BJP Targets Rahul Gandhi After US Lawmakers Seek ‘Fair Trial’ For Umar Khalid

The BJP has accused Rahul Gandhi of backing an “anti-India” narrative after US lawmakers sought a fair trial and bail for activist Umar Khalid. The party linked the letter to meetings between Gandhi and US lawmakers, while the signatories cited concerns over prolonged detention and due process.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has objected strongly to a letter written by a group of US lawmakers urging a “fair and timely trial” for activist Umar Khalid, alleging that Congress leader Rahul Gandhi is linked to what it described as an “anti-India” campaign behind the move.

The controversy erupted after eight US lawmakers wrote to India’s Ambassador to the United States, Vinay Mohan Kwatra, seeking bail and a free trial for Khalid, who has been in jail for five years in connection with the February 2020 Delhi riots case.

Reacting to the letter, BJP leader Pradeep Bhandari claimed that US Representative Jan Schakowsky, one of the signatories, had met Rahul Gandhi in 2024 along with Congress leader Sam Pitroda and US Congresswoman Ilhan Omar. Sharing a photograph from the meeting, Bhandari alleged, “Every time an anti-India narrative is peddled abroad, one name keeps recurring in the background: Rahul Gandhi.”

Bhandari further claimed that after the 2024 meeting, Schakowsky introduced the “Combating International Islamophobia Act” the following year, which, he alleged, named India and accused it of “crackdowns on Muslim communities.

“The same Jan Schakowsky writes to the Government of India, raising ‘concerns’ over Umar Khalid, an accused under UAPA in serious cases linked to riots and violence,” Bhandari said. He added that those who “want to weaken India, defame its elected government, and dilute anti-terror laws” appear to “converge around Rahul Gandhi”.

In their letter, US Representatives Jan Schakowsky, Rashida Tlaib, and Indian-origin Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal, along with others, expressed concern over the “prolonged pre-trial detention of individuals charged in connection with the February 2020 violence in Delhi, including Khalid.

Khalid, along with Sharjeel Imam, Meeran Haider, Khalid Saifi, and others, has been charged under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967 (UAPA), and sections of the Indian Penal Code for allegedly conspiring in the Delhi riots, which left 53 people dead and more than 700 injured.

“The US and India share a long-standing strategic partnership that has historically been rooted in democratic values, constitutional governance and strong people-to-people ties,” the lawmakers wrote, according to PTI. They added that, as the world’s largest democracies, both countries have a shared interest in protecting freedom, the rule of law, human rights, and pluralism.

The letter also stated that human rights organisations, legal experts, and international media have questioned the fairness of the investigation and legal process in Khalid’s case. “Khalid has been detained without bail for five years for charges levied under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act, which independent human rights experts have warned may contravene international standards of equality before the law, due process, and proportionality,” it said.

Separately, New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani wrote a personal note to Khalid, reflecting on his words about “bitterness” and the need not to let it “consume oneself. “Dear Umar, I think of your words on bitterness often, and the importance of not letting it consume oneself. It was a pleasure to meet your parents. We are all thinking of you,” the handwritten note read. The message was shared on X by Khalid’s partner, Banojyotsna Lahiri.