Several people took to social media on Friday to mark rights activist Umar Khalid’s fourth year in jail awaiting trial in a conspiracy case related to the 2020
Delhi riots.

Khalid, along with 11 others, are in jail in a case under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) despite the Supreme Court iterating in several cases that
“bail is the rule and jail an exception”, including in a corruption case in which AAP MLA Manish Sisodia was given bail.

Lalit Vachani’s documentary on Khalid — Prisoner No. 626710 is Present — was screened at the Congress’s Jawahar Bhavan auditorium here to mark the fourth anniversary of his arrest.

This week, several people have changed their social media display pictures to Khalid’s photo with the message: “Four Years of Injustice. Free Umar! Release All Dissenters.”

Actress Swara Bhasker posted on X: “Today marks 4 years of the incarceration of #UmarKhalid without bail, trial or crime. This is a travesty in a country supposed to be a democracy. This is a shame and an embarrassing testimony of our justice system.”

Several others posted identical messages with photos and posters of the former JNU research scholar.

Academic and activist Yogendra Yadav posted a video message on X saying: “These four years are a stain on our judicial system and India’s Constitution.”

Anupam of the Yuva Halla Bol movement posted on X a letter from Khalid to him in 2022.

Anupam said: “As my friend Khalid completes four years in jail, saw this beautiful letter he wrote when I was sent to Tihar jail during our movement against Agnipath scheme. While I’ve been outof jail, he is still suffering injustice without trial or bail for no crime.”

Additional reporting by PTI