Detained in Doha: Tech Mahindra Qatar head's parents plead for justice

Indian Express

6 hours ago

A paneer paratha made by his mother and an English version of the Bhagvad Gita handed over by his parents to 'help find courage' in the darkest hour are the straws of hope that 45-year-old Amit Gupta — the Region Head of Tech Mahindra for Qatar and Kuwait — has been grasping at, over six months after he was allegedly detained by authorities in Qatar in January for 'unknown reasons'.
His parents have travelled from Vadodara to Doha, camping there since May this year, to provide 'moral support' to their son, even as the anguish continues for the family seeking justice.
Retired ONGC employee JP Gupta (73) and his wife Pushpa (65) have been granted weekly half an hour in-person meetings with Amit, who remains confined in 'a room without windows' at an undisclosed detention center in Doha since January. When they first met Amit on their arrival in May, the Guptas said he 'cried like a child'. JP Gupta says, 'Since he was taken into custody on January 1, he has not been informed till date what are the charges against him; neither is there any formal case that we are aware of. He has been locked in a room since that day, with no human interaction. When we met him, we could see that it had taken a toll on his health. He only cries for help and asks us to speak to those who can help. We have been telling him that we are trying every possible avenue but we have not found any glimmer of hope yet…'
Hanging on to hope
Gupta adds that they handed over an English version of the Bhagvad Gita to Amit to 'help him find courage'.
Gupta says, 'The authorities allowed us to bring food for him in the last two meetings… He had asked his mother to bring paneer paratha. We were able to take one piece of paneer paratha… We gave him the English Bhagvad Gita … we were not allowed to hand over the Hindi version. It is our hope that in these small interactions, he will hold on to his inner strength, which is fast depleting… All we have been asking for is a fair trial. If there is a crime he has committed, let the Qatari authorities prosecute him and end this uncertainty. At least tell us what is the reason that he is in such confinement…'
The parents described that the meeting was facilitated with the intervention of the Embassy of India while Amit's company, Tech Mahindra, has extended logistical support to allow the parents to travel to Doha to meet Amit.
'Tech Mahindra applied for our visas and also arranged for our tickets. They had also arranged for our stay at a hotel, but we requested them to allow us to stay in Amit's apartment here…' said his parents.
'We met with the Ambassador of India to the State of Qatar and the Embassy of India has told us that it has been trying its best but the Qatari authorities have been saying that they are preparing a report… It appears that without an intervention at the ministerial level, authorities in Doha have refused to entertain the pleas. We can only implore that our numerous letters to the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) and Minister of External Affairs S Jaishankar's office should be heard for the safety of our son,' his father said.
Gupta says that Amit's local lawyer has not been allowed to meet him as yet.
Of cries and solitary confinement
'They tell us that the lawyer can only interact once the case comes to the court… We have learnt that the Qatar authorities did inform the local court that they need to extend his custody but at the end of the stipulated period, the courts granted extension without considering the pleas of Amit's lawyers… Amit has no information about what is happening outside. We have been allowed to meet about four times — for half an hour on Sundays. At the main gate of the detention centre, our passports are taken and a vehicle is sent to the road to ferry us inside the facility… We are then frisked, and our belongings deposited. We are taken to a room and made to wait for about 15 minutes before Amit is brought out for a face to face interaction. He only keeps crying… They last interrogated him in January and thereafter, he is only in solitary confinement,' shares his father.
This is the second visit of the senior-citizen couple to Doha since Amit's detention. Although the couple has sought an extension of visa to stay back, they feel that being in Doha will not expedite the case against their son.
'We are only keen on staying back to be able to meet him and give him strength. Over the phone, he expresses extreme thoughts and it leaves us worried… It is an ordeal, not just for him but for the entire family that is awaiting his release. It is our request that the Indian government must intervene to initiate the process as it may be. We are only seeking basic human rights for our son. If the Indian government does not intervene in such matters, where should common Indians go?' Gupta says.
Amit moved to Doha in 2013 to work with Tech Mahindra and has been elevated to the position of Region Head of Qatar and Kuwait, reporting to his Dubai-based manager. He was detained on January 1 for an alleged probe, details of which are yet to be disclosed by the Qatari authorities.