‘We will continue asking questions to PM’

Says JNU student activist Umar Khalid during a protest against Monday’s incident

August 17, 2018 01:36 am | Updated 10:22 pm IST - New Delhi

  Fearless:  JNU student Umar Khalid (second from right) and his father S.Q.R. Ilyas (in the front) during a protest in New Delhi on Thursday.

Fearless: JNU student Umar Khalid (second from right) and his father S.Q.R. Ilyas (in the front) during a protest in New Delhi on Thursday.

“You may send gundas [goons], or a mob or do whatever you want but we will continue asking to Prime Minister Narendra Modi,” said student of Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), Umar Khalid, during a protest at Parliament Street on Thursday.

The protest, organised by United Against Hate campaign, saw several students, professors and activists condemn the alleged attack on Mr. Khalid.

On Monday, the JNU student was attacked outside the Constitution Club.

Speaking at the event, he said: “Thanks to the current government, the khauf [fear] has been completely removed from our systems. I have been sent to jail, there has been a fake trial and a media trial against me. Now there is no other inherent fear left in us. What more will they do? They [government] want to scare us, but we will continue fighting.”

Referring to the February 9, 2016, incident where Mr. Khalid and other JNU students were charged with sedition, he said: “Not a single piece of evidence has been provided to prove that I had raised ‘anti-national’ slogans. I have not even been charged with anything. Yet certain sections of the media have run a campaign against me for two and a half years. After the recent attack on me, all that I want to say is that I have no hate against those who attacked me as they are merely being used by others in power. Rather I pity them.”

His father, S.Q.R. Ilyas, also present at the event said: “It is strange that despite a video circulating in social media, the police have failed to take any action. This is only leading to lawlessness. The same is happening in incidents of mob lynching. It is important to remember that we have a Constitution. If people start taking law into their own hands, it will only lead to jungle raj. Unfortunately, the ones who are in power today do not engage in discussions.”

‘Real perpetrators’

Activist Kavita Krishnan said: “By now, we have realised who is the real tukde-tukde gang. Their lies should not lead the citizens astray... Rather they [the people] should unmask the real perpetrators of hate crimes.” Activists at the protest demanded the immediate arrest of those behind the alleged attack on Mr. Khalid.

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