Umar Khalid has become a household name since 2016 when he alongside five other JNU students were levelled with sedition laws. Ever since he has become an iridescent stone of India’s vibrant political spectrum. Umar Khalid was arrested on 13th of September 2020 for allegedly being the “key conspirators” of the riots that took place in Delhi during the then US president, Mr. Donald trump’s visit.[i] So far, he has spent more than 1000 days (about 2 and a half years) in jail, and got his bail rejected multiple times, while getting bail once to attend his sister’s wedding.[ii] Two of the many charges levelled against him are Section 124A of the IPC and UAPA.
Section 124A roots back to the colonial era when in 1891 the first case of Sedition was filed as “Queen empress vs Jogendra Chandra Bose and others” against the editor, manager, printer of vernacular newspaper called Bangobasi.[iii] Henceforth it has been a controversial law which has kindled discourse and debate between both the public and between legal experts. It has been infamously misused to silent dissenters.
And as for the UAPA, it has been an act in practice since 1967 as an aftermath of the Naxalbari attack of 1966 to protect India’s sovereignty and integrity[iv]. UAPA has gone through nearly half a dozen amendments in years such as 2004, 2008, 2012 and most controversially in 2019[v] owing to its sections such as section 25, 35, 36, 43D (5) and 45[vi]. These sections have led to multiple political imprisonments.
This project has been drafted with the intent to demonstrate how there are ideological biases in the supposed “objective” or “fact driven” reportage of any news piece. The writeup will attempt to focus on “Umar Khalid spending 1000 days (about 2 and a half years) in jail with special emphasis on UAPA and section 124A of the Indian penal code”. This piece dives into how these news outlets have become instrumental to the echo chambers thriving in our sociopolitical lives. News outlet from various political and regional understandings are taken in account such as, The times of India, The telegraph, OP India, The leaflet etc. Moreover, the individuals who report the news in these outlets are also researched upon.
[i] Counting Days In Prison: Timeline Of Events That Led To Umar Khalid’s Arrest, Outlook India, Jul. 16, 2023, https://www.outlookindia.com/national/counting-days-in-prison-timeline-of-events-that-led-to-umar-khalid-s-arrest-news-293211 (last visited Jul 22, 2023).
[ii] Indian activist Umar Khalid gets a week’s bail — and a gag order, AL JAZEERA AND NEWS AGENCIES, Dec. 23, 2022, https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/12/23/indian-activist-umar-khalid-gets-a-weeks-bail-with-a-gag (last visited Jul 22, 2023).
[iii] 1 Chitrashul Sinha, The Great Repression (2019 ed. 2019).
[iv] Raman Dixit, Naxalite Movement in India: The State’s Response, 4 21 (2010).
[v] Nikita Khaitan, The UAPA Amendments: What It Really Means, The hindustan times, Aug. 9, 2019, https://www.hindustantimes.com/analysis/the-uapa-amendments-what-it-really-means/story-9gOsDNk1syqxyYd0iFeHDN.html (last visited Jul 22, 2023).
[vi] § 25, 35, 36, 43D (5), 45 Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 2019, No. 37 (India)
