Umar Khalid

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Umar Khalid is a Ph.D. student at the Jawaharlal Nehru University. He is known for his involvement in the 2016 JNU sedition controversy during which he was detained by the Delhi police along with Anirban Bhattacharya and charged with sedition. He was subsequently released by a Delhi court on bail. He was one of the organizers of the rally which sparked the controversy.
Education
Khalid obtained a Bachelor's degree from Kirori Mal College in 2009. He completed his M.A. in history and M.Phil. from Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU). He was also offered a scholarship to spend a semester at Yale University which he rejected because he preferred to continue his grassroots activism in India. His teachers at JNU stated that he is a bright student. He is currently pursuing a Ph.D on the condition of tribal communities in Jharkhand.
Activism
According to Khalid's friends, Khalid was known as a cricketer at Kiroli Mal College, but later he gave it up to pursue his interest in university politics. He appeared in a 2009 documentary on Islamophobia by Pritha Chattarjee. Khalid's PhD research has focused on the issues of land alienation of tribal communities in Jharkhand.
Khalid chose not to run for elected office in JNU's student body. He was a part of the now defunct Democratic Students Union (DSU), which did not believe in contesting elections. He is described as an amazing speaker by his friends and acquaintances. He was at the front in movement for the release of G N Saibaba, a DU professor. He has always been raising voice against the Oppression Green Hunt started by Indian State on tribal of central India. Khalid's family and friends have claimed that he was an atheist and a communist. When released on bail, Umar said he was reminded of his Muslim identity for the first time, while in jail.
Umar Khalid resigned from his post in the Democratic Students Union in November 2015, citing its insensitivity on gender and Dalit issues.
2016 JNU sedition controversy
Khalid was one of the applicants who sought permission for organising a cultural event organised by the break away fraction of Democratic Students Union (a so-called ultra-leftist group) titled ‘A Country without a Post Office’, to commemorate the anniversary of the hanging of a Jaish-e-Mohammed terrorist, Afzal Guru on 9 February, and to protest the "judicial killing" of Guru and Maqbool Bhat. It was at this event that the alleged anti-national sloganeering occurred, resulting in the suspension of eight students from JNU and the arrest of JNU Students’ Union president Kanhaiya Kumar for sedition. Intelligence reports suggested that the group wanted to hold similar events in 18 universities across the country. Khalid has denied this.
He was charged by the Delhi police with sedition law for allegedly raising anti-national slogans on the campus and he surrendered himself to arrest on 24 February 2016. Following his arrest, protests were held demanding his release.
On 19 March 2016, he was granted an interim bail for 6 months by a Delhi Court.
Support for Kashmir Separatism
Umar Khalid reiterated his ideological support for Kashmir Separatism in a subsequently deleted Facebook post on July 8, 2016, after Burhan Wani, a Terrorsit of Hizbul Mujahideen was killed in an encounter with the Indian security forces. He deleted his facebook post after facing lots of criticism for supporting a Militant outfit. Saurabh Sharma, a member of Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad(ABVP) accused Khalid of violating his bail conditions.
Family and Personal Life
Umar Khalid is the son of Syed Qasim Rasool Ilyas, is among the top leaders of the Jamaat-e-Islami and ex-chief of banned Islamist terror outfit, Students Islamic Movement of India(SIMI) in India. He was also been the editor of the Urdu monthly magazine Afkar-e Milli for 28 years. He is a member of the national advisory committee (Shoora) of Jamaat-e Islami, working committee member of the All India Muslim Personal Law Board, general secretary of the All India Muslim Majlis-e Mushawarat. He is currently the national president of Welfare Party of India, a political arm of the Jamaat-e-Islami, with office in Abul Fazl Enclave in southeast Delhi.
Umar Khalid's sister, Maryam Fatima (PhD student at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst) delivered a speech at the Columbia School of Journalism, where she condemned what she termed as the complete lack of ethics that the Indian media has largely shown in reporting her brother's case. She said "But Umar came out strong and renewed in his convictions. I just want to convey my appreciation and respect for his courage. I want him to know that there are a whole lot of people standing by him.".
Writings and Education
He is now pursuing his PhD on the condition of tribals in Jharkhand. He regards suppression of the Maoists to be state oppression.
His writings have appeared in Radiance Viewsweekly, the official English language organ of the Islamist organization Jamaat-e-Islami

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