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Bhopal, Nov 3 (IANS) Senior Congress leader and former Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Digvijay Singh has created a major political storm by declaring former JNU PhD scholar Umar Khalid, jailed in the 2020 Delhi riots case, as “completely innocent” and a victim of “grave injustice”.
In a controversial Facebook post going viral, Singh demanded the immediate release of Khalid, calling him a brilliant academic rather than a “traitor”.
He wrote the post while sharing an article titled ‘Ek Itihas Ki Baat’ published about the research in which Khalid was engaged.
The Congress leader reposted the article.
Another post ending with “Jai Siya Ram” has sparked debate over judicial impartiality, minority rights and alleged political vendetta.
Along with this post, the former Chief Minister has also shared some news for context that recently those who wrote ‘I Love Mohammed’ on the wall of a temple in Aligarh have been caught and they are all Hindus.
Singh’s post read: “Umar Khalid is innocent and is facing grave injustice. He is a PhD scholar and is not a traitor by any standards. He should be released immediately.”
In another post he wrote, “BJP and RSS hatch this conspiracy to falsely implicate Muslims. Jai Siya Ram.”
The statement comes amid the ongoing hearing in the Supreme Court on the bail plea of Khalid, where he has been imprisoned for more than five years under the stringent UAPA.
The bail of Khalid, accused of a major conspiracy behind the riots that took the lives of 53 people in North-East Delhi, has been rejected several times.
His lawyers argue that prolonged detention violates the principle that “bail is the rule, jail is the exception”, especially for undertrials.
The BJP immediately condemned Singh and described his defense as “anti-national” and evidence of Congress’s sympathy for the “riot masterminds”.
A vocal critic of the RSS, the veteran Congress leader had earlier compared the targeting of Muslims to Hitler’s persecution of Jews, calling India an “open prison” for minorities under draconian laws like UAPA.
Supporters described his post as a bold stand against “institutional bias”, where Muslim accused are routinely denied bail while other accused go free.
However, critics see this as vote-bank politics, especially with Singh’s history of defending activists in the Bhima Koregaon and anti-CAA cases.
With Supreme Court hearings resuming, Singh’s words may influence the public discussion on freedom versus security.
–IANS
SKTR/DPB