ABVP Objects to Umar Khalid Documentary Screening at NLSIU

A planned screening of a documentary on activist Umar Khalid at the National Law School of India University (NLSIU) has drawn objections from the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), which has written to the university's Vice-Chancellor seeking its cancellation.

The film, 'Prisoner No 626710 is Present' by Lalit Vachani, is scheduled to be shown on September 14 between 7 a.m. and 8.30 a.m. by the Law and Society Committee (LawSoc), a student body. The screening is to be followed by discussions on pre-trial detention, bail, dissent, political incarceration, and the relationship between criminal law and democratic freedom. The date coincides with that of Khalid's arrest in 2020 in connection with the Delhi riots under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act.

In a release, Abhinandan Mirji, secretary of ABVP Bengaluru, condemned the proposed screening, saying the organisation was outraged at educational premises being used for a programme centred on individuals linked to anti-national slogans during the JNU controversy, Afzal Guru commemorations, and mobilisation during the CAA-NRC protests and the Delhi riots. He said academic campuses must remain dedicated to national integrity and learning rather than serving as platforms for political propaganda or the glorification of civil unrest.

Mirji added that a formal complaint had been sent to the NLSIU administration by email demanding that the event be stopped, and that no response had been received. He reiterated the demand that the administration immediately cancel all permissions for the event.

Students at the university, however, said the screening was not a first. One student said the same documentary had been shown on the same day last year, and that the current problem was that their communication had been leaked. The student described the response from ABVP as undemocratic and said the organisation was trying to threaten them with a protest, adding that student organisations within NLSIU are progressive and that the administration appreciates students exercising democratic space and dialogue.

Another student said the university does not currently plan to restrict or cancel the programme, which was the last response they had received. The student argued that discussing issues pertaining to law is a norm in law school, and that it was apt to discuss Khalid on prisoners' day, describing him as a student who has been jailed for six years.

Outside the campus, T.V. Mohandas Pai, former CFO of Infosys, wrote on X that NLSIU should uphold the rule of law rather than glorify terrorists, saying those accused of serious crimes whose bail has been denied by multiple courts are not political prisoners. Girish Bharadwaj, an advocate in the Karnataka High Court, also said on X that he had emailed the Vice-Chancellor and Registrar seeking cancellation of the screening, writing that the V-C, as custodian of the institution's values and legacy, has a responsibility to ensure NLSIU does not become a platform for glorifying terrorism or separatism.

Attempts to obtain a response from the NLSIU Vice-Chancellor went unanswered.