Spotlight on Umar Khalid's book as he spends another birthday in jail

A discussion on jailed student activist Umar Khalid’s book Fractured Communities: Adivasi Histories and the Politics of Power, held at the Press Club of India in New Delhi on Tuesday, 11 August, highlighted the significance of its contribution as an academic work on Adivasi history.

The event, organised to mark Khalid’s birthday, his sixth in prison, was attended by Rajya Sabha MP Manoj Jha, Delhi University’s 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 (JNU).

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.

On 10 August, A similar discussion was also held at JNU on 10 August where speakers highlighted how Fractured Communities… challenged dominant historical narratives by foregrounding Adivasi voices and their complex relationship with power structures. Panelists noted that despite Khalid’s incarceration, his scholarship continues to contribute meaningfully to academic and political discourse, showing the transformative power of critical scholarship even under repression.

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

(With agency inputs)