New Delhi: Indian activist Zahack Tanvir, who was arrested by Saudi Arabia authorities in 2023 for posting anti-Pakistan content, has been released after nearly a year in custody.
Tanvir confirmed his release on social media, expressing both gratitude and frustration over his ordeal. He also thanked the Indian Embassy for ensuring his release and said Indian officials often visited him in jail.
39-year-old Tanvir told ThePrint that he was detained by the Saudi police in December 2023 following a complaint from Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI). He was accused of posting content that allegedly undermined Pakistan’s political system, a charge that Saudi authorities claimed could harm diplomatic ties between Pakistan and Saudi Arabia.
“I didn’t know that it was prohibited in the kingdom of Saudi Arabia to speak against Pakistan. I told them that my posts were harmless,” he said.
‘Posts detrimental to Saudi-Pak ties’
Tanvir said he was not informed of the charges against him for several hours. It wasn’t until after hours of interrogation that authorities claimed they had evidence of him posting content on social media that could allegedly cause friction between Pakistan and Saudi Arabia.
Tanvir, however, maintained that his posts were harmless and were not intended to create any diplomatic rift. “They framed a case based on my posts on Facebook and X where I had written about Pakistan’s promotion of extremist elements and the detention of Afghan children in Pak jails,” he said.
Over the next few months, Tanvir faced intense legal scrutiny. His first court hearing in March 2024 resulted in a five-year prison sentence for five social media posts.
This verdict, however, was appealed and subsequently reduced to one year after Tanvir’s legal team contested the charges. Despite this reduction, it wasn’t until the Supreme Court of Saudi Arabia reviewed the case that all charges were finally dismissed.
The case was complicated by several factors, Tanvir explained. Among the critical points raised in court was the fact that the posts in question were in English, not Arabic, suggesting that their intended audience was not Saudi nationals, but a broader international community. Tanvir’s legal team also argued that the prosecution had failed to provide sufficient evidence that his actions were a deliberate attempt to disrupt Saudi-Pakistan relations.
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Indian Embassy steps in
Throughout the ordeal, the Indian Embassy in Riyadh played an instrumental role in supporting Tanvir. He thanked the embassy for its consistent involvement, which included meeting with his family, providing moral support, and helping navigate the legal complexities. The Indian diplomatic mission’s involvement was particularly noteworthy, as Tanvir noted the embassy had direct access to him while he was in jail – something no other foreign diplomatic mission had been able to achieve.
“The embassy was particularly active in following up with the Saudi authorities, and its persistence contributed to my eventual release, especially that of Indian foreign minister S. Jaishankar and Indian diplomat Suhel Ajaz Khan,” he said.
In a post on ‘X’ Monday, Tanvir said he has “always adhered to a version of Islam that vehemently opposes Islamism and Muslim Brotherhood”.
“I do not change my stance based on circumstances – I do not praise when things are favourable and complain when they are not. My school of thought discourages rebellion against rulers,” he said.
In his statement following his release, Tanvir made it clear that his ideological views had not shifted. “I have not changed my past views or ideology. In fact, my beliefs have only solidified and become more grounded.”
Following his release on 6 December 2024, Tanvir was granted a legal exit from Saudi Arabia. He departed the kingdom with all charges against him officially quashed. His company had promised to reinstate him, but Tanvir decided not to return to work in Saudi Arabia. He now resides in the United States.
Zahack Tanvir was born in Hyderabad and graduated in Computer Science and Engineering from Osmania University before moving to the UK for further studies. Before his arrest, he was living in Saudi for 13 years and was the founder and director of the UK-based Milli Chronicle media.
Identifying himself as an “anti-Islamist” traditional Muslim, Zahack advocates against extremist ideologies and is a vocal supporter of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and a columnist for Indian newspapers. He often shared his opinions on how “Modi’s critics defamed India during G20” and why he found the 2023 BBC documentary on Modi “a hit job” against him and India’s rising global profile.
“Moving ahead, I don’t have any grudge against Saudi Arabia. I have always wished for the long-lasting India-Saudi partnership. What I did was a mere expression of opinion about Pakistan, to make their people wear a thinking-cap, so that they changed their attitude towards other nationalities. Freedom of expression is not a crime per se, but if it’s the law of a land, then we need to adhere to it, if we wish to work and live in that land,” he said.
(Edited by Tikli Basu)