New Delhi: PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti on Thursday launched a stinging attack on the Centre’s “selective justice”, asking why student activist Umar Khalid continues to languish in Tihar Jail for over five years without trial while Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh enjoys his seventh parole in just four years.
Taking to X, the former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister wrote: “Umar Khalid has been denied even interim bail to attend his cousin’s wedding, but a rape convict and murder accused like Ram Rahim gets parole after parole ahead of every election in Haryana and neighbouring states. Is the law truly blind, or does it wink only at certain people?”
Her remarks came hours after a Delhi court rejected Khalid’s second plea for two-week interim bail in the Delhi riots “larger conspiracy” case, citing that custody parole rules do not cover weddings of cousins.
Khalid, arrested in September 2020 under UAPA, has now spent 1,919 days behind bars — longer than many convicted terrorists.
In contrast, Ram Rahim — serving a 20-year sentence for raping two disciples and life imprisonment for journalist murder — has been granted over 200 days of parole, furlough and temporary release since 2022. His latest 20-day parole, approved last week by the Haryana government, coincides with upcoming civic polls.
Political circles see Mehbooba’s outburst as the sharpest Opposition volley yet against what many call “VIP parole culture.”
As #JusticeForUmarKhalid trended alongside angry memes comparing the two cases, Congress and AAP echoed her demand for “one law for all”.