Umar Khalid is a well-known human activist and former student and member of Jawaharlal Nehru University. He was also a former leader of the Democratic Student’s Union in Jawaharlal Nehru University, Delhi.
He made the headlines when he was arrested by the Delhi police under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act on 13 September 2020. As per reports, he was arrested for his involvement in the Delhi riots held in January 2020.
Umar Khalid Wiki/Biography
Born on 11 August 1987, Umar Khalid’s age is 33 years as of 2020. He was born and brought up in a middle-class family from Jamia Nagar, New Delhi, India.
He completed his initial education from Rai Public School, Delhi. After that, he enrolled himself at Kirori Mal College of the Delhi University from where completed his graduate course in history.
He also completed his master’s course and M.Phil in history from Jawaharlal Nehru University, Delhi. Khalid also pursued a Ph.D. degree from Jawaharlal Nehru University and his subject of the thesis was “Contesting Claims and contingencies of the rule on Adivasis of Jharkhand”.
Family, Girlfriend & Relationships
Umar Khalid belongs to a middle-class Muslim family from New Delhi, India. He is an Indian by nationality. His father’s name is Syed Qasim Rasool Ilyas who was the former National President of the Welfare Party of India, a member of the Student Islamic Movement of India, and owner of an Urdu Magazine.
His father’s native belongs from Maharashtra, India while his mother’s native belongs from Western Uttar Pradesh and she is a homemaker. He also has two siblings, her sister’s names are Kulsum Fatima and Sarah Fatima.
Umar Khalid’s marital status is unmarried. He is not dating anyone and not even married yet. He is very secretive about his personal life and never disclosed his love life in public and in front of the media. Moreover, he believes in the Islam religion.
Physical Appearance
Umar Khalid is a good looking man with a decent personality. He owns a strong physique with impressive body measurements and body build up. He is 5 feet and 9 inches tall and his body weight measures around 65 Kg.
His hair color is black with a black beard and mustache. His shimmering black eyes add to his personality. There is no tattoo inked on his body.
Career
Umar Khalid started his career as a Human Rights activist after completion of his Ph.D. degree from Jawaharlal Nehru University. After that, he was featured in a student-made documentary on Islamophobia in 2009 in the same year he was invited to study at Yale University but he rejected the offer and stayed in India and started his works for the minorities in the country.
In 2016 he was involved in a protest held at the Jawaharlal Nehru University campus by the students. They started the protest against the punishment given to the Kashmiri separatist Maqbool Bhat and Afzal Guru (2001 parliament attack convicts). In this protest, Umar shouted many anti-national statements and was arrested by the police along with JNU’s Students Union President Kanhaiya Kumar.
Along with this protest he was involved in many other protests and become the leader of the Democratic Students Union in Jawaharlal Nehru University.
Controversy
Umar Khalid was involved in many controversies throughout his career due to his different ideologies. He was claimed as a terrorist by many media houses after his arrest during the protest against the capital punishment given to Maqbool Bhat and Afzal Guru in 2016.
He was also involved in a controversy when he gave a fiery speech among his followers and other JNU students and portrayed himself as a freedom fighter after he came out from the jail. He also posted a controversial post on his Facebook account in which he compared terrorist Burhan Wani with Che Guevara.
In 2018, he was expelled from the university after a high-level inquiry by JNU’s committee on his involvement in the 9 February 2016 incident. Later in the same year, he narrowly escaped from death when a man tried to shoot him from point-blank range at the Constitutional Club of India.
Recently he came into limelight after Delhi police’s special team arrested him on 13 September 2020 as he was found guilty for his involvement in the Delhi riots which were held in January 2020 against the Citizenships Amendment Act announced by the Indian Government.
As per reports, Khalid gave provocative speeches at different locations in Delhi and appealed everyone to start to protest against the Indian Government and to block the roads during the visit of US President Mr. Donald Trump. He was supported and funded by the Aam Aadmi Party member Tahir Husain who was already arrested by the Delhi police. According to the statements given by police officials and FIR was registered against Umar Khalid and he was presented before Delhi court very soon.
Facts and Information
He likes reading books, participating in conferences, debates, and learning about Adivasis. His favorite books are Until My Freedom has Come and To Kill a Mockingbird. He also likes to watch movies and listening to songs. His favorite movies are Landless, Life is Beautiful, and Lion of the Desert, and his favorite musicians are Kabir Suman, The Banned, and MC Kash.
He is one of the biggest critics of the ideologies followed by the Bharatiya Janta Party and his political inclination is towards the Communist Party of India.
According to his family members he has always been a Marxist as he never believed in God. However, his family is very religious but he questioned God and choose to be a non-believer.
