Former Jawaharlal Nehru University scholar Umar Khalid told a Delhi court on Thursday that he was being “singled out” by the police in the 2020 northeast Delhi riots case, even though others with “bigger roles” were not made accused.
The February 2020 communal violence in northeast Delhi had left 53 people dead and hundreds displaced.
Appearing before Additional Sessions Judge Sameer Bajpai at the Karkardooma Courts, Khalid’s lawyer, senior advocate Trideep Pais, argued that the police’s chargesheet referred to several WhatsApp groups but failed to explain why only Khalid was named as an accused while the group admins and other members were not.
The defence also questioned the claim that Khalid attended a “conspiratorial meeting” in Jangpura on December 8, 2019. “The witnesses themselves said that activist and politician Yogendra Yadav and human rights activist Nadeem Khan were also present in that meeting,” Pais told the court. “If this meeting was the so-called conspiracy, why were they not booked under the UAPA as well?” he asked.
Referring to witness statements that claimed Khalid had said “students, including Muslim students, would launch protests across India,” the defence questioned how holding demonstrations could be linked to terrorism.
Khalid, who has been in jail for over five years, has repeatedly maintained that the Delhi Police “fabricated evidence” to falsely implicate him in what they called a “larger conspiracy” behind the riots.
The court will next hear the matter on October 14.
Along with Khalid, the police have charged Tahir Hussain, Khalid Saifi, Ishrat Jahan, Meeran Haider, Gulfisha Fatima, Shifa-ur-Rehman, Asif Iqbal Tanha, Shadab Ahmed, Tasleem Ahmed, Saleem Malik, Mohd. Saleem Khan, Athar Khan, Safoora Zargar, Sharjeel Imam, Faizan Khan, and Natasha Narwal under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) and other laws.
Khalid’s bail plea was rejected by the Delhi High Court last month.
