This month, the Supreme Court denied bail to Umar Khalid and Sharjeel Imam, two activists accused in the 2020 Delhi riots case, while granting bail to five others charged in the same conspiracy. The two face accusations of inciting clashes in New Delhi that killed 53 people, most of them Muslims. They have now spent more than five years in prison without trial.
"Of the 18 accused in the 2020 riots cases, 16 are Muslims; while ruling Bharatiya Janata Party leaders whose hate speeches preceded the violence, faced no charges. Neither Khalid nor Imam were even present in Delhi during the violence," Brinda Karat, senior Communist Party of India leader, told DW.
