IAMC condemns Indian Supreme Court’s denial of bail to Muslim political prisoners after 5 years without trial
Washington, D.C. (January 5, 2026) – The Indian American Muslim Council (IAMC) today strongly condemned the Indian Supreme Court’s denial of bail to two Muslim prisoners of conscience, Umar Khalid and Sharjeel Imam. The Court further denied Khalid and Imam the right to seek bail for an additional year, despite the fact that both men have already been imprisoned for five years without trial.
“Umar Khalid and Sharjeel Imam’s only crime was to declare that Muslims are as Indian as any other group,” said IAMC President Mohammed Jawad. “Five years later, the government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi continues to punish them for refusing to denounce the pluralistic values of the Indian constitution. It is a great shame that the Supreme Court is sacrificing its independence and commitment to justice in order to legitimize Modi’s crackdown on civil society.”
Khalid and Imam were arrested in 2020 under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA), India’s draconian anti-terror law, following their rise to prominence as student leaders of nationwide protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), a discriminatory law that excludes Muslims from the right to fast-tracked citizenship. The men were accused of inciting an outbreak of violence in Delhi that year, resulting in over 50 deaths, most of them Muslim.
Investigations into the riots, however, showed that the main perpetrators were Hindu supremacist mobs emboldened by the violent rhetoric of elected officials from Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), rather than the speeches of peaceful protesters. Despite this, the Indian judiciary – which human rights defenders have criticized for its eroded independence under the Modi regime – has maintained that Khalid and Imam played a “central and formative role” in the violence.
The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) has for years listed Khalid and Imam on the Frank R. Wolf Freedom of Religion or Belief Victims List, which profiles prisoners of conscience arrested either on the basis of their religious identity, or for championing the causes of vulnerable religious minorities.
Khalid in particular is known globally as a prisoner of conscience, with several global human rights organizations calling for his release, including Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, and the International Committee of Jurists. New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani wrote a personal note to Khalid, which was recently shared on social media by Khalid’s partner. Last week, eight members of US Congress, led by Representatives Jim McGovern and Jamie Raskin, sent a letter to Indian ambassador Vinay Kwatra urging Khalid’s release in accordance with international law.
“Umar Khalid has been detained without bail for 5 years under UAPA, which independent human rights experts have warned may contravene international standards of equality before the law, due process and proportionality,” the letter stated. “India must uphold the rights of individuals to receive a trial with reasonable time or to be released and be presumed innocent until proven guilty.”
