A delegation of Shia Muslim clerics and volunteers, travelling to Iraq apparently to offer humanitarian service to that country, is alleged to have been ‘forcibly detained and questioned’ at the Indira Gandhi International Airport by Intelligence and police officers on Monday morning.
While the six-member delegation — led by well-known Shia cleric Kalbe Jawad and comprising members of Delhi-based Shia Muslim solidarity body Anjuman-e-Haideri — attributed the detention to deliberate harassment initiated by ‘rogue elements’ in the Intelligence establishment, both the Intelligence Bureau (IB) and the Delhi Police insisted they were acting as per protocol.
“The delegation was supposed to meet Haider al-Abadi, the Prime Minister of Iraq, and revered religious leader Ayatollah Syed Ali Siestani, among other dignitaries, to discuss the modalities of sending volunteers for humanitarian services in that country and creating a worldwide citizen campaign against terrorism. The meetings were also to cover the efforts to release Indian workers who are held captive by Islamic State (IS) terrorists,” said the group’s spokesperson Zahrul Hasan.
“A large number of youths had registered as volunteers to serve the humanitarian needs of the victims of terrorism in Iraq. They had offered to donate blood, medical and other professional help for rehabilitation of the internally displaced persons and even their bodies as non-violent and peaceful human shield around the holy shrines of Karbala and Najaf, which are sacrosanct to the entire humanity and were being threatened by IS,” Mr. Hasan added.
Its members alleged they were questioned by the Delhi Police after immigration officials at the IGI stopped the delegates on the basis of a Look Out Circular (LOC) issued by the IB.
Sources in the IB and the Delhi Police said they have been asked to keep a keen eye on large delegations headed to Iraq since a group of Mumbai-based men were found to have joined the IS in its campaign.
“There are direct instructions from the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) that any delegation – especially a religious one – be thoroughly questioned about the purpose of its visit to nip any ties it may have with the IS,” an Intelligence official said.
Syed Bahadur Abbas Naqvi, the body'’ general secretary, however, said, the Prime Minister, the Home Minister and the Minister of External Affairs were kept informed about the registration of the volunteers for Iraq and also about communication with the Iraqi government. “We kept the Government of India well informed at every stage,” he added.
