Indian scientist arrested in us for Palestinian sympathies

It was an invitation of a classmate 15 years ago, which changed the life of Badar Khan Suri, an Indian scientist who is now facing deportation with the United States over the allegations he is related to Hamas’s member.

On that summer evening, Mr. Suri sat near his department at the University of Jamia Miley Islam in Delhi, when a classmate announced that the international aid columns would go to gas – Palestinian territory, managing the armed Islamist group Hamas and under the blockade of Israel.

For students of Caravan conflicts, more than 150 people from several Asian countries have once been able to witness one of the most controversial disputes in the world in their lives.

Mr. Suri happily agreed to participate, the classmate reminded the BBC.

It was during this trip that he met with Mafez Saleh, the Palestinian and the daughter of a former Hamas advisor, with whom he married a few months later.

Having lived in Delhi for almost ten years, the couple moved to the United States, where Mr. Suri joined the prestigious University of Georgetown as a doctoral studies.

He lived in Virginia nearly three years when Police knocked on his door On the evening of March 17, he arrested him.

Three days, March 20, McLaflin’s triangle, Assistant Secretary of the Ministry of Internal Security, wrote on Twitter that Mr. Suri was detained for his “close ties with a well -known or suspect terrorist, senior Hamas advisor.” He denied these allegations.

This action follows the repression of President Donald Trump on illegal immigrants and activists involved in the protests about the Palestinian campus, which the authorities have accused of nourishing anti -Semitism and Hamas support. The group is appointed by the US a terrorist organization. India, however, did not ban Hamas.

Despite the fact that Mr. Suri, who legally entered the US for a student visa, blocked the deportation in the US court, the accusations of the Trump administration shocked those who know him home.

His acquaintances describe him as a soft, shy and hard -working student with a broad knowledge of the world, while his classmates and teachers said they had found allegations that he had ties with Hamas “insignificant”.

India has historically supported the Palestinian case. But in recent years, it has also developed close, strategic ties with Israel, and Delhi has often refrained from criticizing Israel’s actions.

Even then, “without the imagination of Surai, it may be associated with anything illegal,” said one of his BBC Jamia teachers.

“Imagination of a constant conflict is not a crime. As a conflict research scientist, in his professional mandate you can generally share your analysis of the war.”

Those who accompanied him on the trip had similar views.

Feroze Mithiborwala, one of the caravan organizers, remembered Mr. Suri as a reasonable, young man.

“He always held a secular position in our discussions. He was not some right Islamist character,” he said.

The trip began in December 2010 with Delhi. As Pakistan’s neighbor of India refused to give permission to travel to the group, the convoy had to go to Iran, Turkey, Syria and Egypt before finally reaching the gas.

The route, most of which was covered by the bus, offered a lot for the student of peace and conflict research, said one of Mr. Suri’s friends, who also went on the tour.

Throughout the trip, he was deeply moved by the suffering he witnessed in Gaza, and focused on assisting the widowed and the elderly, he added.

The caravan was largely “brought closer to Mr. Suri to the Palestinian case,” but his interest was largely academic, said another classmate, who was in connection with him a few days before his arrest.

The second and last time Mr. Suri went to gas, he was at his own wedding with Mrs. Saleh.

US citizens, Mrs. Saleh worked as a translator and volunteer at the time.

Her father, who lived in the United States, former adviser Ismail Hanya, leader Hamas, killed by Israel last year, said the statement presented to her in court.

In 2010, her father left Gaza’s government and “began the wisdom ward in 2011 to encourage peace and resolve conflicts in the newspaper,” he adds.

When Mrs. Saleh and Mr. Suri first met, they didn’t talk much. But a few months later they joined again, said a friend who accompanied him on the caravan, said the BBC.

Their wedding done headings In India, when the couple moved back to Delhi and continued to live there for about eight years.

Ms Saleh entered the Master’s degree in Jami, and then worked at the Qatar Embassy. In 2023, Mr. Suri moved to the US, and Mrs. Saleh followed him.

When he was arrested, he was months from completing communication.

Mr. Mr. Suri said he ached him to see his son in this situation.

“He has no connection with Hamas and Palestine (except for his marriage). His sin is that he is married to a Palestinian woman,” he said.

But he hopes his son will not be deported. “In the end, it’s just the charges. There is no evidence of no violations,” he added.

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