The words ‘terrorist’ and ‘Jaish-e-Mohammad sympathiser’ have been bandied about with much relish to describe her brother, but Maryam Fatima is having none of it.
One of Umar Khalid’s five sisters, Maryam (who is a PhD candidate at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst) recently delivered a powerful speech at the Columbia School of Journalism, where she addressed faculty and students. Condemning the complete lack of ethics that the Indian media has largely shown in reporting her brother’s case, Maryam brought to light the anguish it has caused her family.
In an email interview to The Quint, she spoke about how “this has been the roughest time” in their lives.
“You Never Think It’ll Happen to You – Till it Does”
“You grow up listening to stories about Muslim youth being falsely accused of terrorism charges, you hear of the government cracking down on dissent. However, you never think it’ll actually happen to you – till it happens to you.”
Umar Khalid was pretty much unknown to the common public outside JNU till he appeared on the now ‘fateful’ television interview, speaking about Kanhaiya – who at the time, was the only eye of the storm.
He walked out, singed by a sudden and bewildering outpouring of hate. Suddenly, scarily, the focus had shifted. Umar Khalid quickly went on to become the ‘hunted’ and as the cries of ‘mastermind’ and ‘JeM sympathiser’ grew wilder and louder, Umar went underground.
“The first few days were paralysing,” reveals Maryam. “We had no information about Umar. All we heard were these twisted TV stories about how he is a terrorist, a ‘mastermind’.”
The worst was the intimidation meted out to the family.
My sisters received threats of rape and acid attacks on social media. The youngest one has stopped going to school – she is missing her final exams. My father received a call from a self-proclaimed nationalist based in Australia who threatened to kill us. He even left his phone number. This brazenness is even more intimidating. They know that the powers that be will support them regardless of what they do.Maryam Fatima, Umar Khalid’s sister
“Umar Always Supported Our (the Sisters’) Independence Fiercely”
Maryam speaks fondly of her and her sisters’ relationship with Umar.
“Umar is the only brother to five sisters and we have given him hell for it! We had as normative a childhood as you can imagine – teasing, games, fighting, making up, all of it. He has been a very supportive brother. His best quality is that he is not a patronising brother – something that elder brothers do a lot. He has always supported our independence fiercely.”
This, she says, comes from Umar’s sensitivity to people’s pain. “His own privilege makes him uneasy.”
Umar and Maryam grew up really close, being in the same batch through school and college and sharing common friends.
“We’re in our late twenties now, so conversations aren’t as frequent. But it’s just one of those bonds where you pick up right where you left off.”
A whole lot of scrutiny and dissection of Umar Khalid’s family has “revealed” that Umar is the atheist in an otherwise god-fearing family. Maryam is particularly distressed by how this is being made out to be an example of their family being fractured.
“My parents are believing Muslims so his atheism causes them anguish. But this hasn’t severed familial ties. It’s been distressing to see how at some point there was this image of a broken family circulating. And that we were asked to clarify family dynamics to the entire nation. It’s absurd. We support Umar and his right to figure out his own world view.”
“Kanhaiya and Umar are Different Shades on the Left Spectrum”
The PhD candidate at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, also doesn’t want to read too much into Kanhaiya Kumar’s latest ‘distancing’ from Umar and Anirban. The JNUSU President on Saturday told police that he knows the two only as fellow students and does not agree with their political ideologies.
“This is not about everyone agreeing with everyone else.This is about everyone agreeing with the right to disagree. Kanhaiya and Umar are different shades on the left spectrum. I saw some discussions where people were talking about it as if it was some incriminating evidence, which it is not. It’s a testament to plurality of thought. I don’t think this segregates the fight in any way. The JNU community has been overwhelmingly united in their support for ALL students.”
Maryam Fatima’s rousing lecture to students of the Columbia School of Journalism has already garnered much positive feedback on social media.
“It had a great turnout,” Maryam tells me. “Everyone was deeply disturbed by the state of affairs. I spoke about dangerous rhetorical strategies that were being used by some TV channels. The invocation of the taxpayer argument is very dangerous – it reduces citizens to their economic role and obscures their other aspirations. Besides, how are we not talking about corporate debt write-offs? There is that, but of course at another level, there have been hate filled campaigns and unethical reporting – doctored videos, I mean come on. How are people still watching those news channels?”
“It’s Been Easy to Target Him Because of his Muslim Name”
Maryam agrees that certain tropes that are sadly used to qualify someone as ‘fundamentalist’ have been used against her brother.
“It’s been easy to target him because of his Muslim name. It’s painfully obvious. The Jaish-e-Mohammad link, the allegation that he had been to Pakistan when he doesn’t even have a passport – in fact, just the implicit suggestion that going to Pakistan itself is something suspicious.”
As of now, Maryam wants her brother to continue standing strong.
“The absolute hate and lies he has been subjected to are enough to break a man. But Umar came out strong and renewed in his convictions. I just want to convey my appreciation and respect for his courage. I want him to know that there are a whole lot of people standing by him.”
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