By: Clifton Rosario [Clifton D’Rozario is the general secretary of All India Lawyers Association for Justice (AILAJ)] Published in: *The Wire* Date: May 2, 2026 Source: https://thewire.in/rights/umar-khalid-a-prisoner-of-conscience *Note:* Please access the source to read the entire article.
"This is a speech from a book, *Umar Khalid and His World: An Anthology *discussion on ‘Umar Khalid and His World’ held on April 28, 2026 at BIC, Bengaluru. The true measure of a democracy is not reflected in the pomp of parliament or the spectacle of elections, but in how it treats those who dissent. This is why the political prisoner must be understood not as an isolated legal category, but as a mirror held up to the State itself. The book, through the life of Umar Khalid and the manner of his incarceration, holds a mirror to the way the Indian State deals with its dissenters – right from Khurram Parvez in Kashmir to Suneeta Potam in Chhattisgarh, to Surendra Gadling of the BK-16, and the recently arrested workers and activists in the Noida workers protest."
