Indian student-activist Umar Khalid was arrested on Sept. 13, 2020, after he became a prominent face of nationwide protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act, a law excluding Muslims from eligibility for a fast-tracked path to Indian citizenship. He was later charged with 29 offenses, including trumped-up charges under India’s draconian anti-terrorism law.
Khalid remains in prison and his trial has still not begun, repeatedly delayed by India’s justice system. Ahead of the six-year anniversary of his arrest, Khalid reflected on the passage of time in prison in a diary published by The Quint, an independent digital news outlet:
When I try to think of this period as a measure of time, I find it difficult to comprehend. Inside prison, days blur into each other. I have come to mark my time by the coming and going of seasons, by the changing colours of the trees outside the ward, by court dates, by waiting for the next meeting with a loved one across glass walls and iron mesh, by the small routines that make one day distinguishable from another.”
In his diary, Khalid walks through life inside Tihar Jail, describing the extreme heat, the censored newspapers that prisoners receive, and the three 5-minute phone calls he is allowed each week. The call limit, he writes, has changed how he values time:
If there is one thing that life in prison has taught me is that every second is precious. Before prison, I never estimated the value of time, especially the time that one spends in talking to your loved ones.”
Khalid also conveys the toll of his prolonged, arbitrary detention, questioning whether anyone is moved by his continued imprisonment:
How is it that I have spent most of my thirties in captivity? I wonder if this continuing injustice makes a difference to anyone? Does it move even a feather in our hallowed chambers of justice?
…
Unable to sleep, I pick up a pencil and start scribbling on the walls of my cell. Tonight, I wrote these lines from one of my favourite songs by Coldplay. ‘Nobody said it was easy — no one said it would be this hard.”
Still, reading about recent student protests, Khalid writes that he finds hope in India’s youth:
I had worried about an entire generation being destroyed by the slow drip of poison that this regime has been injecting into our country’s collective consciousness. But the youth of this country have shown us that there is hope. This regime has necessitated an entire generation to stand up against injustice. They are fearless and know how to fight for their rights and how to put a leash on power.”
HRF calls on India’s government to release Umar Khalid immediately and unconditionally. His detention, which the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention found to be arbitrary, has now lasted more than six years without a trial.
