under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act or UAPA, accused by the Delhi Police of involvement in 2020 Delhi riots, The Wire published Khalid's response to an open letter. By employing UAPA, he says, "we can be kept in jail for years, without those framing us needing to prove anything".
On 18 October 2022, the Delhi High Court dismissed the bail plea of Khalid, as Delhi Police opposed it.
On 3 December 2022, a Delhi court acquitted him in stone pelting case during Delhi riots.
The bail hearing came up next in the Supreme Court on 9 August 2023 when Justice Mishra recused himself and the bail hearing was scheduled for 17 August.
It was listed again before the same justices on 17 August and then it was dropped from the Supreme Court cause list.
On 14 February 2024, Khalid withdrew his bail plea in the Supreme Court, submitting through his lawyer Kapil Sibal that “he will try his luck” at a lower court, citing a “change in circumstances”. Without elaborating on the “change in circumstance”, Khalid’s father cited the long adjournments in the bail plea. At the time, he had completed 1248 days in incarceration.
As of October 2024, Khalid had been jailed for four years without a trial, prompting the New York Times to describe him as "a symbol of the wide-ranging suppression of dissent under Prime Minister Narendra Modi."
On 18 December 2024, Khalid was granted a 7-day interim bail for attending a family marriage.
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