What good are our voices, if we do not raise them against injustice?

UNPRECEDENTED ATTACKS DEMAND UNPRECEDENTED RESISTANCE!
RISE IN RAGE AGAINST THE ARREST OF UMAR KHALID !
Statement, Bhagat Singh Ambedkar Students Organisation(BASO)

“Before mass leaders seize the power to fit reality to their lies, their propaganda is marked by its extreme contempt for facts as such, for in their opinion fact depends entirely on the power of man who can fabricate it.” ― Hannah Arendt, 1951

BASO expresses its shock and rage at the unjust arrest of Comrade Umar Khalid by the Special Cell, Delhi Police and unequivocally condemns the continuous witch-hunt that he is being subjected to by the BJP-RSS regime. Comrade Umar was called for an investigation by the Special Cell, Delhi Police in connection to the communal pogrom that shook northeast Delhi in February this year, and interrogated for 11 hours on 13th September, 2020. After months of harassment in the name of “investigations”, which he has duly cooperated with, the Delhi Police has gone ahead and arrested him without any legal grounds.

It is to be noted that several democratic activists, public intellectuals, academics and students have been hounded in this particular case by the Delhi police. It comes as no surprise that an overwhelming number of the voices that are incarcerated today in these cases are Muslims; those Muslims, who have not hesitated to assert their demands for dignity of existence and life in the face of the increasing persecution that this brahminical regime is subjecting them to. Along with them are those voices that have stood steadfast in their criticism and protest of the dehumanizing policies that the BJP-RSS government has been churning out, be it on the questions of citizenship, education, health, economy or livelihoods.

It is necessary to recall that only a few days ago, Comrade Umar had written a public letter to the Commissioner of Police, Delhi, explaining in great detail how an acquaintance of his was summoned by Delhi police and subjected to criminal intimidation by them to “confess” that Comrade Umar and some others were the “masterminds” behind instigating violence that led to the pogrom in northeast Delhi earlier this year, and how he is concerned about the well-being of this person and himself after knowing that the Delhi Police is resorting to such lowly tactics to strengthen its web of lies. It is also important to note that in the cases of other incarcerated activists too, the Delhi Police so far has been unable to present any concrete evidence to show the remotest connection with “instigation of violence” in the anti-CAA protest sites in northeast Delhi in the Courts. With his arrest, we now feel confident that the state is willing to go to any length to frame him under farcical charges and forcefully silence him. On the other hand, Delhi Police continues to turn a blind eye to the role of the real culprits like Kapil Mishra and Anurag Thakur in instigating violence against peacefully protesting citizens. Its own role in facilitating the pogrom, of which there is videographic evidence, also remains uninvestigated.

We, from BASO, therefore appeal to each and every democratic and progressive force across the country to come together and speak up against the gross injustice that this fascist regime is meting out to every dissenter in this time of global crisis, while the people of the country continue to remain in the dark about the plight of their health, livelihoods and future. What good are our voices, if we do not raise them against injustice?

FREE UMAR KHALID! FREE ALL POLITICAL PRISONERS!
REPEAL UAPA! SCRAP SEDITION!
REJECT CAA-NPR-NRC!

#StandWithUmarKhalid
#FreeAllPoliticalPrisoners
#RepealUAPA
#ScrapSedition
#NoCAA_NPR_NRC

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