New Delhi, Sep 16 — Samajwadi Party (SP) leader ST Hasan waded into the ongoing discourse around imprisoned activist Umar Khalid, threw his weight behind him and claimed that the latter always stood for national integration.
Speaking to IANS on Wednesday, the SP leader refuted the charges 'instigating violence' levelled against him and contested that he always advocated for communal harmony and freedom from oppression and
“As far as we understand, Umar Khalid has always spoken about national integration. He has always talked about communal harmony and freedom from oppression. Everyone knows who is the oppressor and who’s oppressed. I do not understand how he has become anti-national,” Hasan said.
Hasan said that he is sad that Khalid has been in prison for the last six years without trial.
‘’It is also unfortunate that he has been in jail for six years, and his trial has not even begun yet. Who is stopping it? You know that very well,” the Samajwadi Party leader commented.
Hasan said that nothing in the nation at present could be construed as part of a functioning democracy, adding, “It is a known fact that Nathuram Godse was the first terrorist of the country, who killed Mahatma Gandhi, the father of the nation, and that we are standing at such a juncture where we want to build temples for such an individual. Where are we standing? Has our conscience lost its direction?”
He further said that people who appeased and were rewarded by the British have no right to call someone else an anti-national or question someone’s national pride.
The BJP has repeatedly criticised Congress leaders for defending jailed activist Umar Khalid and calling him a 'nationalist,' with its youth wing ABVP opposing a campus screening of a documentary, based on his life.
On Tuesday, Karnataka Congress Chief B.K. Hariprasad called imprisoned activist Umar Khalid a "nationalist" and criticised the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) for opposing a proposed documentary screening of the student activist at the National Law School of India University (NLSIU) in Bengaluru.
"Umar Khalid is a nationalist. And, ABVP has no right to speak about Umar Khalid because ABVP adores Nathuram Godse, who is anti-national; the first terrorist of the country. They have no moral right or moral ethics to speak about Umar Khalid," Hariprasad told reporters.