Overview
- Eight Democratic lawmakers wrote to India’s ambassador on December 30 urging bail and a fair, timely trial for Umar Khalid and questioning how his prolonged detention aligns with international standards.
- The letter was led by Representatives Jim McGovern and Jamie Raskin and signed by Senators Chris Van Hollen and Peter Welch and Representatives Pramila Jayapal, Jan Schakowsky, Rashida Tlaib and Lloyd Doggett.
- McGovern said he met Khalid’s parents in Washington and publicly shared the letter, emphasizing due process concerns and the need to start proceedings without further delay.
- New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s handwritten note to Khalid, given to his parents in December and posted after his swearing-in, expressed solidarity and referenced meeting the family.
- Khalid, arrested in September 2020 under UAPA and other charges linked to the 2020 Delhi violence that killed 53 people, received interim bail from December 16–29 for his sister’s wedding and has returned to Tihar Jail, with his Supreme Court bail plea pending.