Anti-genocide activist Umer Khalid says he will add thirst strike to hunger strike

So that’s that. Curtains, folks. The media circus has rolled out of town with the ultimate Irish goodbye. The comment-section bots can switch from screeching “just eat!” to critiquing their commitment. Our comment sections have been full of vile remarks, like ‘actually, Bobby Sands had the guts to follow through, don’t you know,’ ‘did somebody say just eat,’ and ‘give them some pork.’

Umer Khalid remains steadfast

We are days away from Umer Khalid stepping up his refreshed strike by refusing water. This is the point of no return. Umer will die within days. And because this is his second strike, because his body is already broken, and because of his serious underlying health conditions, it won’t be prolonged. 

We are no longer watching a political protest. We are witnessing a countdown to a state-sanctioned murder of a 22 year old man.

I’ve spent months aiming my ire at the media. But the government? They’re clearly complete fuck sticks – we all know it, I haven’t wanted to waste the words till now. 

They haven’t dropped the ball so much as hurl it, vehemently.

Whether it’s Lammy sticking his fingers in his ears or Labour MPs literally laughing in the Commons at the refusal to meet with lawyers, the handling of this has been a masterclass in how to fail at grown-up politics. It’s been a horrific watch.

It’s a classic tragedy in the most literal sense…

At every fork in the road, this government has looked down the path to redemption and instead has actively and deliberately taken the path that involves ripping dignity away from human beings. 

Even if you’re so dead inside you have no heartstrings to tug, this was supposed to be a competent government. They were supposed to know how to do politics.

There was never any reason for it to get to this point. “Five demands, not one less” was a catchy chant, but does anyone really believe they’d have continued to strike if they had been out on bail? The demands were never concrete red lines. They were an opening salvo for a negotiation the government point-blank refused to have. This could have been over a long time ago. And without the associated suffering

The idea that meeting representatives would encourage a wave of people to starve themselves for two months is palpably ridiculous.

Blood on their hands!

Instead, the government have faced the hunger strikers with letal apathy. If Umer dies, it won’t be suicide. This is all he has left to put on the line. It will be murder by omission. 

The government has a responsibility to do the right thing and come to the table.

But if they won’t do it for that, then for fuck’s sake, I wish they’d just grow up and do it for the optics. Do it because they’re supposed to be the adults.

Do it because they’ve expended endless political capital and actual capital on disproportionate police responses, trying to suppress a rage they will never, ever be able to dampen.

Umer Khalid’s death will not end this. All that will be achieved is that he will become a martyr. It will vindicate every accusation of authoritarianism. It will unleash a fury that makes the current protests look tame. 

The government is trying to avoid looking weak, and in doing so, is ensuring its greatest, most permanent weakness: a man’s blood on its hands, and a generation’s rage directed at the gates of Downing Street.

The calculation is simple, even for them. Negotiate now, or else you own what comes next. If they are under any illusions that things are bad now – just wait till someone actually dies.

Featured image via the Canary