Press Club hosts discussion on Umar Khalid’s book to mark his sixth birthday in jail

A discussion on former JNU student Umar Khalid’s book “Fractured Communities: Adivasi Histories and the Politics of Power” was held at the Press Club of India on Tuesday, with speakers highlighting its significance as an academic work on Adivasi history.

The event was organised to mark his sixth birthday in prison and was attended by Rajya Sabha MP Manoj Jha, Delhi University professor Apoorvanand Jha, professor Prabhu Mohapatra, senior journalist Arfa Khanum Sherwani and The Wire editor Siddharth Varadarajan, among others.

Khalid, who is in jail in connection with the 2020 Delhi riots case, wrote the book as his PhD thesis at Jawaharlal Nehru University.

Mohapatra, one of the examiners of Khalid’s thesis, said he felt “connected” to the work, which examines the history of Singhbhum in present-day Jharkhand and the political and administrative structures that shaped its Adivasi communities.

“He is not trying to expose one view against another. He is looking at a series of contradictions and holding them together on the same page. It is a very interesting way of looking at history,” Mohapatra said.

Khalid’s mother Sabiha Khanum said it was a “happy and sad moment” for the family as the book was available to readers while its author remained behind bars.

She said Khalid completed his thesis amid police and court proceedings, with court intervention eventually facilitating its submission.

Khanum urged people to read the book for its academic value rather than merely because its author is in jail.

“This book gives people a chance to understand that he stands for minorities, for Adivasis and for those who cannot speak for themselves,” she said.

Reflecting on Khalid’s six years in custody, she said it had been a “long road” with no apparent end in sight.

Jha said Khalid’s work did not reduce people to simplistic sociological categories and stressed the importance of understanding communities through their histories.

Khalid was arrested in September 2020 in connection with the larger conspiracy case related to the northeast Delhi riots and has remained in custody since then without being convicted.