Rajasthan Muslim groups urge Congress to nominate Delhi Riots accused Umar Khalid to the Rajya Sabha: A closer look at his anti-Hindu riots links

In continuation of the Islamist practice of glorifying accused anti-Hindu rioters and advocating political representation for them, multiple Muslim organisations in Rajasthan have urged the Congress party to nominate 2020 anti-Hindu Delhi Riots accused mastermind Umar Khalid for the coming Rajya Sabha elections. The demand comes as three seats of the upper house are set to fall vacant in June this year. Rajasthan Muslim organisations cite a lack of political representation to seek a Rajya Sabha nomination for Umar Khalid from Congress On 23rd March, Muslim organisations presented a joint representation to Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, advocating Umar Khalid’s candidature, arguing that it would showcase the party’s commitment to ‘civil rights’ and address the issue of a lack of sufficient Muslim representation from Rajasthan in the Rajya Sabha. They lamented that despite forming 9 to 10% of the state’s population, Muslims remain unrepresented in the Parliament. In this vein, Mohsin Rashid, a Congress worker and state president of the Rajasthan Muslim Alliance from Tonk, said, “In the 2023 assembly elections, Muslims accounted for roughly every fourth vote polled by the Congress, and this share rose further in the 2024 Lok Sabha election.” Most of the Muslim leaders who back the demand seeking Rajya Sabha candidature for Umar Khalid from the Congress party invoked the Constitution and the issue of Muslim representation. It is, however, ironic that neither Umar Khalid identifies as a practising Muslim nor his past shenanigans indicate his respect for India’s constitution beyond using it as a shield to cover up his anti-India and anti-Hindu activities. Umar Khalid, by his own admission, identifies as an atheist; thus, Muslim organisations should ponder if they want an atheist to represent Muslims in the parliament, given that Islam mandates the same disdain for atheists that it does for idolaters like Hindus. It is also interesting that the pre-partition “separate (Muslim) electorate” mindset has not died, even after a country was carved out of India on Islamic lines. A significant section of Indian Muslims continues to believe that they are more Muslims than Indian citizens and that only Muslims can and should politically represent them. Muslim organisations want an anti-Hindu accused rioter to represent them in the Rajya Sabha The Muslim organisations demanding Umar Khalid’s Rajya Sabha candidature also lamented the Delhi Riots accused mastermind’s prolonged incarceration. They, however, have no reservations about seeking the candidature of a person accused of planning and actively partaking in anti-Hindu violence in the national capital just a few years back. It must be recalled that on 14th September 2020, Umar Khalid, former JNU student and son of an ex-SIMI member, was arrested for his role in the Delhi anti-Hindu riots that broke out on the 24th of February. He, along with others, was booked under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act or UAPA and other relevant provisions of the IPC for being the masterminds of the riots. Umar Khalid, son of Ilyas, on the other hand, admitted to the Delhi police that he was involved in organising Muslim groups, instigating them, and preparing for the large-scale violence. The riot that Khalid and others instigated claimed 53 lives. He had mobilised the Muslims to run riots, block roads, and harass the public by asserting that the new law was ‘against Muslims’ and had also planned to involve women and children in the ‘Chakka Jam’ amid the visit of US President Trump to India. He had allegedly met the former AAP Councillor Tahir Hussain and another accused, Khalid Saifi, to assure logistical support during the riots through his contacts in the PFI. According to the reports, the agencies have been watching and warning about the nexus between Maoists, whose front organisation Khalid is aligned with, and hardline Islamists allegedly represented by Jamaat-e-Islami Hind, Welfare Party of India, and the banned outfit SIMI. He had also repeated Pakistani talking points in Kashmir and claimed that the Indian Union territory was occupied by Indian forces. Umar Khalid’s prolonged incarceration, which Islamo-leftists regularly cry over, is also his own doing. OpIndia has reported earlier that out of the 14 adjournments in 2023 and 2024, 7 delays and adjournments were sought by Umar Khalid himself. It therefore becomes evident that the withdrawal was certainly not because of the famed “delay” in hearing. While the Islamo-leftist ecosystem continues to cry ‘injustice’, it is the alleged failed forum shopping attempts of the accused’s lawyer that have Khalid rotting in jail for so long. OpIndia’s analysis has been corroborated by former Chief Justice DY Chandrachud’s statement that the real problem lies in the mindset of some lawyers and political groups who want their cases heard only by certain judges. Highlighting what OpIndia has reported multiple times, the former CJI said that court records showed that Khalid’s legal team, led by Sibal, had sought at least seven adjournments before finally withdrawing the bail plea in February 2024, citing “a change in circumstances.”