'Strength lies in raising our voices and asking questions’: Prakash Raj hails jailed activist Umar Khalid

CHENNAI: Actor Prakash Raj recalled his visit to jailed activist Umar Khalid's home, praising the determination and resilience he witnessed in Khalid and his inner circle. Khalid has been imprisoned in Tihar Jail since September 2020 for his alleged involvement in the 2020 Delhi riots and has consistently been denied bail, even though his trial is yet to begin.    

Speaking at an Association for Protection of Civil Rights (APCR) session on the denial of bail to anti-CAA activists on Wednesday (September 24), Prakash Raj said that during a recent film shoot in Delhi, he decided to meet Khalid’s parents.

“On the way, I asked his friends how they had managed to stand by Umar for five years. They told me that soon after his imprisonment, they met a man who had spent many years in Tihar Jail. He warned them that after a few months, visitors usually stop coming, and that’s when prisoners lose hope and break down. Hearing this, Umar’s friends made a firm decision never yet him break down and have continued visiting him regularly,” he recounted.

He further said he often wondered where Khalid’s strength came from. He recalled that when a friend suggested to Khalid’s father that the activist should move to South India after his release, the family firmly replied, “My son will not go anywhere. He will stay here and continue his fight.”

Prakash Raj added that this was the kind of resilience the government feared. “We must give them hope that they cannot break us. The day they succeed, they will release us. But we will not give in. Our strength and the way forward lie in consistently raising our voices and asking questions,” he urged citizens.