Chicago – August 16, 2026
Umar Khalid’s doctoral research has been published as a book, bringing renewed attention to his academic work while he remains in custody in connection with the 2020 Delhi riots case.
Titled Fractured Communities: Adivasi Histories and the Politics of Power, the book has been published by Juggernaut. It is based on Khalid’s PhD thesis, which he completed at Jawaharlal Nehru University in 2018. The research examines the history of Adivasi communities in Singhbhum, a region in present-day Jharkhand, and explores how colonial rule, administrative policies and political power transformed local society.
The publication has been welcomed by scholars and supporters, who have highlighted the work’s historical depth and readable style. Historian Ramachandra Guha described Khalid’s dissertation as an accomplished piece of scholarship, praising its detailed treatment of Adivasi history.
Khalid has written that the thesis was more than an academic requirement. In his view, it represented an effort to challenge propaganda, historical distortion and the misuse of state authority. His research also reflects his broader interest in marginalised communities and the political forces affecting them.
His mother, Sabiha Khanum, described the book’s publication as both a joyful and painful moment. She said readers should judge the work according to its academic merit rather than through the lens of her son’s imprisonment. She added that the book offers the public an opportunity to understand Khalid’s ideas, intellectual development and concern for oppressed communities.
The book’s release has therefore become not only a literary event but also part of a continuing national debate over academic freedom, dissent and the treatment of political prisoners.
