Documentary screening captures plight of Umar Khalid

NT, Bengaluru: A documentary on research scholar and activist Umar Khalid, who has been languishing in jail for more than four years, was screened in the city, while sympathizers expressed distress over what they saw as a grave injustice. The event, organized by Eddelu Karnataka, Vikalp Bengaluru, ‘Maraa’, and Pedestrian Pictures, featured “Prisoner No 626710”, a film by director Lalit Vachani depicting Khalid’s time in jail, on Saturday at Ashirwad Centre in Bengaluru. The film screening coincided with the fourth anniversary of Khalid’s incarceration.

Umar Khalid has an AK-47 in his tongue, not in his hand, to express freedom of speech, but many objected to this and framed him as anti-national,” Coordinator of Eddelu Karnataka Noor Sridhar said. “I feel sorry for my friend being behind bars for four years. His voice is trapped inside the jail. He was a prominent figure who raised his voice against the Citizenship Amendment Act but he was framed by right-wing groups as anti-national and imprisoned,” he added. Noor also sought to remove the stigma from the label Leftist. “There are three types of people in society. Some drag the society backward on the wrong path.

They are called rightists. Those who push forward for the betterment of society are called leftists. And those with a moderate mindset are considered centrists,” he said. Kannada poet Raghunandan told News Trail: “In the present era, people are afraid to raise their voice in support of Umar. If they do, they are immediately labeled as anti-national, which is unfair. I’d like to say that Umar was innocently detained, and he deserves to be freed.” Regarding the film, activist Arunesh said: “This film highlights issues of social justice and the importance of upholding the Constitution, which is essentially being held captive in the jail. Hence, Umar deserves to be released.” As many as 200 attendees, including activists and students from across India attended the film screening. They advocated for peaceful, democratic protests against “injustice” to continue across the country. So far, 44 screenings of the film have taken place across south India, and the organizers want to hold more screenings in the future.Umar Khalid has an AK-47 in his tongue, not in his hand, to express freedom of speech, but many objected to this and framed him as anti-national,” Coordinator of Eddelu Karnataka Noor Sridhar said. “I feel sorry for my friend being behind bars for four years. His voice is trapped inside the jail. He was a prominent figure who raised his voice against the Citizenship Amendment Act but he was framed by right-wing groups as anti-national and imprisoned,” he added.

Noor also sought to remove the stigma from the label Leftist. “There are three types of people in society. Some drag the society backward on the wrong path. They are called rightists. Those who push forward for the betterment of society are called leftists. And those with a moderate mindset are considered centrists,” he said. Kannada poet Raghunandan told News Trail: “In the present era, people are afraid to raise their voice in support of Umar. If they do, they are immediately labeled as anti-national, which is unfair. I’d like to say that Umar was innocently detained, and he deserves to be freed.” Regarding the film, activist Arunesh said: “This film highlights issues of social justice and the importance of upholding the Constitution, which is essentially being held captive in the jail. Hence, Umar deserves to be released.”

As many as 200 attendees, including activists and students from across India attended the film screening. They advocated for peaceful, democratic protests against “injustice” to continue across the country. So far, 44 screenings of the film have taken place across south India, and the organizers want to hold more screenings in the future.

Jailed for four years

Umar Khalid, a research scholar, from Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), was jailed back in September 2020 over communal violence that broke out in Delhi. Estimates put the number of dead at 53, who were mostly Muslims. Umar, other activists and scores of Muslims had been protesting against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) protests, which sought to grant citizenship to non-Muslims from neighbouring Muslim-majority nations. Protesters argued that coupled with the National Register of Citizens (NRC), which would strip the citizenship of persons who didn’t possess identification, the CAA sought to render Muslim citizens stateless.