The police in Goa’s Panaji detained two persons on Saturday for expressing support towards jailed activist Umar Khalid during a demonstration held in solidarity with the protests at Delhi’s Jantar Mantar against alleged irregularities in competitive examinations, reported PTI.
Khalid has been in jail since September 2020 for his alleged involvement in the communal violence that broke out in North East Delhi in February 2020 between supporters of the contentious Citizenship Amendment Act and those opposing it. The violence had left 53 dead and hundreds injured. Most of those killed were Muslims.
On Saturday, demonstrations were being held in Panaji’s Azad Maidan when a person identified as Danish displayed a poster in support of Khalid.
When he was questioned by reporters, Danish said that he supported Khalid’s release from prison, reported PTI.
Following this, the police detained him.
Some of the demonstrators at Azad Maidan then marched to the police headquarters demanding Danish’s release. As the group continued to shout slogans in his support, the police detained another person, Sudin Dalvi, when he too expressed support for Khalid, an unidentified police official was quoted as saying by PTI.
The Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha held a demonstration outside the police station demanding stringent action against Danish and Dalvi.
Tushar Kelkar, the Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha’s Goa unit president, demanded that the police register a case of non-bailable offences against them.
Case against Khalid
The police have claimed that the violence in February 2020 in North East Delhi was part of a larger conspiracy to defame the Narendra Modi government and was planned by those who organised the protests against the amended Citizenship Act.
Khalid is facing charges under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act, the Prevention of Damage to Public Property Act, the Arms Act and sections of the Indian Penal Code.
He has spent nearly six years in jail, without trial. His petitions for regular bail have been rejected repeatedly.
On January 5, the Supreme Court denied bail to Khalid and former Jawaharlal Nehru University student Sharjeel Imam in the case. A bench of Justices Aravind Kumar and NV Anjaria had, however, granted bail to Gulfisha Fatima, Meeran Haider, Shifa-ur-Rehman, Shadab Ahmed and Muhammad Saleem Khan.
On May 18, another bench of Justices BV Nagarathna and Ujjal Bhuyan criticised the January order, observing that “bail is the rule and jail is an exception” even in prosecutions under the anti-terror law.
Also read: Umar Khalid’s five years of incarceration: ‘Do I even know the world any more?’
Youth protests against exam irregularities
The protests against alleged irregularities in the conduct of competitive examinations had spread across the country in the last week.
The youth protests began on June 6, when the Cockroach Janta Party political campaign started its demonstration at Jantar Mantar to demand the resignation of Dharmendra Pradhan as the Union education minister, alleging that he was responsible for paper leaks in national competitive examinations.
On July 19, thousands joined the protest in Delhi after the police forcibly shifted activist Sonam Wangchuk, who had been on a hunger strike, to hospital.
A march to Parliament on July 20 was met with heavy police action. Dozens of protesters were injured in lathi charges and had to brave tear gas. The police action widened the support for the agitation, which soon spread to other cities.
Pradhan resigned on Saturday. Hours later, the Cockroach Janta Party called off its protest at Jantar Mantar, stating that “all demands have been accepted” following talks with the Union government.
Edited by Sneha.
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