Vadodara: Imtiyaz Ali Saiyed had started sinking out of fear that he would have to spend the rest of his life in Saudi Arabia jail. Saiyed and and his minor aged son Uzair were picked up by the Saudi police for clicking photographs with a tricolour in Haram area of Mecca on November 16 last year. But within 12 hours, Saiyed and Uzair were out of the police station and on way back to India.
The immediate freedom was possible, thanks to then external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj’s Twitter diplomacy.
Saiyed, 41, a resident of Sarfaraz Park in Tandalja area of Vadodara, had gone to Saudi with his wife and two children on November 12. On November 16, some local cops saw him and Uzair clicking a photograph holding a tricolour. As displaying flags is banned in Haram area, the father-son duo were detained and taken to the police station
When local community leaders in Vadodara learnt about their detention, one of them – Zuber Goplani - immediately wrote to Swaraj and the Indian Embassy in Saudi Arabia on Twitter to inform them about the situation.
“I had seen her helping people on Twitter, so I thought that would be the right option. In my tweet, I had tagged her and the Indian Embassy. Officials called me to inform that madam Sushma Swaraj had called them up asking them reach out to Saiyed there,” said Goplani, who is executive council member of All India Muslim Majlise Mushavirat.
The officials of consulate general in Jeddah reached Haram police station and got Uzair released. They then made made successful efforts for release of Saiyed as well. “My family and I will be indebted to her forever. Had she not instructed the embassy officials to come to my help, I would have probably still been under detention,” said Saiyed, who works in a factory making spectacles in Vadodara.
“After my release, an Indian official told me that they had got calls from the minister in New Delhi asking them to cancel all appointments and immediately try to get me out of from the police station,” Saiyed said.
“Her death has shattered us. I will always regret that I could not meet her in person to extend our gratitude,” he added.
The immediate freedom was possible, thanks to then external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj’s Twitter diplomacy.
Saiyed, 41, a resident of Sarfaraz Park in Tandalja area of Vadodara, had gone to Saudi with his wife and two children on November 12. On November 16, some local cops saw him and Uzair clicking a photograph holding a tricolour. As displaying flags is banned in Haram area, the father-son duo were detained and taken to the police station
When local community leaders in Vadodara learnt about their detention, one of them – Zuber Goplani - immediately wrote to Swaraj and the Indian Embassy in Saudi Arabia on Twitter to inform them about the situation.
“I had seen her helping people on Twitter, so I thought that would be the right option. In my tweet, I had tagged her and the Indian Embassy. Officials called me to inform that madam Sushma Swaraj had called them up asking them reach out to Saiyed there,” said Goplani, who is executive council member of All India Muslim Majlise Mushavirat.
The officials of consulate general in Jeddah reached Haram police station and got Uzair released. They then made made successful efforts for release of Saiyed as well. “My family and I will be indebted to her forever. Had she not instructed the embassy officials to come to my help, I would have probably still been under detention,” said Saiyed, who works in a factory making spectacles in Vadodara.
“After my release, an Indian official told me that they had got calls from the minister in New Delhi asking them to cancel all appointments and immediately try to get me out of from the police station,” Saiyed said.
“Her death has shattered us. I will always regret that I could not meet her in person to extend our gratitude,” he added.
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