Student who rose to fame after Afzal event

New Delhi: Umar Khalid caught public attention in 2016 when he came to be known as the “mastermind” of an event organised to protest the “judicial killing” of the Parliament-attack convict Afzal Guru at JNU campus.

It was alleged that anti-India slogans were raised at the event and Mr Khalid, along with nine other students, including then JNUSU (Jawaharlal Nehru Students Union) president Kanhaiya Kumar, was slapped with sedition charges. He has remained at the centre of storm surrounding JNU since then.

Soon after Mr Kumar was arrested and sent to judicial custody, Mr Khalid appeared on news channels and defended the then president and the right of the students to hold the anti-establishment protest. Next in line of police attention, the JNU student went into hiding only to resurface days later at the campus.

During the time the police was trying to trace him, Mr Khalid was labelled as a Jaish-e-Mohammad sympathiser and was said to have come from Pakistan.

He was arrested and later granted a bail by a sessions court.

Mr Khalid, a former member of the Democratic Students Union (DSU) in Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), is a PhD student at the School of Social Sciences at JNU. Born in a Muslim family, he identifies himself as an atheist.

He has been a vocal critic of the BJP government and has lashed out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi on several occasions.

Addressing the Yuva Hunkaar Rally at Parliament Street in New Delhi this year, the JNU student leader had said, “The myth around PM Modi is fading. The credit goes to the youth, students, farmers, labourers, and minorities who played the role of opposition that was missing inside the Parliament.”

On July 6 this year, JNU’s high-level inquiry committee upheld the expulsion of Mr Khalid in connection with the campus event. However, the student challenged the order in court. Following this, the court had told JNU not to take any coercive action against Mr Khalid till the next date of hearing on August 16.