Umar Khalid's dad campaigns in state

Suri: Syed Qasim Rasool Ilyas, father of JNU student leader Umar Khalid, who was booked on sedition charge, visited Birbhum on Thursday to address two rallies as a campaign for the Welfare Party of India's candidates there. In Birbhum, the WPI has fielded two candidates, from Hasan and Mayureswar constituencies. Khalid is the national president of the little-heard Welfare Party of India. "The country is heading towards an emergency. The Centre is trying to muzzle freedom of expression following a trivial incident that took place on the JNU campus," Ilyas said. -Someswar Boral