When a Government Targets Its Citizens

07/01/2026

Countercurrents.org / by Hiren Gohain

Does anyone remember the Bhima Koregaon incident now? Certain well-known people active and well-regarded for their work in academic areas as well as in social action to bring justice to victims of state repression and social discrimination as well as human rights violations,had been detained following midnight arrests on hair-raising charges of conspiring to assassinate the Prime Minister and destroy the state. It had shaken the fragile world of the media, though not the workaday world.
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The same fate has now overtaken Umar Khalid and Sherjeel Imam. The Supreme Court has decided that since the case against them has come up under UAPA, and are grave enough, therefore there was no scope for grant of bail, though some would say that such a list of charges itself ought to have raised eyebrows.
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Justice Delayed, Selectively Denied

05/01/2026

Youth Ki Awaaz / by Geetika Kaur

The denial of bail to Umar Khalid this week is not an isolated legal decision. It sits within a larger and deeply disturbing pattern in India’s criminal justice system, one where activists, students, lawyers, and environmentalists languish in jail for years without conviction, while those convicted of rape, murder, or mass violence repeatedly find the doors of prison opening for them.
… Stan Swamy died in custody after repeated denial of bail despite his age and illness. Sudha Bharadwaj spent years in jail before being granted bail, not because she was acquitted, but because prolonged incarceration without trial became legally indefensible. Gautam Navlakha remained under incarceration and house arrest for years on allegations that rested largely on contested digital evidence.
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The spectacle of justice in the Delhi riots case is cover for polarisation and violence

06/01/2026

Scroll.in / by Akash Bhattacharya

In the six years since, a series of incidents in the national capital have intensified this schism while Umar Khalid and Sharjeel Imam remain incarcerated.
The capital of India, Delhi is no stranger to political violence. But the Delhi riots of 2020 set a new benchmark. The violence not only ended lives and livelihoods, it also transformed the city’s social and political landscape for the worse.
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Also read:
▪ How The Supreme Court’s Bail Order Against Umar, Sharjeel Enables Govt Efforts To Silence Muslim Voices (article 14 / Jan 2026)
▪ After Five Years in Jail, Bail Still Barred for Two: Supreme Court denies bail to Umar Khalid and Sharjeel Imam in Delhi riots case (Sabrangindia / Jan 2026)
▪ Umar Khalid, Sharjeel Imam, and The Moral Arc of the Universe (The Wire / Jan 2026)
▪ In UAPA Bail Hearing, Defence Not To Be Considered; Only See If Prosecution Has Shown Prima Facie Case : Supreme Court (Live Law / Jan 2026)
Read judgment
▪ Delhi Riots UAPA Case : Supreme Court’s Bail Conditions Bar Accused From Sharing Posts Digitally & Attending Gatherings (Live Law / Jan 2026)
▪ Why SC denied bail to Umar Khalid, Sharjeel Imam but awarded it to five other anti-CAA activists (Scroll.in / Jan 2026)
▪ Amit Shah’s ‘Bhima Koregaon Model’ Used For Anti-CAA Protests (NDTV / May 2020)