On Thursday (9th October), former Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) student Umar Khalid claimed that the authorities had engaged in “pick and choose” tactics by only including him as an accused in the broader conspiracy case related to the 2020 Delhi riots. He added that others, including some who are given “bigger roles” in the chargesheet, were spared by the police. He made these assertions before a Delhi court.
Senior Advocate Trideep Pais opposed the charges against Khalid and submitted a case on his behalf to Karkardooma Courts Additional Sessions Judge Sameer Bajpai. He stressed, “Several persons, identically situated, no qualitative difference between my role and their role. But I am (roped in).”
Pais then cited the Delhi Police’s testimonies from a few protected prosecution witnesses to support his argument and stated they do not prove any offence or a violation of the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA). According to one of the testimonies, Umar Khalid and many other people, including Yogendra Yadav and Nadeem Khan, attended a “conspiratorial meeting” at Jangpura on 8th December 2019.
“He (Yadav) wrote an editorial, an op-ed, on this FIR (First Information Report) in which he asks the question why I am not an accused. What is the qualitative difference? What Yogendra Yadav and Nadeem Khan did as opposed to what I did or what Sharjeel Imam did? I am not saying that you don’t have other material to try to pin on me but this incident which you are using as a conspiracy, why are those (people) not accused? Also, according to me they have done nothing wrong,” the attorney alleged on behalf of his client.
Pais then cited a statement made by a person named Tahira Dawood in which it was mentioned that Khalid discussed holding rallies across India with Muslim students. “Far and wide, I don’t see any terror in this,” he declared.
Pais then highlighted a statement made by Parvez Alam, who was not identified as an accused in the case. According to the former, he gave each participant in the Jangpura meeting a similar position or even offered others larger responsibilities, but only Khalid was labelled as an accused and not the others.
“In the meeting spoken of by this person at Jungpura, he attributes similar role to each person or he offers some role to others. Not accused. To some, he even attributes bigger roles. But I am accused and they are not. How is it criminal is not understood. Nobody attributed any decision to me,” he contended.
Pais alleged that Rahul Roy and Saba Diwan, who are not charged, founded the DPSG (Delhi Protest Support Group) group which had been the origin of the plot, quoting testimony from protected prosecution witness Bravo. “All roles as to who will do what is given to different people by Saba. Umar Khalid has not given any work. How do you delineate my role to be higher or lower than the others?”
The next hearing is now scheduled for 14th October. Interestingly, Khalid’s lawyers have already used similar arguments to maintain his innocence in the court.
Umar Khalid’s role in the violence
On 2nd September, the Delhi High Court dismissed the bail application of Umar Khalid and Sharjeel Imam in the 2020 anti-Hindu Delhi riots larger conspiracy case. The division bench of Justice Naveen Chawla and Justice Shalinder Kaur noted that at this stage, prima facie material exists to show both of them played a role in planning and mobilising protests that spiralled into riots.
While rejecting the bail applications of Khalid and Imam, the court clarified that it was not going into the merits of the case but found no ground for parity with other accused who had been granted bail earlier, as the roles attributed to the two were of a different nature.
The court also emphasised the role of speeches delivered by Khliad and Imam, and observed that when considered together with other material, they revealed more than just routine political expression. During the hearing, the Solicitor General argued that Imam and Khalid were “the intellectual architects behind the entire conspiracy, working in tandem with the other co-conspirators.”
The investigation into the riots that took place in Jafrabad revealed the involvement of a certain “Pinjra Tod Group” a far-left organisation, in inciting the riots in the region. The Delhi Police arrested two persons in connection with the riots that ensued in Jafrabad. On 23rd May the Special cell of Delhi police nabbed Natasha Narwal and Devangna Kalita in the North-east Delhi riots case. Both the women are founding members of Pinjra Tod, which was established in 2015. They were found to be associated with “India Against Hate” group and Umar Khalid.
Delhi Police Crime Branch in its FIR dated 6th March 2020 stated that the anti-Hindu riots that took place in North East Delhi between 24th-26th February during the visit of US President Donald Trump were preplanned. It disclosed that as per an informant, the anti-Hindu riots conspiracy was hatched by Khalid and his associates who were linked with two groups. As part of the conspiracy, Umar Khalid gave provocative speeches at two different locations and appealed to people to take to streets during the visit of US President Donald Trump so that the propaganda that minorities are oppressed in India can be internationalized.
Notably, a meticulously pre-planned conspiracy led to anti-Hindu riots in northeast Delhi which resulted in hundreds of displaced people and 53 fatalities.
