The news of a youth Congress leader from Madhya Pradesh returning to India recently after spending 8 months in prison in Saudi Arabia has gone viral online.
Netizens are again talking about 27-year-old Raza Qadri, president of Niwari Youth Congress who was arrested by police in Saudi Arabia in January of this year while attending the Hajj pilgrimage in Mecca.
What Did The Indian Do?
According to reports, Raza Qadri had gone with his grandmother Shaheeda Begum to Hajj, an annual Islamic pilgrimage on January 21, 2023. While there, he clicked a picture in front of the Kaaba stone building in the center of the Masjid al-Haram in Mecca on 25th January.
However, the issue came up when in one photo he was seen holding a poster of the Bharat Jodo Yatra and in another the Indian tricolour flag. Soon after the pictures surfaced on social media, on 26 January the Saudi police picked him up from his hotel and then arrested him for not following Saudi Arabia’s rules.
He was put in jail at the Dhahban Central Prison, a maximum security prison where he was interrogated every day for two months in a dark room.
Saudi Arabia has very strict laws against displaying any type of flag or placard, especially at Islamic holy sites and considers them an unlawful action. The General Presidency for the Affairs of the Two Holy Mosques also restricts people from presenting placards or banners as they consider it to be a type of advertisement and against the sanctity of the mosque.
As per reports, the things prohibited to be displayed are:
Displaying placards or banners that contain political or religious messages.
Displaying offensive or discriminatory placards or banners.
Displaying placards or banners advertising commercial products or services.
Once the police investigation found no strong evidence against Raza, a Congress aid reportedly helped to expedite the paperwork to release him.
On October 3rd, 2023, Raza was eventually released and dropped at the airport, with him landing in India on 4th October after spending 8 months in jail.
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Raza speaking with Dainik Bhaskar said “I was first taken to the Central Jail of Dhahban. There I remained locked in a dark room for two months. In the name of food, some jail guy used to leave two pieces of bread for me every morning and evening. After a few days the jailer there came to me. He made me talk to my family.
Instructed to just tell the family that I am in jail, I am fine, I am eating and drinking well. I stayed in this jail for six months. I was interrogated for two months. I was made to sit in a room all night long.”
He added “The police used to verify every answer of mine with a lie detector machine. Before the test, I was given a chemical to drink. This would make me sleep, but they would not let me sleep. They used to keep me awake by throwing water on my mouth. They tortured me mentally a lot.”
Raza also spoke about how the whole thing affected his mental health to a great extent. He said “For two months I neither saw the sun nor anyone’s face. My mental status deteriorated so much that I had to be taken to a psychiatrist.
Luckily he turned out to be an Indian. He suggested the jailer put me in a normal cell. Two days later I was shifted to the normal cell.”
After spending 6 months in Dhahban, Raza was eventually sent to the Shumaisi Detention Centre. As per reports, the Saudi police after going through the videos sent to the intelligence, did not find any concrete evidence against him and claimed that he did not pose any threat to Saudi Arabia.
Image Credits: Google Images
Feature image designed by Saudamini Seth
Sources: DailyO, Dainik Bhaskar, Telangana Today
Find the blogger: @chirali_08
This post is tagged under: Mecca, Shumaisi Detention Centre, saudi arabia, saudi arabia police, saudi arabia mecca, congress, hajj, indian jailed saudi arabia, Raza Qadri, Raza Qadri saudi, Raza Qadri congress, Raza Qadri congress leader, Niwari Youth Congress, Raza Qadri tricolor flag, social media, jail Dhahban, Bharat Jodo Yatra
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