New Delhi: India Friday urged Indians studying abroad to “comply” with local laws after the US detained Badar Khan Suri, an Indian national, on allegations of promoting “Hamas propaganda” earlier this week.
“We are given to understand through media reports that this particular student [Suri] has been detained. Neither the US government nor this individual has approached us or the Embassy … When it comes to visa and immigration policy, it is something that lies within the sovereign functions of a country,” Randhir Jaiswal, the official spokesperson for the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), said during a regular press briefing.
The Israel-Palestine conflict roiled US university campuses last year. The US administration under President Donald Trump is now targeting foreign nationals who participated in the pro-Palestine protests. The spotlight was on Indian doctoral student Ranjani Srinivasan last week.
Jaiswal said: “On our side, we expect that when foreign nationals are coming to India, they abide by our laws and regulations. Similarly, we expect that when Indian nationals are abroad, they must also comply with local laws and regulations.”
A postdoctoral fellow at Georgetown University in Washington D.C., Suri was detained outside his house on 19 March. His student visa was revoked. However, a US court Thursday blocked the deportation of Suri, who, according to the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), is at a detainment facility in Louisiana.
Tricia McLaughlin, a spokesperson for the US Department of Homeland Security, alleged that Suri had ties with a known or suspected terrorist, a senior adviser to Hamas. The US has designated Hamas as a terrorist organisation, but India has not.
Suri has said that the action came as his wife is a Palestinian. Both Suri and his employer have denied the allegations against him.
The detainment of Suri followed the case of Srinivasan, as well as the deportation orders against Mahmoud Khalil, a prominent Palestinian activist.
The US authorities arrested Khalil, a permanent resident of the US, on 8 March on allegations of having ties to Hamas—a claim he has denied. Khalil was involved in the pro-Palestinian protests at Columbia University last year.
Another Columbia student, Leqaa Kordia, who is Palestinian and from the West Bank, was also arrested on the allegation of overstaying her student visa.
On 7 October 2023, Hamas launched an attack on Israel from the Gaza Strip. At least 1,150 Israelis were killed, and 250 were taken hostage. Since then, Israeli retaliatory strikes have killed nearly 49,547 Palestinians, most of them children and women, the authorities in Gaza have said.
Tel Aviv’s disproportionate military response—the levelling of hospitals, schools and residences, and the killing of thousands of civilians—led to protests across US university campuses last year. This was followed by a heavy crackdown by the security forces.
Earlier this week, Israel broke an uneasy ceasefire with Hamas, with its troops back in Gaza again. The ceasefire had come into effect in January this year.
Israeli airstrikes have killed at least 590 Palestinians in the last few days, according to the authorities in Gaza.
(Edited by Madhurita Goswami)
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