Badar Khan Suri, an Indian-origin postdoctoral fellow was detained in US by immigration authorities and his lawyer claimed that he is being punished “because of the Palestinian heritage of his wife — who is a US citizen — and because the government suspects that he and his wife oppose US foreign policy toward Israel.”
Suri is a former student of Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi and is currently a postdoctoral fellow at the Alwaleed Bin Talal Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding at the Edmund A Walsh School of Foreign Service, Georgetown University, Washington DC.
Who Is Badar Khan Suri?
Badar Khan Suri was born in India and he completed his PhD in Peace and Conflict Studies in 2020 at Jamia Millia Islamia in New Delhi. Reportedly, his doctoral thesis, “Transitional Democracy, Divided Societies and Prospects for Peace: A Study of State Building in Afghanistan and Iraq".
According to the PTI, he wrote his thesis on "Transitional Democracy, Divided Societies and Prospects for Peace: A Study of State Building in Afghanistan and Iraq" in which he underlined the complexities involved in introducing democracy in ethnically diverse societies; as well as challenges to project state building.
Suri was currently living in the US on a student visa.
Suri got married to an American citizen, Mapheze Saleh who was born in Gaza. Saleh reportedly holds a bachelor라이브 바카라 degree in journalism and information from the Islamic University of Gaza, Palestine and the common point between the two is that she also studied at Jamia Millia Islamia in New Delhi for her master's degree.
Suri's Detention
PTI quoted Politico saying that Suri has been “detained by federal immigration authorities amid the Trump administration라이브 바카라 crackdown on student activists whom the government accuses of opposing American foreign policy.”
The report said that “masked agents” arrested Suri from outside his home in Virginia Monday night.
A petition filed by his lawyer Hassan Ahmad said that he was taken to a facility in Virginia and is “expected to be transferred soon to a detention centre in Texas.”
Reportedly, Suri remains in detention in Alexandria, Louisiana, awaiting a court date that will determine whether he will be deported or allowed to remain in the US.
The Politico report said that Suri라이브 바카라 lawyer has filed a lawsuit for his immediate release.
“The agents identified themselves as being with the Department of Homeland Security and told him the government had revoked his visa,” the lawsuit says, according to the Politico report.
The report added that according to Suri라이브 바카라 petition, he was put in “deportation proceedings under the same rarely used provision of immigration law” that the government has invoked to try to deport Mahmoud Khalil, the Columbia University graduate and legal permanent resident arrested for his role in leading campus protests at Columbia against Israel.
The petition says the couple has “long been doxxed and smeared” on anonymously run, far-right websites due to their support for Palestinian rights. The petition adds that Suri라이브 바카라 wife Mapheze Saleh has been alleged to have “ties with Hamas” and once worked for Al Jazeera.
The petition further notes that Suri has no criminal record and has not been charged with a crime. Ahmad said he had not been able to contact Suri as of Wednesday evening.
“We’re trying to speak with him. That hasn’t happened yet,” Ahmad said.
“This is just another example of our government abducting people the same way they abducted Khalil.”
The Politico report quoted a statement from a Georgetown spokesperson as saying that Suri is an "Indian national who was duly granted a visa to enter the United States to continue his doctoral research on peacebuilding in Iraq and Afghanistan.
"We are not aware of him engaging in any illegal activity, and we have not received a reason for his detention. We support our community members’ rights to free and open inquiry, deliberation and debate, even if the underlying ideas may be difficult, controversial or objectionable. We expect the legal system to adjudicate this case fairly," the spokesperson said.
Suri's detention comes less than a week after Ranjani Srinivasan, an Indian student at Columbia University, self-deported after her visa was revoked for allegedly “advocating for violence and terrorism” and involvement in activities supporting Hamas.
Srinivasan had entered the United States on an F-1 student visa as a doctoral student in Urban Planning at Columbia University, the Department of Homeland Security had said.
It added that Srinivasan was “involved in activities supporting” Hamas, a terrorist organisation.
The Department of State had revoked her visa on March 5. The Department of Homeland Security said it has obtained video footage of Srinivasan using the Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Home App to self-deport on March 11.
