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| As the only non-believer in the family, Umar questioned everything, says his father. |
February 21, 2016, NewsCrunch
Umar Khalid, the JNU PhD student, who is facing sedition charge and is on the run, reportedly had an offer from Yale university to study for a semester.
Umar Khalid, who does not have a passport, declined it.
The information has been reported by at least two papers The Telegraph and Indian Express. Two of his family members, his father and sister have also stated it.
Umar Khalid, who joined JNU in 2008, is doing his PhD on Jharkhand tribals at Centre for Historical Studies. In the course of his research, he had interacted with a professor at Yale university, who impressed by Umar's research, had made the offer.
His father Syed Qasim Rasool Ilyas, also a PhD in Chemistry, says Umar is the only in the family without the passport, though it is not clear why he never applied for it.
Umar and four other JNU students Anirban Bhattacharya, Rama Naga, Ashutosh Kumar, Anant Prakash Narayan went on the run after Delhi police arrested JNUSU president Kanhaiya Kumar on sedition charge.
Among them, it was Umar who became the face of the alleged ''anti-national" activities in JNU when Times Now editor Arnab Goswami lashed at him during a News Hour show, which went viral.
Umar's friends say he is a committed communist who has been at the forefront of the agitations on students, tribals and Dalits.
As the only non-believer in the family, he questioned everything - whether it was praying, fasting, or women in the family covering their heads - says his father.
Ilyasi, who was in Simi, a banned radical Muslim organisation, fears that his background may lead t further branding of Umar.
He told The Indian Express that he was with Simi in its early days before it was banned and before even a single was filed against them.