New Delhi: The Indian Ex-Servicemen Movement, an association of veterans, has once again appealed to the Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the release and repatriation of eight Indian Navy veterans, who were arrested and put in solitary confinement by the Qatar government over a year ago.8 former indian navy men are in a qatar jail for 1 year!!!! Their families continue to appeal to the Indian govt to get them home pic.twitter.com/jhIWsnDirJ— sunetra choudhury (@sunetrac) September 30, 2023When eight ex-servicemen were arrested on August 30, 2022, without being informed of the charges against them, the matter had turned into a diplomatic and political row. The eight veterans – Captain Navtej Singh Gill, Captain Saurabh Vasisht, Commander Purenendu Tiwari, Captain Birendra Kumar Verma, Commander Sugunakar Pakala, Commander Sanjeev Gupta, Commander Amit Nagpal and Sailor Ragesh – were then working at Dahra Global Technologies and Consultancy Services, a Omani national-owned security company. The Omani national was a former squadron leader of the Royal Omani Air Force. He too was arrested but was subsequently released in November. However, the eight Indian veterans have still been languishing in the Qatari prison. The Indian Ministry of External Affairs had told the press then that their immediate release and repatriation was a matter of high priority for the officials. But later in April, 2023, it said that India will not “interfere” in the Qatari legal process. Immediately after their arrests, the Indian officials convinced the Qatar authorities to let the arrested veterans speak with their families, and the MEA spokesperson Arindam Bagchi had said that the Union government was making all possible efforts to bring them back. But since then, the matter has only lingered on. In the absence of any clarity over the charges they are facing, The Tribune in April, 2023 reported that the veterans have been charged with spying for Israel and could be sentenced to death. Many other news reports speculated that the detention may have been owing to Qatari officials’ suspicion over a “friendly conversation” between the veterans and an Indian diplomat posted in Doha three months before their arrest. This was around the same time when the MEA said that it was unwilling to interfere in the Qatari legal process. There have been at least two hearings on the matter in April and May in a Qatari court. Writing for the Indian Express, Nirupama Subramanian said, “Managing Director (of the security company Dahra) Commander Purnendu Tiwari (retd) received the Pravasi Bharatiya Samman award in 2019 for his services in furthering the bilateral relationship between India and Qatar. He is the only person from the armed forces to have received the award. He was feted in Doha by then Indian Ambassador P Kumaran, and a former head of the Qatar defence forces’ International Military Cooperation. The function was held at the Indian Cultural Centre. Captain Kapil Kaushik, of the Indian Navy, who was the defence attache at Embassy of India at the time, was also present at this event.”Meanwhile, the Congress party in India has been attacking the Modi government for its failure to repatriate the decorated veterans.Congress spokesperson Jairam Ramesh said in a statement, “An Omani national who had been arrested along with the ex-Navy personnel was released in November, the Indian citizens remain in detention.” He alleged that the Modi government may be unwilling to rub the Qatar government the wrong way to protect the Adani group as the Qatar government has invested heavily in Adani Electricity Mumbai. Here is my statement on the continued detention of retired Indian Navy personnel in Qatar a country with which Modani has a special relationship. Why has this relationship not helped the ex-servicemen so far? pic.twitter.com/JTtvnT3x8V— Jairam Ramesh (@Jairam_Ramesh) April 6, 2023Responding to the Congress’s allegation, Bagchi had then defended India’s stance. “If I were to extrapolate that, it would be as if, if a country has good relations with India, their nationals would not be subject to our laws. I don’t think that’s the line that we want to take,” Bagchi had told The Hindu. He, however, added, “Our embassy continues to remain in touch with the families of the detained Indian nationals and also extending necessary consular as well as legal assistance. We have also requested for another round of consular access. Government attaches high priority to the matter and remains engaged with the Qatari authorities regarding the case. I don’t think the charges have yet been opened. The legal process is underway and we will keep a close watch on that.”As the matter is in limbo, the families of the veterans have run from pillar to post as they make appeals to expedite the repatriation process. Dr. Meetu Bhargava, sister of Purnendu Tiwari, too had posted a tweet back in November, 2022, detailing the conditions of the arrested veterans. The Indian Government need to act immediately, swiftly & walk the talk if they really care about their defence personnel as today is 69th day of the illegal solitary confinement of our senior citizen Navy Veterans (officers) in Doha (Qatar) #Help #IndianNavy #Veterans #SOS https://t.co/22aqUsYEPz— Meetu Bhargava (@DrMeetuBhargava) November 6, 2022
