The Indian scholar arrested in US over Palestinian sympathies

15 years ago, at the invitation of the classmates, he changed the life of Badar Khan Suri, a humanistic scholar.

In the summer evening, Mr. Suri announced that he would sit outside his department at Jamia Millia Island, Jamia Millia islamia University. The Palestinian territory is run by Hamas and is blocked by Israel.

For students in conflict research, more than 150 caravans from several Asian countries have given the opportunity to witness one of the most controversial disputes in the world at once.

Suri agreed to participate happily, and a classmate recalled the BBC.

During this trip, he met a Palestinian Mapheze Saleh and a former Hamas Advisor who married a few months later.

After living in Delhi for almost 10 years, the couple moved to the United States, where Mr. Suri joined Georgetown University, a famous doctoral researcher.

He lived in Virginia for almost three years. The police knocked on his door He arrested him on the evening of March 17.

Three days later, on March 20 and March 20, Tricia Mclaughlin, the department of land and security, tweeted Suri that he was detained about his close relationship with “Hamas’s senior adviser, known terrorist relationships.” He denied the charges.

The measures accused President Donald Trump’s illegal immigrants and illegal immigrants and activists involved in the Palestinian campus demonstrations, which caused anti -Semitism and supported Hamas. The group was designated as a terrorist organization by the United States. But India did not ban Hamas.

Suri, who legally entered the United States as a student visa, prevented deportation by the US court, but the Trump administration’s charges shocked those who returned home.

His acquaintances described him as a soft, embarrassing and hard -working student with a wide range of knowledge of the world, while his classmates and teachers discovered that they were related to the stage with Hamas.

India has historically supported the cause of Palestine. In recent years, however, Delhi has often developed strategic ties with Israel in recent years, avoiding criticizing Israel’s actions.

Nevertheless, “without imagination, frost is not related to illegal,” one of Jamia’s professors told the BBC.

“It is not a crime to have a view of ongoing conflict. As a conflict researcher, sharing his analysis of the war is his professional mission.”

The people who traveled to the trip had a similar view.

One of the caravan’s organizers, Feroze Mithiborwala, remembered Suri as an intelligent and young man.

“He always took a secular position in our discussion. He was not a right -wing Islamic personality,” he said.

The trip started in Delhi in December 2010. As India’s neighboring Pakistan refused to travel to this group, the convoy had to travel to Iran, Türkiye, Syria and Egypt.

Covered by most buses, the path provided a lot to students of peace and conflict research, and one of the friends of Suri who attended the tour.

Throughout his trip, he added that he was deeply impressed by the pain he witnessed in Gaza and focused on providing help to the widows and the elderly.

In many ways, the caravan said, “He brought Mr. Suri more closer to the cause of Palestinians, but his interests were very academic.

The second and last time Suri went to Gaza was for his wedding with Saleh.

Saleh, an American citizen, was working as a translator and volunteer at the time.

According to a statement she submitted in court, her father, who lived in the United States, is a former advisor to Ismail Haniyh, a Hamas leader killed by Israel last year.

In 2010, her father left the government and added that “in 2011, he started a house of wisdom in 2011 to encourage peace and conflict resolution.”

When Saleh and Suri first met, they didn’t say much. But they re -connected a few months later, but in the caravan, a friend with him told the BBC.

Their wedding was made Headline In India, the couple returned to Delhi and continued to live for about eight years.

Saleh received a master’s degree from Jamia and later worked at the Embassy of Qatar. In 2023, Suri moved to the United States and Saleh followed him.

He took several months to finish his fellowship when he was arrested.

Suri’s father said he was painful to meet his son in this situation.

“He is not related to Hamas or Palestine [other than his marriage]. His sin is that he married a Palestinian woman. “

But he hopes his son will not be expelled. “After all, these are just charges. There is no evidence of any mistake.”

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